You are on page 1of 3

POLICYANDPROCEDUREMANUAL

SOPNO:ACCTGAR0051215
DEPARTMENT: ACCOUNTINGSUBSECTION:ACCOUNTSRECEIVABLE
SUBJECT:
BILLINGANDCOLLECTIONISSUEDATE:DECEMBER11,2015

POLICY:BillingandfollowupproceduresforAccountsReceivableareextremelyimportantandvitally
necessarytokeepthesizeandvalueofbaddebtlossestoaminimum.Nomorethan10%oftheCityLedger
balanceshouldexceed60daysold.Allbillsaretobemailedwithinthreedaysfollowingcheckoutorfromthe
datethefunctionisheld.

PROCEDURE:
EachhotelGeneralManagerorDirectorofAccountinghastheinitialresponsibilityforthecollectionand
recovery,infull,ofaccountsreceivable.Thisresponsibilityshallextendduringthefirst90daysfollowingthe
datetheaccountisincurredoruntiltheuseofanoutsidecollectionservice,attorney,orthreatsofcourt
actionarecalledupon.

1. Day1TransfertoCityLedger
AllDirectBillbalancesmustbecheckedoutandtransferredtoCityLedgerthedayofguest
checkoutorthefinaldayofthefunction,event,ormeeting.
2. Withinthree(3)daysoftransfertoCityLedger,allbillsaretobemailedout,includingallbackupto
supportthecharges.Thiswillincludeastatement,andmayincludesignedfolios,vouchers,signed
BanquetEventOrdersand/orBanquetTickets.
3. 10DayFollowUpCall
Thisisnotacollectioncall,butitisstronglysuggestedforfirsttimeaccountsandlargebalances.
Simplycallyouraccountcontactaftersendingthebilling.Youwanttoconfirmthatthebillinghas
beenreceivedbythecorrectpersonandwillbeapprovedforpayment.Ifthebillwasnot
received,anotherissentimmediately,howevertheinvoiceremainsagedfromtheoriginaldate
oftransfertocityledger.
4. 30DaysCollectionBegins
Makethecollectionscall,askingthestatusofpaymentandifthereisaproblemwiththebill.If
thereisaproblem,correcttheissueandemailorfaxacopyofthecorrectedbillthesameday,
followingupwithin24hourstoconfirmthatthebillinghasbeenapprovedandacheckwillbe
mailed.
Ifthereisntaproblemwiththebill,politelyaskwhythecheckhasntbeensentandwhen,
specifically,thecheckwillbesent.Makeeveryattempttogetaspecificdate.Givetheclientno
morethan10daysbeforeasecondarycollectioncall.
Theobjectiveofeverycollectioncallistoobtainapromisetopaythefullamountbyaspecific
date.
Herearesomeexamplesthatbestshowpromisestopaythebalance:
Good
Better
Best
By the end of the week
Within 3 business days
By Friday, January 22
As soon as I can
By month-end
By Thursday, January 28

5. 45DaysCollectionContinues
Ifyouobtainedapromisetopayonyourlastcall,andnopaymenthasbeenreceived,youmust
stepupyourattemptsgradually,whilestillbeingprofessional.SendaCollectionsLetter,while
continuingcollectionsefforts.

Good
We demand
Why havent you paid?

Better
We require payment by
When exactly will you be paying
this balance?

Best
We expect payment by
What do we need to do to get this
balance paid today?

6. 60DaysGeneralManagerInvolved
Ifyouaregettingpaymentpromisesoneverycallandnopaymenthasbeenreceived,collection
riskhasincreased.SignificantbalancesshouldbereferredtotheGeneralManagerforfurther
actionandassistanceatthispoint.
7. 90DaysActionRequired
Thebalanceisatthepointrequiringfinalresolution,accountsuspension,andpossiblewriteoff.
Dependingonthedetails,besuretheGeneralManager,Sales/CateringDepartment(ifthe
accountwasfromSales/Catering),DirectorofFieldAccounting,andVPofFinanceareinvolved.
Suspensionofanaccountisalastresortandshouldntnecessarilybedoneatthecostoffuture
business.Ifthebalanceisdeemeduncollectible,theonlyremainingoptionwillbediscussed:
Writingoffthebalance.SeeACCTGAR004BadDebtWriteOffandCollectionsbelow.

