Maintain Financial Record
SITXFIN002A
Lecture notes
Financial Transactions
Management
Sub-Title
Introduction of billing system
Payments
Processing payment documents
Financial transactions
TAFE
Introduction
 Every hospitality establishment has a billing system to deal with
customer transactions.
 Billing systems may be manual, electronic, computerized or Point
of Sale (POS).
 Point of sale or point of service (POS) is a location where a
transaction occurs. It is the equivalent of an electronic cash
register. Point of sale systems are used in supermarket,
restaurant, hotels, and casinos, as well as almost any type of retail
establishment
 Fundamental to any billing system is the ability to calculate and
total a customer account and then calculate and issue change to
the customer.
 Local bar
Advantages of the POS System
 Orders print automatically in kitchen/bar therefore fewer
trips to the kitchen/bar and more time with customers.
 Order is legible for chefs/bar attendants
 Ordering with the system automatically opens a bill for the
table, which is updated automatically when new orders are
placed
 Waiters have their own key or pin number – check waiter
averages and only the waiter can make entries into the
system
 Accurate and up to date management reports
 Links up to other systems i.e. reception, housekeeping
Disadvantages of the POS System
 Initial costs can be expensive
 Training/retraining of staff
 Malfunctions:
 Paper Out – printers
 Error message – terminal
 System down – power failure
 User error
Payments
 Accepting payments
 These days, customers expect a range of options when conducting
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financial transactions.
As a tourism industry employee, you need to know all forms of
payment that are appropriate for your business and customers.
Forms of payment accepted by your business may include one or
more of the following:
cash
cheques: personal, bank or business
credit card or cash card
EFTPOS
travellers cheques
foreign currency
invoice.
continued
 Cash
 To process cash payments, your business may use a
manual approach with a cash drawer or in larger
businesses some type of register (manual, electronic,
computerised or point of sale system).
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Ensure that your calculations are accurate and use a
calculator or register, if available.
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 When accepting cash, ensure that it is legal tender and
that the notes are not seriously damaged.
 Change should be provided using the largest
denominations available, and counted out to the customer
as a way of ensuring errors are not made.
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Business Cheque
Personal Cheque
continued
 Cheques
 Cheques may be written against a personal account, issued
by a bank, or written against a company account. Policies
regarding personal cheques vary from business to
business.
 Commonly, personal cheques are not accepted unless a
prior arrangement has been made or unless there is
sufficient clearance time between the date of payment and
the date of travel. Usually seven to ten working days are
allowed.
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continued
 Procedures for accepting a cheque:
 ensure that the cheque is a valid form of payment as per
the business' policy
 Ensure that the cheque is dated and signed
 Ensure that the word and number value correspond and
are correct
 Verify that the signature matches the name on the cheque
 Every cheque accepted should be marked 'Not Negotiable'
to protect the drawer and payee in case the cheque is lost
or misplaced
continued
 Ensure the cheque is completed in blue or black pen
 Ensure that any alterations made on the cheque are
initialled
 Cross check the name and signature with the appropriate
ID (eg driver's licence)
 Note the name, address and identification details (eg
driver's licence number) on the back of the cheque
 issue a receipt either manually or via a cash register..
continued
 Credit cards and EFTPOS
 Major credit or charge cards include Bankcard (Australia),
MasterCard, Visa and American Express. Acceptance of credit
cards will depend on the type of system used by a business.
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If EFTPOS (Electronic Funds Transfer Point of Sale) machines
are used, expiry date, credit limit, and whether the card is stolen
are checked by the system automatically. The only items to be
checked by the staff member are the customer's signature and
that the total is filled out.
The EFTPOS device requires the person providing the services
for sale to enter the amount. The customer's card can be swiped
or the card number may be manually entered via a numeric
keyboard and the customer may need to enter their PIN (personal
identification number).
EFTPOS Machines
continued
 When a customer wishes to pay in this manner, these are the steps
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to follow:
Enter the amount of the purchase.
The card must be swiped or the card number and expiry date
embossed on the front of the card are entered manually. Also check
the expiry date on the card..
The customer may need to enter their PIN, depending on the
account type selected.
The EFTPOS machine will then send a message to the card issuer
to check that the card and account selected are valid, there are
sufficient funds to make the purchase and the PIN entered is
correct.
