Accounting Services

Large, Highly Experienced Accounting Department
Use of MAS90 Accounting Software
Scope of Services

Large, Highly Experienced Accounting Department

The AFCO Lodges Accounting Department provides clients with all of the advantages of being part of a much larger organization. AFCO Lodges is only one business under the AFCO umbrella. Therefore, the AFCO Accounting Department contains a higher skill level and greater depth of accounting experience and knowledge than most management companies. This translates to more advanced systems, enhanced controls, and more in depth reviews of an investor's financial information. AFCO Lodges' CFO has been a CPA for 28 years and has been a CFO for 17 years. AFCO Lodges' Senior Accountant has 30 years of experience and is extremely knowledgeable in accounting procedural controls in the hotel industry.

Use of MAS90 Accounting Software

The AFCO Lodges Accounting Department utilizes MAS90 accounting software to maintain accounting records. Unlike some management companies that use the M3 accounting system, which requires the General Manager to do a lot of accounting work, AFCO's accounting department handles the accounting in order to free up time for the General Manager to spend marketing their hotel.

Scope of Services

The following is a summary of the scope of services the AFCO Lodges accounting department will provide for each of its managed hotel properties. The combination of the first five procedures below enables AFCO Lodges to always have an up-to-date cash balance for each hotel. Many other management companies would not discover a cash-related problem until the bank accounts are reconciled after the end of the month.

Import the previous day's business daily from Radiant into our accounting system.
Access bank account through internet daily and verify that all cash deposits per Radiant system actually reach the correct account. AFCO Lodges will also compare the daily deposit slips that are received by FAX from the hotel to the bank's records and to Radiant.
While AFCO Lodges is accessing the bank account via internet, AFCO Lodges will make a journal entry to record the credit card transactions that reached the bank. AFCO will also compare these items to the credit card charges printout that is received by FAX from the hotel. AFCO will maintain an Excel analysis of the credit card charges that haven't cleared the bank.
Investigate any problems that occur due to differences between Radiant entries and bank activity and provide information to the General Manager that is received regarding returned checks or credit card charge backs. This is done on a daily basis.
Reconcile the bank account monthly.
Prepare sales and occupancy tax returns monthly and process them for payment.
Calculate and make monthly payments to franchisor (such as Suburban) for royalties and advertising.
Process accounts payable and cut checks each Thursday. Each invoice is approved by the General Manager and most invoices are also approved by the VP of Operations. Invoices are selected for payment by the CFO, who reviews any invoices that appear to be questionable. Checks are signed by the President, who also reviews any invoices that appear to be questionable.
Make journal entries to enter the payroll into the general ledger. All of our hotels are currently processing their payroll through Paychex. Payroll information is submitted to Paychex by the General Manager who also sends a copy to the Accounting Clerk. She reviews the payroll information for potential problems and assists in the correction of any problems.
Review accounts receivable balances on a weekly basis and assist the General Managers with collecting any past due balances on corporate direct bill accounts.
Maintain Excel account analyses for balance sheet accounts.
Make journal entries monthly as necessary in order to produce accurate financial statements.
Produce a monthly balance sheet, three formats of statements of operations, including a comparison of actual vs. budget, and a cash flow statement.
Research questions on the monthly financial statements and meet with the owners to discuss these financial statements.
Prepare annual budgets, working with the General Manager and the other management. AFCO Lodges utilizes trend reports of historical results, benchmarking of results for all properties, labor modeling and elaborate Excel budget templates.