CollectioncallsmustbemadewithdocumentationrecordedontheARCallSheet(ACCTGAR005ARCall
Sheet)alongwiththedatesofanycollectionlettersmailed.
AllDirectBillaccountsmustbesupportedwithaguestroomfolio.Ifthecompanyhadbanquetfunctions,
thensupportincludescopiesofallsignedbanquetticketsandBanquetEventOrders.Alsoincludeanycopies
ofotherfunctiondetails.
TheA/RCallSheetmustbeusedtodocumentallcollectioneffortsandmustbespecific,listingthenameof
person,dateandtimecalled,andwhatwasdiscussed.Thesesheetscanbekeptwiththecustomeraccounts
orinabinder.AllCityLedgerbalancesover30daysmustcontainanA/RCallSheet.
Attimeofpaymentorwriteoff,theA/RCallSheetisfiledwithoriginalcreditapplicationtoreferenceaccount
credithistory.Allpaidaccountsreceivableshouldbefiledseparately,byaccount.Paidreceivablefilesmust
beretainedforatleastthecurrentyearpluslasttwoyears.

AIRLINEACCOUNTS
AirlineaccountsareaspecialclassofDirectBillaccounts.Theyareoftenhighvolume,inandouteveryday
accountsgeneratinglargebusiness.Theyalsotendtopayslowly,howeverifthehotelbillsincompliancewith
theairlinesspecificationsandkeepsintouchwiththeirairlinecontact,balancescanbepaidin3045days.

Toprocessandcollectairlineaccountspromptlyandefficiently,followtheseguidelines:
SetupanewcityledgeraccounteachmonthtomatchtheAirlinesbillingcycle.Ifyoubillthe
airlinemonthly(onacalendarmonthbasis),openanewcityledgeraccountfortheairlineeach
month(EX:DeltaNov2015),soasyourepreparingyourbilling,thismonthlybillingtotalmatches
yourwholeaccounttotalforthatbillingcycle.
Oncetheairlinepaysthisaccountinfull,theaccountcanthenbedeletedorpurged.
Ifthebalanceisshortpaid,resolvethediscrepancywithyourcontactimmediately.Donotleave
itunresolvedinhopesofpaymentinthefuture.
Checkthecityledgeraccountonadailybasisandmakesureallfoliosareaccountedforandall
signinsheetswithsignaturesmatchthenumberofroomsfortheday.Typicallytheairlineswill
notpaywithoutsigninsheetsandfoliosmatchingtheirprescheduledcrewaccommodations.
Makesurethatpriortosendingoutthefinalmonthlybillings,thepropertaxexemptcalculations
aredone.Sincemostairlinesinmoststatesareconsideredaslongterm(over30day)tenants,

Page 2

theyareexemptfromsalesandoccupancytax.Properdocumentationisthekeytoefficient
billing,whichinturngeneratesquickerpayment.

OTAs
OnetimeusecreditcardsreceivedfromOTAs(OnlineTravelAgenciese.g.Expedia,Priceline,Orbitz,etc.)
shouldalwaysbeprocessedpriortotheguestsarrival.AnyissueswithreceivingpaymentsfromOTAsshould
bedirectedtotheparticularAgencyandnottotheguest.GenerallytheguesthasprepaidtheOTAfortheir
servicesandhasalreadycompletedthetransactionfortheirroompayment.

RECEIVINGPAYMENTS
Everycityledgerpaymentmustbeappliedtotheproperinvoice.Youlloftenreceiveonecheckpayingoff
severalinvoicesmakesureitisappliedtothecorrectones.

Neverapplypaymentsrandomly.Neverapplypaymentstotheoldestinvoicewhichclearstheaccountoffthe
aging.Thismisapplyingofpaymentwillmakeitnearlyimpossibletocollectontheimproperlycleared
invoices.Ifthepaymentdoesntmatchtheinvoice,callthecustomerimmediatelytoresolve.Donotallow
overpaymentsorshortpaymentstoremainonyourbooks.Alwaysaddressandresolveanydiscrepancy
directlywiththecustomer.Ifarefundofanoverpaymentisnecessary,followtheappropriateGuestRefund
procedures.

Afterthepaymentofacityledgeraccount,followthisprocess:
Copyofcheckisfiledalongwiththepaidinvoice
Makesureallsupportispresent
Marktheinvoicepaidwiththecorrespondingdate
Filepaidreceivablesalphabeticallybymonthandyear

COLLECTIONS
Anyaccountthatisdeemeduncollectableandistobewrittenoff(seeAR004BadDebtWriteOff)willbesent
toAtriumHospitalityspreferredcollector:
Gatherallinformationregardingtheamountdue,includingDirectBillapplication,backupforthe
chargeandallcollectionefforts.
Contact:
o www.andc.com
GotoPlaceAClaimandcompletetheformforCommercialB2B
o Shouldyouhaveanyproblems,contactMichaelDavidAlliedNational8004565770
mdavid@andc.com

Page 3

You might also like