The card issuer will send a response to the EFTPOS device
indicating whether the transaction has been approved or declined.
If it is declined, it will usually display a reason for the decline.
continued
 Retain the customer's card until authorisation has been
granted or declined.
 For approved transactions, the card issuer may debit the
customer's account as the transaction takes place or they
may debit the account within the next few days.
 A receipt will be printed, indicating the purchase amount,
date, time and other transaction details. A copy of this
receipt should be given to the customer as proof of
payment.
 If the customer selected 'credit' as account type, they will
normally be required to sign a copy of the receipt that will
be retained as proof of the purchase.
continued
 Smaller Hospitality businesses may still use an imprinter
for credit card transactions. Larger businesses will often
still have an imprinter in case the EFTPOS system is
offline.
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The procedure followed when using an imprinter is as
follows:
 check the card is accepted in your business and is signed
 check the warning bulletin for cancelled or stolen cards
 after imprinting the card, check the card numbers are
legible on the payment slip
 write the date and amount
 check the expiry date and circle it
continued
 if the amount is above the 'floor limit', ring for
authorisation
 retain the card until authorisation has been granted or
declined
 check the signature after the customer has signed the
payment slip
 return the card and the customer copy of the payment
slip to the customer.
Cont.
 What to do procedures:
 If the customer accidentally leaves behind the card, it
should be kept for 24 hours in a safe place, after which
time the card should be cut in half and returned to the
card issuer.
 If it is claimed, ensure that you establish the identity of
the card holder before returning the card.
The floor limit
The floor limit (or merchant limit) is the maximum credit
card amount that a business can accept for an individual
credit card transaction, above which the business must
obtain phone authorisation.
continued
 Floor limits vary for different outlets and different card
types. As long as the credit card number is not listed on
the cancellation and warning bulletin, the payment of
amounts accepted by the merchant below the floor limit
is guaranteed by the bank or card company.
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Hotels, business owners (eg travel agencies) receive
regular update lists of cards that are invalid. A reward is
offered to anyone who retains a cancelled card and
returns it to the credit provider.
Traveller Cheque
Travellers cheques
 A travellers cheque is a form of international currency that
customers would normally convert at a bank.
 Travellers cheques are written out in the country of departure
and are issued by major banks, Thomas Cook and American
Express. Travellers cheques can be issued in many currencies, in a
variety of denominations and are treated as 'cash' payments.
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If your business allows customers to pay by travellers cheque, it is
usually only Australian dollar travellers cheques. Some businesses,
however, may accept foreign currency travellers cheques. The
procedure to follow when accepting travellers cheques for
payment is as follows:
continued
• Ensure the cheque is dated and counter signed in your
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presence
Verify that the second signature matches the signature on
the cheque
Cross check the name and signature with appropriate ID
(eg a passport)
Note identification details on the back of the travellers
cheque
Provide change in local currency
Issue a receipt either manually or electronically.
If the cheque is in a foreign currency, and your business
will accept these as payment, then you will need to
become familiar with rates of exchange.
continued
 Foreign currency
 Foreign currency is not commonly accepted by Hospitality
businesses.
 If this is the case, you will need to convert this amount to
AUD in order for your customer to make a decision about
purchasing the service and, indeed, paying your agency.
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Major banks issue foreign exchange rates daily and these
may also be accessed via a computerised reservation
system. These are used to calculate the conversion to
Australian dollars. The formula to calculate this conversion
is:
continued
 $AU1.00 divided by the exchange rate = 1 unit of foreign
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currency
For example:
Bank rate of Aus: $ 1= $US 0.86
If I would like to change US $100
The amount divided by exchange rate
100/0.83 = 116
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This means that $US100 =$AU116 (rounded)
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continued
 To then exchange foreign currency for Australian dollars, the
formula is:
 Number of foreign currency units multiplied by converted
exchange rate
 For example:
 From the above converted exchange rate, calculate the AUD
200 equivalent of $US?
 200 x 0.86 = US$ 172(rounded)
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This means that $Aus 200 is equivalent to US$172.
When dealing with foreign currency, it is important to realise
that the bank will also charge a fee to exchange the foreign
currency and that rates fluctuate over time.
