Front Office IMPORTANT Terminologies

1.) VTL : VISITORS TABULAR LEDGER is one of the important ledger

maintained by front office cashier in order to keep the record of all the transaction
of the guest during his/her stay in the hotel.

2.) GWB : Guest Weekly Bill

3.)Overage : An overage occurs when, after the initial bank is removed, the total
of the cash and checks in the drawer is greater than the net cash receipts.

Overage = cash + checks > initial bank + net cash receipts

4.)Shortage : A shortage occurs when the total of the cash and checks in the
drawer is less than the net cash receipts. Or Shortage = cash + checks < initial bank
+ net cash receipts

5.) Express Check Out : Express Check-Out is normally only possible if the
payment is done by credit card and required pre-auth is taken on the guest credit
card.

Express check-out is also done using kiosk kept at the front desk or via in-
room TV or hotel's mobile App.

6.) Paid Out Voucher : Paid outs are expenses made by the hotel on behalf of the
guest and the same is later charged to the Guest room account or Invoice .Eg:-
Doctor fees paid , Medicines purchased , Cash against Credit card , Stamp / Postal
charges etc.
While posting a paid out to the guest account or folio a receipt is printed /
generated with a unique serial number in duplicate. One copy is handed over to the
guest and the second copy is kept on front office or send to accounts.

7.) Transfer Voucher : An account transfer may also occur when a departing
guest uses a credit card to settle his/her account. The guests outstanding account
balance is transferred from a guest account {folio} to a non-guest account{folio}
through the transfer voucher.
8.) Zeroing out: guest account settlement is typically referred to a “zeroing out”
the account. In order to zero out a folio account its balance must be settled in full

9.)Account ageing Account aging refers to a method of tracking past due

accounts based on the date the charges were incurred. To illustrate, credit card
payment accounts usually have ages of maximum one month.

10.) Floor limit : this is the maximum amount in credit card charges the hotel is
permitted to accept on behalf of the guest at one time ( for one stay) without
special authorization from the company. It is specified by the credit card company
for the hotel/organization.

11.) Traveller’s cheque A TC or travellers’ cheque is an internationally accepted

cheque for a certain sum of money in a specific currency that can be exchanged
elsewhere for local currency. Travellers’ cheques are issued by various banks in
various denominations of Rs. 500, Rs. 1000, etc. and are as good as cash. TC
concept became popular because carrying it is safe. A bank company issues
travellers’ cheques according to the individual deposits.

12.) POS : A computerized front desk system that manages hotel room inventory,
guest billing and interfaces with various other systems such as telephone, call
accounting, point of sale (POS),entertainment, etc.

13.) Accounting : Accounting the process of collecting, recording, summarising,

and analysing financial transactions of a business.

14.) Ledger A summary grouping of accounts

15.) Encashment Certificate : An encashment certificate, as used while

converting foreign currency, should be signed by the guest and he should be given
a copy of it.

16.) Guest Ledger a ledger containing the details of transactions between a hotel
and a resident guest or a set of registered hotel guest accounts

17.) City Ledger Set of non-guest accounts ,Transfer of non-settled accounts,

Responsibility shifts from front office to accounting department
18.) Folio A statement of all the transactions that take place between a hotel and its
guests.

19.) Voucher- Details a transaction to be posted

20.) Guest accounts : The records of financial transactions that take place between
a hotel and a resident guest.

21.) Account payable Financial obligations the hotel owes to private and
government-related agencies and vendors.

22.) Void - Reversal of Charges which was posted on the same day

23.) Allowance - Reversal of charges which was posted before current system /
PMS date.

24.) Cashier’s report A daily cash control report that list cashier activity of cash
and credit cards and machine totals by cashier shift.

25.) Correction Voucher- Supports a correction on the Same Day as the error.

26.) Allowance Voucher- Supports a correction After the close of business, i.e.
after the night audit Requires management approval

27.) Paid-out Voucher- Accounts for cash advances made to the guest on the
guest’s folio

28.) Cash Voucher - Supports the posting of a credit to a guest folio, e.g. when a
guest pays cash deposit at check in.

29.) Charge Voucher- Supports the posting of a debit to a guest folio, e.g. when a
guest enjoys a cup of coffee in the coffee shop and signs the POS voucher that
should now be sent to front office for posting in the guest folio.