Video: Front Office Accounting - Vocabulary Flashcards

50 vocabulary flashcards covering front office accounting concepts, folios, and related terms.

Message Handling

Receiving messages for guests in their absence.

Mail Handling

Important front office activity covering both incoming and outgoing mail.

Incoming mail

Mail coming from various destinations.

Outgoing Mail

Mail of the hotel and guest account balance.

Account

Form on which financial data are accumulated and summarized.

Complaint Handling

Managing guest complaints, typically contact with staff within about 2 hours.

Mechanical complaints

Complaints about equipment malfunctions.

Attitudinal complaints

Complaints about impolite or unprofessional staff behavior.

Service-related complaints

Problems with hotel services and resulting dissatisfaction.

Unusual complaints

Demands that are unwarranted.

Security purposes

Preventing unauthorized access.

Inaccurate transactions

Risk caused by unauthorized persons in work areas increasing errors.

Personal accountability

Responsibility to handle and process guest accounts.

Debit entries

Entries that increase the guest's outstanding balance.

Credit entries

Entries that reduce the guest's outstanding balance.

Guest folio

Folio assigned to an individual guest or guestroom.

Master folio

Room charges; copy sent to the city ledger; used for group accounts.

Front office accounting system

System designed to monitor and chart the financial transactions of guests.

Incidentals folio

Folio for incidental charges payable at checkout.

City Accounts

Financial transactions between the hotel and non-resident guests.

Resident accounts

Financial transactions with guests who have registered.

Management Accounts

Allowances given by some hotels to hotel managers.

Folio

Statement of all transactions affecting the balance of a single account.

Vouchers

Documentary evidence of a financial transaction.

Employee folio

Account assigned to an employee with charge purchase privileges.

Guest ledger

Amounts due from resident guests.

City ledger

Includes all other amounts due.

Back Office Accounts Receivable

Folio settled on a third-party account; must be transferred to master AR.

Back Office Accounts Payable

Amounts prepaid on behalf of the guest for future goods/services.

POINT-OF-SALE (POS)

Points of sale supported by large hotels.

Ledger

Grouping of accounts.

Cash

Simplest and widely used mode of payment.

Credit card

Payment method with increasing prominence.

Company settlement

Hotels contract with corporate companies for long-term mutual benefit.

Travel agent voucher (TAV)

Blocks rooms and prepares a voucher during tour planning.

Credit Monitoring

Monitoring guest and non-guest accounts to stay within credit limits.

ACCOUNT MAINTENANCE

Basic front office accounting formula.

Previous Balance

Balance carried from the previous period.

Debit

Debit amount; increases the balance.

Credit

Credit amount; reduces the balance.

Net Outstanding Balance

Resulting balance after applying debit and credit.

PB

Abbreviation for Previous Balance.

DR

Abbreviation for Debit.

CR

Abbreviation for Credit.

NOB

Abbreviation for Net Outstanding Balance.

Tracking of Transactions

Occurrence of a transaction initiating activity in the FO accounting system.

Charge purchase

Deferred payment transaction documented (typically on vouchers).

Account Correction

Resolves a posting error on a folio the same day.

Account Allowance

Compensation for poor services and rebates for coupons.

Settlement of Accounts

Collection of payment for outstanding balances.