GST
 Calculating GST
 The consumer bears the cost of the 10% GST, not the
business producing the goods and services.
 However, the liability to pay GST to the Australian
Taxation Office rests on the supplier of the goods and
services (ie the tourism business, not on its customer).
 This is why it is vital that a business reports the GST
liability accurately through their payment processing
system.
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continued
 To manually calculate the GST applicable on goods and
services that are not GST free, the total amount payable
is multiplied by 10%.
 If some goods are GST free (eg airfares to international
destinations), only the goods subject to GST are to be
multiplied by 10%.
continued
 If a customer is given a total amount to be paid and
wants to know the GST component, the total is divided
by 11 to calculate the GST liability.
 The federal government has introduced a tourist refund
scheme that entitles travellers from overseas to claim the
GST if they have purchased goods over the value of
$300.00 at one retail outlet and have their receipts.
 This refund is given at the airport of departure and is
carried out by customs officers.
Processing & providing receipts for payments
 There is a variety of ways to process receipts and
payments in tourism businesses. Both manual and
computerised methods are considered standard.
 All business documentation must bear the license number
of the business as well as the ABN (Australian Business
Number) issued by the Australian Taxation Office.
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Different kinds of receipts
continued
 The key documents needed when processing financial
transactions in your business are receipts, refund notices,
invoices and petty cash vouchers. These are described
below.
 Receipts
 A receipt may be automatically produced by a point of
sale system if your business uses a computerised system
or electronic register.
 In many smaller businesses, receipts may need to be
completed manually. Receipts are usually prepared in
duplicate, with a copy for the customer and a copy
retained by the office.
continued
The receipt shows:
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business name and ABN
date
time (automated receipts)
your name or initials
services supplied
subtotal GST inclusive goods and services
total
method of payment
amount tendered (automated receipts)
change given (automated receipts)
GST.
Invoices
 An invoice is issued to those customers who are
account holders and who do not pay for their services
as they are supplied, but rather on a regular billing basis
(eg once a month).
 In some tourism businesses, like visitor information
offices, invoices are received rather than produced, for
services provided to them. The invoice lists:
continued
 the business name and ABN
 the date
 the date of supply of services
 the services provided
 reference numbers
 the subtotal
 GST inclusive goods and services
 the total
 GST
 payment terms.
continued
 Petty cash vouchers
 Petty cash is the term used for money that is allocated for
items that are purchased on short notice and for relatively
small amounts, usually less than $100 (eg a taxi fare to a
seminar or flowers for the office).
 A separate float is kept in the safe for petty cash. An
authorisation by management and a petty cash voucher
are completed before funds are reimbursed to the staff
member.
 The purchase docket or receipt is attached to the petty
cash voucher.
 Procedures for dealing with floats
 Very rarely will customers have the exact amount of
money necessary to pay for their tourism purchase.
 Setting up a cash float involves deciding on the
denominations to start your day or shift with and ensuring
that the amount of money that you are provided with is
what the float sheet totals.
 It is no use having two $100 notes as your change, just as it
is not suitable to have $200 in 5c coins.
Procedures for handling a float:
 Collect the float from the manager or person
responsible. This will vary according to the size and type
of the tourism business in which you are employed.
 Sign for the float. In a large business, you may be
required to complete a float logbook with the following
details: date and time the float was taken, name and
signature, amount of float, time float is returned and
amount and a witness.
continued
 Check that the amount of money received is the same as
the amount noted on the float sheet.
 Ensure that the till drawer or cash box in which the float
is placed is closed and locked when not in use.
 This should only be opened when transactions are taking
place (eg depositing a customer's payment or giving
change to a customer).
 Close and lock doors when counting money.
 Balance the float before handover.
 Do not let other people use the float.
 Never borrow from the float.
continued
 Reconciliation procedures
 At the end of the day, there are many things to do. One
of them is to reconcile your takings. In order to do this,
you will need to follow your organisation's policy on
reconciliation.
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The float not only has to be counted but a reconciliation
of the takings must also be carried out. This is to show
any variance from the actual takings to the amounts
included on the total of all receipts and refunds.
It is a good idea to reconcile your cash drawer with
someone else so that any problems can be verified
immediately.
continued
 Each business will vary but a typical procedure checklist
is:
 Count the float and remove it.
