It’s hard to imagine running a hotel without knowing the basic bookkeeping and accounting concepts. You need to keep track of transactions, sales, invoices, balances, cash inflow and outflow, manage taxes, and much more.
Many of us find it difficult to cope with all that stuff and seek assistance or advice for the fulfillment of such operations. According to Small Business Report – Accounting, 71% of companies outsource tax preparation, 50% - payroll, 48% - audit.
For 46% of the business owners, accounting remains the least favorite task, for 22% of respondents, everything connected with marketing the business, banking, and handling finances are the second-most hated tasks.
Source: waspbarcode.comHowever, technology and software advancements have the power to change this. Now, electronic accounting, including payroll, invoices, and cash management, is available with the touch of a screen allowing businesses to perform many bookkeeping tasks faster and more efficiently.
Besides, the high demand for accounting tools is at the highest peak of its development and is expected to reach about $20,408 Million by 2026, based on the Fortune Business Insights report.
Knowing how critical hotel accounting software has become, how to successfully implement it? To answer this question, let’s look at the popular platforms, as well as briefly explore what bookkeeping software is, its advantages, and its main features.
Source: fortunebusinessinsights.comWhat is hotel accounting software and why is it important?
Hotel accounting software is a set of applications and programs that are used to automate hotel financial management, reduce expenses, handle accounting activities, process and record all financial transactions, including accounts payable, accounts receivable, payroll, trial balance, as well as keep track of transactions, cash flows, perform calculations, generate dashboards and reports.
Also, it helps improve the quality of accounting decisions which may result in slashing costs and increasing profit.
The accounting software can be deployed locally or in the cloud. The majority of companies use cloud-based accounting software to monitor financial operations.
Source: financesonline.com
Despite the size of your hotel, you need to adopt accounting software to analyze your financial gains or losses from the perspective of business positions. Other valuable advantages include the following:
• Simple and fast data entry processes;
• Continuous financial monitoring;
• Reduction of calculation mistakes;
• Actionable reports;
• Data security;
• Integration with other systems.
When looking for software solutions, it’s important to come prepared and learn more about core features. Let’s take a look at some of them below.
What are the main features of the typical accounting software?
The following list of the key features will help you to decide what your hotel needs for smooth running:
• invoicing and billing;
• payroll;
• reporting;
• bookkeeping.
And those are just the basic functionality. 43% of software users expect add-ons and name increased functionality as the main reason for purchasing new accounting software.
Also, business owners welcome the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI), data analytics, blockchain, and big data as part of accounting services.
In spite of the capabilities and price tags of selected software solutions, all of them are expected to have:
1. Regulatory compliance to make sure that the software complies with relevant laws, policies, and regulations.
2. Integration to ensure the accounting software easily integrates with other hotel management systems already in place.
3. Pre-built frameworks that make the process of recording, analyzing, and interpreting financial information very intuitive and easy to understand.
4. International utilization and foreign currency support to work with customers from other countries.
5. Advisory and consulting services that are beneficial for controlling operating expenses and minimizing costs. Accordingly, you will have a deep understanding of managing small-scale financial accounting data.
Below, we’ll cover the best accounting platforms to keep you in the loop.
The top hotel accounting systems of 2021
Today, you can find multiple accounting software solutions on the market, which can be confusing. Below, we’ll summarize information on the best financial software development companies to make the process of selection easier.
DATEV
Initially developed in 1966 in Nuremberg, Germany, this organization can be described as one of the best software providers in Europe today. Its main services include accounting, tax computation, personnel management, and company organization. Considering that this organization stands for the best financial software services for auditors, lawyers, and tax consults, a total of 8,000 individuals are employed in DATEV.
300,000 customers who employ 13 million individuals. Furthermore, this company presently has 25 subsidiaries in different parts of Europe.
As the third-largest provider of business software in Germany, this company is known for the advantages, such as:
1. Online invoice administration;
2. Simple, internet-based application;
3. Up-to-date accounting;
4. Integrated automatic cash bookkeeping;
5. Low requirements for the required hardware.
Thus, if you are looking for a software developer in the areas of accounting, business consulting, taxes, and enterprise resource planning, it is recommended to pay attention to this company.
FiscalTrust
This middleware provider offers end-to-end fiscalization solutions to its customers on an annual subscription basis. As the leading Compliance-as-a-Service provider for POS systems, it is usually considered by the clients in order to successfully run compulsory cash register flows in European countries, including Germany, Austria, and France. It is currently headquartered in Berlin, Germany where the company develops the best services for the fiscalization of a cash register and recording systems.
By using the services provided by fiskaltrust, you can:
● become legally compliant: your POS system immediately becomes compliant with the law. You save the costs for licenses and the maintenance of the part of the software that the company provides. Also, considering that you will not have to spend time observing the law, you save appropriate resources to focus on your core business.
● use different platforms: the software is available on many operating systems, such as Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, and Android.
● become independent of national requirements: the fiskaltrust services have already been successfully used in Germany, France, and Austria. At the same time, with the standardized IPOS interface, you can use your POS system across borders at any time and with little effort.
● store data in different ways: you can store the receipt data locally (for example with SQLite or EF Storage) or transfer it to the proven cloud offered by fiskaltrust.
