Guess what people — the time to start thinking of 2014 has arrived, don’t you just love it? I will bet that all of the managers are biting at the bit to get started — wouldn’t you if you were the manager? Numbers are the backbone of all those bean counters out there who are waiting with glee for those reports that supposedly are correct and within budget guide lines. Dream on people, you know that this is not true. The bean counters will send it back to you with all kinds of red lines drawn across and down, like a crossword puzzle. This is what all managers live for every year. Fill in all of those little squares with numbers and see if you get them right. I will venture at this time that some of you may not know how to insert the formulas into your little squares.
Last Year to Date
Did your last year budget come close? Since 2013 was a crap shoot to predict, probably not. Now 2014 should be somewhat better to analyze. If you compare the amount of new items that need to be accounted for, it ought to be a breeze, right? You could delegate the project to someone else, of course provided that they understand what they are doing. That way, if it is wrong, you can blame them…
Well perhaps, but the ultimate responsibility is yours as the manager of the property. What new elements are expected for the coming fiscal year? The competition is fierce in the market right now. Most of the big chains have the entire market covered within all segments of the industry. How will you compete with them? Well you will think of some new innovative way of standing out from the rest.
Action
Ok, now get set and start your engines, for the race is on. Executive level personnel will be expecting those reports within a certain time frame. Will you be able to deliver them on time? Some perhaps not, others will simply ad a percentage of a reasonable increase to last year’s forecast. (Really?) Giving away secrets of the bean counters. For those of you that like the numbers game, it will be a breeze, for those that don’t I wish you luck. I say this because I find very few managers that really understand how a spread sheet budget works. Now there is software that will do most of the work for you. You just put in the numbers and it will calculate everything for you. My question still remains, the software is no good if you don’t understand the numbers. The difference between a good numbers manager is: The manager that inputs the numbers where they belong is guessing. The manager that knows why they belong there is the winner.
So much for the numbers game…
About the Author
Alan Campbell has been in Las Vegas for over 30 years and has worked for the major strip hotels. He has spent some time in California, Los Angeles where he worked for the Radisson and Sheraton hotels. Alan considers the hospitality industry the best job in the world – it is the only place that both king's and Paupers will visit you.
The Hotel Numbers Guy!