 Count each of the following: credit cards, vouchers,
petty cash dockets, travellers cheques, non-cash refunds.
Record each total and then total the non-cash
transactions.
 Count each denomination of cash and cash refunds and
record the total cash receipts.
 Balance against the reading from your register or
computer or the manual total calculated using an adding
machine to total the value of all receipts and tickets or
vouchers.
 Fill in the reconciliation report.
continued
 In a perfect world, the reconciliation of receipts and
payments would not have any discrepancies at any time.
If there is any problem in the reconciliation process and
the result is that there is a variance between your takings
and your tape reading, ensure that you:
 recount your takings
 check foreign currency conversions
 recount your non-cash transactions
 recheck your readings
 get someone else to check all of the above.
 If it still doesn't reconcile, call your supervisor.
Maintain Financial Records
Sub-Title
Definition of accounts and Folio used in Front Office
Accounting
The procedures for processing and tracking transactions
The process of creating and maintaining accurate financial
transaction.
TAFE
Front Office/Maintain Financial
Records
Prepared by Philip Maw
Competencies for
Financial Transactions
Management
1. Define the types of accounts and folios used in front
office accounting.
2. Distinguish between the guest ledger and the city
ledger.
3. Describe the process of creating and
maintaining front office accounts.
Competencies for
Front Office Accounting/financial transactions
4. Describe typical procedures for processing and
tracking common front office accounting
transactions.
5. Describe internal control procedures for front
office operations.
Front Office Accounting/Financial Transaction Management
• The front office accounting system is responsible for:
• Creating and maintaining an accurate accounting record for
each guest or non-guest in the hotel
• Tracking all financial transactions throughout the guest cycle
• Ensuring internal control over cash and non-cash
transactions
• Recording settlement for all goods & services provided
• The front office accounting system is customized and
tailored to track each hotel’s needs. Therefore, no two hotels
have exactly the same front office accounting systems.
Accounts
• An Account is a form on which financial data are
accumulated, summarized and brought to its ending balance.
• all accounts shall have two entries referred to as Debit (dr)
(or charges) versus Credit (cr) (or payments).
• The most widely used representation of accounts is the T-
Account, which summarizes debit entries on the left-hand
side and credit entries on the right-hand side.
T Account
Debits
Charges
Credits
Payments
Front Office Accounting Formula
Previous Balance
+ Debits
- Credits
= Net Outstanding Balance
PB + DR - CR = NOB
Two major types of accounts
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Guest accounts describe all charges and payments of guests
who are already registered at the hotel.
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Non-guest (house or city) accounts: describe all charges and
payments of non-guests. To illustrate, a potential guest
sending a certain deposit to guarantee a reservation is a nonguest. Moreover, charges and payments of guests who
checkout with any method of payment other than cash, shall
be opened a non-guest account.
Lastly, visitors and employees with charge privileges shall be
opened non-guest accounts.
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Folios
 A folio is a statement of all transactions (i.e. debits & credits)
affecting the balance of a single account.
 At Checkout, any guest folio should be balanced to 0 through full
cash payment, credit card transfer, check transfer, special
program transfer, and direct billing transfer…
Continued
• The correct way of maintaining folios starts with proper
posting, which is the process of recording transactions on a
folio (i.e. proper folio, proper location and proper amount)
• Under the manual, semi automated and fully automated
systems, folios are called hand-written folios, machineposted folios, and computer-based electronic folios
respectively. Moreover, all folios shall have a unique serial
number for internal control and storing purposes.