Started in 2014, the company managed to serve a total of 24,000 international customers in seven years and become one of the main market players in terms of audit, risk, and compliance. Subsequently, if you aim to find the best fiscalization solutions for your business, take into consideration fiskaltrust.
Clear Books
Founded in 2008 in London, UK, this cloud-based accounting software is considered one of the best local IT providers in terms of audit. It offers small business owners the opportunity to keep on top of bills and purchases, as well as manage project finances at any time, in any place. As a result, in 2014, this software provider was recognized as the accounting product of the year in the UK.
Therefore, Clear Books is an excellent solution for individuals and companies that aim to control financial information by managing billing and creating high-quality financial reports. Also, this cloud-based software is widely known for numerous benefits, including:
• A simple and easy-to-use interface;
• High level of security;
• The opportunity to schedule reminders of pending payments;
• Excellent reporting capabilities.
In other words, British business owners should take into consideration this accounting software solution in case they are intended to keep an accurate record of the money invested and earned.
Pandle
Pandle is another effective alternative for professional accountants, consultants, tax experts, and small business owners who aim to automate time-consuming bookkeeping tasks in the area of accounting. Developed in 2006, this software can be used to analyze business health in the context of invoicing, quotations, receipt uploads, payroll services, and tax estimations.
As a result, over 50,000 businesses in the UK and abroad have already used services offered by this platform.
In addition to using standard accounting software services, users of Pandle will have the opportunity to benefit from:
● Unlimited help and advice: the company provides assistance in areas of business accounting and the accurate use of financial data, by phone or email. Also, it is possible to arrange a personal meeting with them in either London or Wirral offices.
● Fixed monthly fees: monthly fees depend on the type of business you run and the number of services you would like to get. However, Pandle ensures that potential clients will not face hidden costs, as all prices are discussed in advance.
● Regular business recommendations: the company carries out regular tax efficiency reviews. Consequently, you will be able to reduce the costs spent on taxes you have to pay.
Hotel accounting software comparison
Based on ratings and reviews from Capterra and information from companies’ websites, we’ve put together the comparison matrix of the above systems:
| DATEV | fiskaltrust | Clear Books | Pandle | |
| Features | -Accounts Receivable, -For Government, -Nonprofits, -Project Accounting, -Tax Management | Depends on the type of software component. €0-version: -Legal specifications of the DGFiP compliance -Fulfillment of all legal requirements: like chaining, ticket number, grand totals storage, receipts, transaction protocol, etc. -Attestation of compliance with French law for fiskaltrust.Middleware -Electronic signature of receipts -Tamper-proof archiving corresponding to French tax requirements (optional) | -Accounts Receivable -Bank Reconciliation -Billing & Invoicing -Expense Tracking -Fixed Asset Management -For Government -Multi-Currency -Payroll Management -Project Accounting -Purchase Order Management -Recurring/Subscription Billing -Tax Management | -Accounts Payable -Accounts Receivable -Bank Reconciliation -Billing & Invoicing -Cash Management -Collections Management -Expense Tracking -Fixed Asset Management -General Ledger -Project Accounting -Purchase Order Management -Spend Management -Tax Management |
| Support | Email/Help Desk, FAQs/Forum, Knowledge Base, Phone Support, Chat, Live Online Training, Webinars, Documentation | Email/Knowledge database, FAQs, Phone Support, Chat, Documentation | Email/Help Desk, FAQs/Forum, Phone Support, Chat, Documentation, Videos | Chat, Online live and documentation training |
| Deployment | Desktop - Windows On-Premise - Windows | Desktop, Cloud | Cloud, SaaS, Web-Based | Cloud, SaaS, Web-Based |
| Capterra rating | 0 | 0 | 4.6 | 4.6 |
| Free trial | - | free registration | + | + |
The systems from the comparison matrix are sought-after accounting platforms for hotels - the choice is yours.
Final Thoughts
To ensure that financial data remains safe, it is essential to use accounting software solutions. In fact, the inability of business owners to manage their budgets efficiently has caused such a high demand for services of software providers, such as DATEV and FiscalTrust. Hence, no matter what software you choose, HotelFriend can connect to either of them on demand.
In the competitive business world, there are a variety of accounting and bookkeeping products on the market. However, to succeed in the hospitality sector, you will need custom-made software specially designed for hotel businesses and professionals. In this respect, HotelFriend Digital Cash Book for smart accounting is optimal and more appropriate than using general solutions.
Another important aspect to be considered is that the accounting software you use should be the principles for electronic accounting (GoBD) compliant. This is especially true for the European Union countries and Germany in particular.
That said, HotelFriend Cash Book fulfills all GoBD requirements and offers a secure option for electronic accounting. It will help record cash receipts, find any transaction in a second, and forget about dozens of Excel spreadsheets. By using it, you will:
• Benefit from tax deductions.
• Reduce your chances of being audited.
• Get an overview of your opening and closing balance.
• Reduce internal discrepancies or even fraud.
• Streamline your budget and forecast strategies.
• Prove that your accounting is GoBD-compliant.
Digital Cash Book will help you to maximize revenue by concentrating on the work that you like and focus more on providing a better guest experience.
We hope that our article helped you to understand the importance of accounting software in terms of running a successful business.
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