A night auditor is a hotel employee who is responsible for the hotel’s accounting and management at night. These responsibilities can range from simply closing out the business day and running financial reports to handling the aforementioned items as well as housekeeping, security, and guest relations duties, depending on the size of the hotel. Because the hours range from late at night to early in the morning, night auditors usually work with a small team.
A night auditor’s primary responsibility is to close out the hotel’s business day performing accounting functions. This entails a variety of tasks, including balancing credit card receipts, entering data into spreadsheets, filing, verifying billing information, and closing the business day with property management software. A night auditor’s role is critical in ensuring the accuracy of all data.
The audit process may be handled differently different hotels. There are many different property management systems available, ranging from older models that require a lot of user input to newer models that do almost all of the work for the auditor. To prepare his or her nightly audit, a night auditor will use some variation of this software.
A night auditor may be in charge of guest services in addition to performing the necessary accounting functions. Late arrivals may be checked in, room amenities may be offered, and early checkouts may be processed. They are the hotel’s face because the hotel’s staffing drops to a bare minimum at night. As a result, the night auditor should provide the best possible service to customers. They may also be in charge of housekeeping.
Another aspect of guest relations that a night auditor may be in charge of is making sure that each guest’s charges are correct. For a hotel’s own data processing, it’s critical that all charges be correct in its system, but it’s also critical that all guests receive correct bills and are charged properly. This can include not only the guests’ room charges, but also their charges at the hotel restaurant or gift shop, as well as other charges in larger hotels.
A night auditor’s responsibilities are generally nightly, but there are times when quick thinking is required. The auditor may be confronted with an emergency or a customer complaint at any time. In these situations, knowing the proper protocol and being able to think on one’s feet will greatly assist a night auditor.