Types of Folios
There are basically four common types of folios used in
front office accounting:
· Guest folios
· Master folios
· Non-guest folios
· Employee folios
Four common types of folios
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Guest folios: accounts assigned to individual persons or
guestrooms
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Master Folios: accounts assigned to more than one
person or guest room; usually reserved for guest groups
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Non-Guest (or semi-permanent) folios: accounts assigned
to non-guest businesses or agencies with hotel charge
purchase privileges
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Employee Folios: accounts assigned to employees with
charge purchase privileges
Guest’s folio/Guest’s transaction Record
Master Folio
Non Guest Folio Account
Vouchers
• Vouchers depict the details of the transaction
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information gathered at the source of transaction and is,
hence, a supporting documents used only for internal
control purposes. Below are some of the commonly
used vouchers in the hospitality industry:
Cash vouchers
Credit card vouchers
Charge vouchers
Transfer vouchers
Paid-out vouchers
Correction vouchers
Allowance vouchers
Voucher Sample
Points of sale [i.e. POS]
• A point of sale is the location at which goods or services
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are purchased; sometimes called a revenue center
When posting charges, the following items shall be
considered:
Amount of the charge
Name of the point of sales outlet
Room number & name of the guest
Brief description of the charge
Guest signature & employee identification
Ledgers:
 Ledger—a summary grouping of accounts
 Account receivable—money owed to the hotel
 Guest ledger (transient ledger, front office ledger, rooms
ledger)
 Accounts of registered guests
 Accounts of advance deposits from future guests (credit
balance)
 City ledger (non-guest ledger)—collection of non-guest
Creation and Maintenance of Guest Accounts:
 All guest folios are created during the pre-arrival or arrival
stage of the guest cycle.
 Moreover, folios might be either placed in front desk folio
tray [i.e. posting tray, folio well, or bucket] or stored as an
electronic guest folios in fully automated systems.
 As far as walk-ins are concerned, all their guest folios are
created at the arrival stage!
Guest charge privileges
 Potential guests who would like to have guest charge
privileges shall present an imprint of an acceptable
credit card or direct billing authorization at registration.
 Failing to do so, guests would have to pay, in full, all
their charges through cash, hence called Paid-inAdvance [PIA] guests and have, hence, have no post
status.
Credit monitoring
 In order to monitor and control charge privileges, the front
office staff should check whether the total net purchases
are less than the minimum of floor Limit (i.e.: credit card
company's limit) and house limit (i.e. hotel's limit).
 At least, each day, lists of guests with high risk or high
balance accounts shall be communicated to all point of sale
outlets.
 This is vital since, failing to do so, will let point of sales
outlets continue giving charge privileges to a point that
eventually the credit card company refuses to pay the
amount of money exceeding its limit.
 This will cause very serious financial losses to the hotel.
Front office transactions
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Cash payment
Charge purchase
Account correction
Account allowance
Current transfer
Cash Advance
Transactions (continued)
 1. Cash payment:
 In this very transaction, front office staff posts cash payment
as a credit in the guest folio. Moreover, cash vouchers shall
be used as a transaction-supporting document.
 2- Charge purchase:
 Charge purchases represent deferred payment transactions
that increase the outstanding balance of a folio account. In
this transaction type, front office staff shall use charge
vouchers as a transaction-supporting document.
Account correction:
 Account correction is used to resolve a posting error in a
folio detected at the day the error is made (i.e. before the
closing of the business day).
 In this transaction, front office staff shall use correction
vouchers as a transaction-supporting document.
Account allowance
• Account allowances occur because of two reasons:
• Either as compensation of poor service, or as rebates for
coupon discounts. That way, guest outstanding balance
decreases.
• As to correct a posting error detected after the closing of
the business day.
• For both reasons, front office staff prepare an allowance
voucher as a transaction supporting document.
Cash, house banks
• Cash Bank is the amount of cash assigned to a cashier
so that he/she can handle the various transactions that
occur in a particular work shift.
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• At the end of each shift, cashiers should watch out for
cash discrepancies (i.e. any difference between front
office cash sheet and the actual amounts in their cash
drawers). Cash discrepancies might have the form of
cash overages, shortages, or due backs
Continued
 Audit control:
  Along with the fact that hotels might employ internal
control auditors, at least once in a year, (especially for hotels
traded in the stock market) to get use of external certified
public accountants responsible for approving hotel's
accounts.
Settlement of accounts
 One of the responsibilities of front office
receptionists is to settle guest accounts, which
means the eventual collection of payment for
outstanding account balances (i.e.: bringing account
balances to 0].
