Thank you for attending Advanced Accounting Webinar Part 1.

Below are the questions and answers from the webinar.

Q. Will a recording be available after the webinar?

A. Unfortunately, this is a complimentary webinar which will not be available for distribution. If you have access to RMS University, the Advanced Accounting Course is available for staff training and contains the same information that was covered in the webinar. Another resource option is the Night Audit Report help file within the RMS Knowledge Base. https://helpcentre.rmscloud.com/night-audit-reports/night-audit-report?from_search=36040014

Q. Is the webinar for Accrual Accounting or Cash Accounting?

A. This webinar is for Credit Balance Ledger Movements specifically targeting clients with an Accrual Accounting method.

Q. What is the difference between Accrual Accounting and Cash Accounting?

A. Under the accrual basis of accounting, the revenue is reported on the income statement when it is earned, which often occurs before the cash is received from the customer. Expenses are reported on the income statement in the period when they occur or when they expire, which is often in a different period than when the payment was made. Under the cash basis of accounting, revenue is reported on the income statement in the period in which the cash was received from the customer. Expenses are reported on the income statement when the cash is paid out. Generally, the difference is defined based on when you pay your taxes, on cash received or what is charged.

Q. What is EMV?

A. EMV (Europay, Mastercard and Visa) is a global standard for credit cards equipped with computer chips and the technology used to authenticate chip-card transactions as opposed to the magnetic swipe. In the wake of numerous large-scale data breaches and increasing rates of counterfeit card fraud, U.S. card issuers have migrated to this new technology to protect consumers and reduce the costs of fraud.

Q. What is the best way to see the amount in the advances ledgers at the end of the month? Is it the advance deposit report?

A. RMS recommends pulling your Night Audit Report Daily to obtain the closing Advances Ledger Balance. A detailed view of all Reservations/Account with a Credit Balance can be found on the Debtors Ledger Report (Reports > Accounting > Debtors Ledger). When running this report, there will be a filter 'Credit/Debit' and you will choose the option for Credit. You can build the Debtors Ledger report as of a certain date, and depending on the date used, it will reflect the opening or closing balance. Since the Advance Deposit Report will only report on receipts applied prior to the arrival date, there may be other accounts in suspense that are not only these future arrivals with a deposit payment.

Q. How can I separate debit transactions that are cash, credit or check from other non-currency debits?

A. Debit Transactions are either Charges (items billed for) or Refunds. Debits are reported in the Guest Ledger section of the Night Audit Report. The Guest Ledger displays all debits for accounts in Debit State (not A/R). If you are reducing or increasing Debit balance, it will be reflected here regardless of reservation status. Examples: Rates, Sundry Charges, Repeat Charges, Requirements, Periodic Charges. Refund Activity impacts the Advances Ledger and the Less Credits Refunded section. https://helpcentre.rmscloud.com/night-audit-reports/night-audit-report?from_search=36040014

Q. If our policy is no refunds for early departures, does full payment stay in suspension?

A. If you are choosing to keep payment for an early departure with no refund issued to the guest, part of the payment could be in suspense or not depending on your accounting options setup. If there is an amount in suspense, there will need to be an action taken in order to allocate that payment to a charge. Please contact our technical support team via service request for a response specific to your RMS accounting options configuration.

Q. Is there a report similar to the Night Audit Cash Analysis Report that details all room charges?

A. The Audit Trail Report (Reports > Accounting > Audit Trail) details all charges posted within the selected date range, including various grouping and sorting options, one of which is Room Type. This report can be used to locate a particular transaction.

Q. How do you see account balances?

A. Outstanding account balances can be found on the Debtors Ledger Report (Reports > Accounting > Debtors Ledger). This report shows all accounts that have either a credit or debit balance; this report is used to see which accounts are in debit state. For example, you may run it for all accounts to see who is past 30 days for the purpose of following up on any delinquent balances. Alternately, the report can be used to see who is in credit so that as a business you can see the amount of cash/credit on hand that represents forward payments and future deposits.

For any additional questions, please reach out to the RMS support team at support@rmscloud.com or 858.427.1200.