Dear WuBookers, among the many roles in a hotel, there is also the night auditor. This is a key role for the operation of the property, as they are responsible for both customer service and accounting, ensuring maximum efficiency for the property and the (daytime) reception staff. Here are their duties in detail and how they can be facilitated with the right technology.

What does a night auditor do?

As you might guess, hotel night auditors work at night: usually from 11:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. Their duties coincide with those normally performed by reception staff, but that’s not all. The auditor produces detailed reports on the hotel’s accounts and daily operations, known as night audits, which enable other staff members and decision-makers to work more effectively.

Reception-related duties

In smaller hotels, where the staff organization chart is limited, the night auditor is usually the only person on site during the night and is therefore the point of reference for guests. They handle check-in and check-out, respond to requests and reviews, coordinate with other departments (cleaning and maintenance, for example), and apply the emergency protocol when necessary. In fact, they are the main authority on duty and have cross-functional responsibilities. As the reception manager, they must record payments from customers who leave the property at non-traditional times, make the necessary arrangements for the transfer of arriving or departing guests, handle phone calls and emails, leave operational instructions for colleagues on the next shift, and report any problems to management.

This therefore requires a range of professional and personal skills, such as excellent organizational and communication skills, both with customers and colleagues, as well as extreme precision and diligence. This is especially true because, as night falls, reception operations slow down and other activities begin, such as those related to accounting.

Administrative activities and night audit

Another key task of the auditor is the night audit: a process of checking the accounts and data that is essential for managing the hotel’s cash flow. In this case, the night auditor reviews all the accounts:

• reconciles the day’s transactions;
• reviews reception activities (including check-ins, check-outs, and occupancy);
• checks that payments and advances have been correctly entered and charged;
• records no-shows at the hotel to make unsold rooms available again;
• updates the status of each guest with any extra services added.

The audit can result in detailed reports, dedicated, for example, to the day’s revenue, relating only to rooms or divided between guests and non-guests; to the financial situation of the hotel and/or certain departments; to reservation trends; to actual reservations or pending payments. All this ensures that the property’s finances are always monitored and that management can make informed decisions. Morning colleagues also benefit from the night auditor’s work because they are made aware of potential critical situations or specific operational needs.

But why does all this have to be done at night? Because the digital systems that manage accounting operations consider midnight to be the official end of the day, so reservations, accounts, attendance, and all transactions are recorded by that date. Therefore, it is important to wait until midnight for the daily accounting close in order to have accurate reports on occupancy and revenue, or to verify open transactions.

Technology supporting the night auditor’s work

As we have seen, the night auditor performs five fundamental tasks for the cash flow and financial health of the property:

1. they take care of financial reconciliation and verify that income and expenses are well balanced;
2. they review the entire guest register to resolve any discrepancies in billing, restore the availability of any no-shows, but also to ensure that the guest experience runs smoothly;
3. produces daily reports on occupancy rates, revenues, and transactions;
4. checks that payments have been made regularly;
5. prepares the work for the next day, when the front office staff takes over again.

All these tasks can be done manually or with the help of technology, which speeds up the process and avoids errors. An example of a tool for night auditors? Zak, the PMS by WuBook!

Zak by WuBook to manage your hotel, day and night

Zak is WuBook’s all-in-one management software that simplifies all hotel operations, from reservation to check-out. It is also a valuable tool for night auditors. In addition to ensuring the smooth organization of various activities, it allows you to obtain useful data on the hotel’s finances at various times of the day.

Zak keeps track of the complete list of all recorded payments and all issued documents, which the night auditor can check at any time. Some sections and features further streamline their job.

The paid/unpaid section, for example, allows you to identify at a glance reservations that have not been paid or have only been partially paid, with all the details of the customer and the reservation. The Cashflow section, on the other hand, reports the flow of daily income or expenses (or for a specific period of your choice), also in comparison with the previous period. Cash movements can be linked to individual reservations or recorded manually with even more explicit details for greater clarity (e.g., “Maintenance expenses,” “Agency commission,” and so on).

Finally, the area dedicated to accounting closings helps hoteliers and their staff manage the cash closing process, both for individual shifts and for the entire day. For each cash closing, Zak updates the records and generates a report with all the data and any notes entered, which is always accessible for consultation. In addition, before confirming a closing, it is always possible to check and modify every detail.

All closing operations are then saved and stored in memory so that they can be retrieved for internal financial analysis.

These and many other features support not only the work of the night auditor but the entire hotel, ensuring efficiency, convenience, and accuracy at every step. This is another reason why Zak is an indispensable software for your hotel!