 This is usually ensured either by full cash payment,
transfer to an approved credit card, personal check,
special program, or direct billing account…
Financial Transaction management
2008/2009
Process Financial Transactions
Topics
Point O f Sale/cashiering systems
Processing payments and presentations of
accounts
Transaction reports
The purpose of point of sale/cash
register
 Records sales
 Store cash
 Issue reports
Types of registers
 Manual
 Basic Electronic cash register
 Computerised cash register
 Point of sale systems-main frame & computer/terminals
Main Components
 Display panel
 Keyboard/touch screen/hand held
 Keys & Switches
 Printer operation
 Remote slip printer
 How to program
 Program verification
Facilities of point of Sale
 Key pad entry/touch screen
 End of shift/managers reports
 Ordering stock in/out
 Employee time
 Sign in/out
 Maintain weekly hours (no need for timesheets)
Cashiering Terms
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X & Z readings
Single or multiple items
No sale
Register tapes
Pay out / discounts
Void
Clear
GST
Malfunctions - check the following
 Is machine plugged in
 Machine is turned on
 Keys / card / ID
 Machine is set
 Cash draw closed
 Last transaction totalled
 Paper in printer
 Power out
Handling Customer Enquiries
 Welcome the enquiry
 Listen attentively
 Use empathy
 Wait for the customers response
 Remain calm-try not to take it personally
 Collect the facts and repeat to customer
 Inform the customer and explain what is/was done
Presenting the customers account
 Prepare the account when required
 Present the account only when customer asks for it
(exceptions may occur)
 Do not wait around the table (but do not disappear)
 Thank the customer when returning the balance
 Thank the customer when and accompany
them to the door when
possible
Procedures and security whilst
handling Cash
 Float sign out
 Count and place in cash drawer
 Close cash door when not in use
 Only open cash draw for transaction
 CLOSE & LOCK doors when counting money
 Transfer takings and float to and from office quickly
Continued
 Balance the float before handing over or returning to head
cashier
 Do not let other people use float
 Never borrow money from the float
Types of Transactions
 Payments of accounts
 Deposits
 Refunds
 Petty cash
Methods of Payments
 Cash
 Credit cards
 EFTPOS
 Personal cheques
 Company cheques
 Travellers cheques
 Vouchers
Credit card EFTPOS
 Most of establishments have EFTPOS machines to accept
credit cards
 If EFTPOS machines are used check
 Expiry date
 Credit limit
 Note: stolen cards are checked automatically
Credit Card (manual)
 Expiry date, signed, warning bulletin
 Enter the details on voucher
 Retain credit card whilst guest signs
 Compare signatures
 Ensure total is complete
 Return customers card
 Place merchant and company copies in cash draw
Travelers Checks
 Calculate currency exchange
 Ensure cheque is dated and
counter signed in your presence
 Check signatures match
 Cross check with ID eg passport
Vouchers
 Check with house policy on the procedures for processing
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vouchers
Collect the establishments copy
Check the validity, dates and issue of voucher covers
Ascertain what is covered by the voucher and what will be
paid by the customer
Open account as required-part voucher part cash
Vouchers
Entertainment fundraising
booklets
Shopper dockets
Charge accounts
 A letter of authorisation has been received
 The customer is entitled to charge
 The amounts charged to the company are covered in the
authorisation
 Two accounts can be opened if needed-part charge part cash
 Incidentals are paid for
 The bill is signed, correct signature
Closing Procedures
 Check all outstanding accounts are finalised
 Count float and remove
 All cash, credit cards, vouchers, petty cash dockets make up the
shift takings
 Count the above and record
 Balance against X reading/end of shift report
 Fill in the reconciliation report
The need for Forms and Reports
 A communication link
 Data provision
 Operational factors- sales and commodities
 Operational procedures -staffing
Cashiering Systems
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PLU
X and Z readings
Single or multiple items
No Sale
Register tapes
Pay outs/Discounts
Void
Clear
Price look up screen
Register tape
Cash draw/cash taking
Malfunctions – Check the following
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Machine plugged in
Plug switch turned on
Machine is turned on
Keys/Card/ID
Machine is set
Cash draw closed
Last transaction totalled
Paper in printer
Power out
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Slip is correctly placed in printer
Ribbon is in place
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Safety fuse reset properly
Handling Customer Enquiries
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Welcome the enquiry
Listen attentively
Use empathy
Wait for the customers response
Remain calm – try not to take it personally
Collect the facts and repeat to the customer
Inform the customer and explain what is/was
done
Presenting the Customer’s Account
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Prepare the account when required
Present the account only when the customer asks
for it (exceptions may occur)
Do not wait around the table, but do not disappear
Thank the customer when returning the balance
Thank the customer when leaving and accompany
them to the door when possible
Procedures and Security Whilst Handling
Cash
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Float sign out
Count and place in drawer
Close till drawer when not in use
Only open till drawer for transactions
CLOSE and LOCK doors when counting money
Charge Accounts/Direct billing Account
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Sometimes the company wants to pay on behalf of its
employees.
Follow these procedures:
A letter of authorisation has been received
The customer is entitled to charge
The amounts charged to the company are covered in
the authorisation
Two accounts can be opened if needed – part charge
part cash
Incidentals are paid for
The bill is signed, correct signature
Terminology of a Cash Register
 Price Look Up button or PLU
 Pre programmed with individual prices of food and
drink, the price is automatically recorded when the
allocated button is pressed.
 X and Z readings
 X readings allow a readout of the transactions by
department. The supervisor would usually take an X
reading at the end of each shift and record the sales at
that time.
 Z readings will give the same information as the X read,
but also clears the machine of all totals. This reading is
usually taken at the end of the day's trading, bringing the
machine back to a nil balance.
Register tapes
 The register tapes record all the information you have
entered into the machine.
 There are two register tapes – the receipt roll for
providing receipts to the customers; and a receipt journal
roll, for internal auditing purposes.
 The receipt journal tape needs to be turned on, whereas
the customer receipt roll is automatic.
 When finalising the end of shift report if a discrepancy is
found then the register tapes can provide the source of
the mistake.
continued
 Pay outs
 This function allows the operator to account for money paid
out from the till for petty cash or payment to suppliers. An
invoice or receipt is needed before money can be taken from
the till.
 Discounts
 The discount button is a quick and easy way to calculate a
customer's bill when a discount is offered.
Cash handling and security
 A float is an amount of cash held on the premises to
facilitate the issue of change to customers paying bills or
requiring a large note to be broken down. It is also
drawn from to issue petty cash.
 Depending on the size of the establishment and the
amount of business, the float can be anywhere from $100
– 500.
Procedures for handling a float during a shift
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Collect the float from the manager
Sign for the float
Check the amount of money received
Close till drawer when not in use
Only open till drawer for transactions
CLOSE and LOCK doors when counting money
Balance the float before handover
Transfer takings and float to and from office quickly
Do not let other people use the float
Never borrow from the float
continued.
 Refunds
 The customer is required to sign for any refund received.
Refunds are balanced at the end of the shift and are
shown in the banking summary to account for the
shortage/s.
 Cash advances
 Cash advances are also known as ‘pay outs’. A pay out
voucher must accompany the request. Examples may
include taxis, cigarettes, flowers etc. This is normally
restricted to hotels and ‘in house’ guests.
Financial Transactions management
2008/2009
Financial Transactions management
 Account Settlement at Front Office
Front Office
 Front Office receptionists are cashiers as well.
 Their responsibilities are not only providing customer services,
but they also monitor guest’s financial transactions and settle the
guest’s account.
 The guests use different method of payments for their accounts
such as: cash, credit card and direct billing
Describe methods of settlement for guest accounts.
• Cash payment in full
• At check out time some of guests may pay cash for
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payment
If Full cash payment is made; the front office receptionist
destroy the guest’s credit card voucher.
Make guest account to zero balance
Credit card transfer
Moves account balance from guest ledger to a credit card
account in the city (non-guest) ledger
the guest only signs a credit card voucher
Payment to be received from credit card company
Credit card company collects payment from card holder
Guest’s Account(sample)
Paid by Cash
Credit card Payment
Method of settlements (continued)
Direct billing transfer
 Moves account balance from guest ledger to the city (nonguest) ledger
 Hotel is responsible for billing and collection
 The billing has been arranged and approved by the hotel’s
account department
 The front office receptionist ask the guest to verify the
account and sign the folio.
Direct billing (City Ledger)
Method of settlements (continued)
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Combined settlement method: A guest may choose to
use more than one settlement method to bring the folio
balance to zero. (cash payment and credit card payment)
Combine settlement by Cash and City ledger