SCHOOL OF HOSPITALITY AND

TOURISM MANAGEMENT

UNIVERSITY OF JAMMU

REPORT ON - “USE OF PMS TO MANAGE ALL

BACK OFFICE OPERATIONS”

SUBMITTED BY:

RADHIKA GUPTA

ROLL NO – 12

Property management system

Property management systems may be used in real estate, manufacturing, logistics, intellectual property, government or hospitality accommodation management. They are computerized systems that facilitate the management of properties, personal property, equipment, including maintenance, legalities and personnel all through a single piece of software. They replaced old-fashioned, paper-based methods that tended to be both cumbersome and inefficient. They are often deployed as client/server configurations. Today, most next generation property management systems favour web and cloud technology and offer their software to clients using a software-as-a-service model.

FEATURES:

A property management system features various modules, depending on the industry and corporate operating requirements. MICROS Systems, Inc. notes that the system often features rate management modules, front desk applications, back office interfaces and room management applications.

Hospitality industry

In the hospitality industry a property management system also known as a PMS is a comprehensive software application used to cover some basic objectives such as coordinating the operational functions of front office, sales and planning etc. Automate hotel functions like guest bookings, online reservations, point of sale, telephone, accounts receivable, sales and marketing, banquets, food and beverage costing, materials management, HR and payroll, maintenance management, quality management and other amenities. Hotel property management systems may interface with central reservation systems and revenue or yield management systems, front office, back office, point of sale, door-locking, pay-TV, energy management, payment card authorization and channel management systems.

These software products include latest trends as well as steady reliability

Speedy check-in Easy and comfortable bill splitting Secure and comfortable night audit Clearly structured assignment plan

EXAMPLE1:

ARIMAX - An Integrated Property Management System

ARIMAX is a state-of-art software solution that enables a hotel and serviced apartment to efficiently and effectively manage all aspects of property operations, benchmarked against international hospitality standards.  It is fully web-enabled, user friendly, intuitive and highly cost effective.

ARIMAX as a 'hotel-in-a-box software suite' that a property can easily install, plug-in and go live. It is fully web-enabled, user friendly, intuitive and highly cost effective.

Key Features

ARIMAX is a comprehensive hotel in a box solution comprising of:

1. A web based Property Management System (PMS) for front office operations.2. Integrated Point of Sales (POS) for F&B outlet management.3. Interface to a complete finance package to handle all back office operations.  4. Supporst interface to multiple systems such as call accounting, voice mail, dool lock

systems and broadband providers.5. Supports multiple languages including simplified Chinese.6. Supports wireless devices.7. Includes a leasing module for extended stay business ; eliminates the need for any

manual proceessing 8. Hardware efficient resulting in hardware cost savings.

EXAMPLE2:

MICROS Systems' software and hardware is used in the restaurant industry and primarily includes touchscreen computers for the serving staff to place orders, which are then sent to kitchen and bar printers for preparation.

The back-office and enterprise software allow different types of reports, such as total sales and total menu items sold, to be produced. MICROS provides different products for different restaurant sizes and styles, including products for single-entity restaurants, major chain restaurants (with centralized reporting) and multiple-restaurant properties, including casinos, stadiums and cruise ships

EXAMPLE3:

Opera can essentially be the only management software a hotel needs, as it can handle Reservations, Customer Profiles, Housekeeping Management, Maintenance logs, Cashiering, Accounts Receivable, Agent commissions and third party interfaces such as Minibar systems or Guest TV. Arrivals and in-house guests are served using the Front Desk features of the property management software. This module handles individual guests, groups, and walk-ins, and has features for room blocking, managing guest messages and wakeup calls, and creating and following up on inter-department memos. Designed to meet the varied requirements of any size hotel or hotel chain, OPERA PMS provides all the tools a hotel staff needs for doing their day-to-day jobs – checking guests in and out, assigning rooms and managing room inventory, accommodating the needs of in-house guests, and handling accounting and billing. The property

management software is configurable to each property’s specific requirements and operates in either single-property or multi-property mode, with all properties in a complex sharing a single database. It is the successor to the popular Fidelio PMS (Property Management System)

OPERA Property Management System is fully integrated with OPERA Sales and Catering, OPERA Gaming and Comp Accounting, OPERA Vacation Ownership System, OPERA Quality Management System, and the OPERA central systems – ORS, the OPERA Reservation System; and OCIS, the OPERA Customer Information System.

Key Features:          Tailored to fit your hotel’s operational business needs          Scalable to suit the size of your hotel          Helps you become more productive, profitable and professional          Delivers fast, accurate and online information on your property

BACK OFFICE OPERATIONS IN HOTELS:

A hotel back office is a room or space in a hotel that is set up to deal with some of the higher-level financial work and other issues facing this type of business. This section of the hotel also usually houses the offices of higher-level management personnel. Larger hotels or franchises in a chain may have more elements set up in a hotel back office than smaller independently run hotels, which sometimes might not have a back office at all. One of the most important functions of a hotel back office is a setup to deal with long-term financial information. Software companies commonly sell “hotel back office software” that will help provide annual accounting reports or organize long-term financial details. This is in contrast to the front office, or front desk, of a hotel, where lower-level workers generally keep cash received from guests, and maintain current information on nightly or weekly financials, as well as credit card data for recent guests. Often, larger hotels have a sophisticated database for guest information and archiving data. This is often housed in the hotel back office or considered part of a hotel back office operation. This kind of information is important to be able to confirm past stays by a particular guest, and also to help in generating complex reports on rates of rooms filled, along with all practical expenses for the hotel, on an annual or long-term bases. A total long-term budget for a hotel would generally be generated in the back office. Another comparison between the front desk or front office of a hotel and its back office is based on the ways that hotel workers are generally arranged. Usually, front desk associates handle current guest issues, and interact directly with guests. Guests managers may also work from behind the front desk. By contrast, a general manager for a hotel will usually work out of the hotel back office, and would rarely interact with the clientele. Special sales managers or others who do not commonly deal with current guests will also usually work out of the back office area or some other separate office, along with bookkeepers, and managers of the maintenance or housekeeping staff.

A different way to understand a back office for a hotel is through evaluating franchise hotels

that are part of a larger chain. In these hotels, much of what gets reported to the corporate headquarters will be housed in the back office. Where the front desk or front office is devoted to customer service; a back office may have a totally different style based on how the chain of hotels is run from the top. Daily hotel business is stressful and challenging. The very flexible and reliable PMS is designed to perfectly cover all your needs - at any time!

Technology and structure

Windows multi-user-system Local or in data processing center Multi-client capability Easily customizable in all sectors Comfortable user management with various access levels and messaging service Multilingual and multi currency converter Document management

Back Office - Management

Comfortable invoicing: Easy bill splitting to different adresses, guests, periods, etc. - very flexible!

Easy Night-Audit: Cash stock accounting takes place at the end of a shift or at staff change - unique!

Multi-Client-Capability: PMS not only runs in single hotels or resorts but also in central organizations of hotel chains, etc. Comfortable choice of centralized or local administration of customer base - perfect!

Exeptional flexibility: It offers a unique customising technology. This innovative and virtually unlimited system supports individual installations that are all customised without the need to change core programmes. Therefore all our hotel customers benefit automatically from continuous developments.

Easy to switch: The Front Desk Software gives you the choice of booking required accomodation per room or within a package. It allows you to permanently switch that setting - very flexible!

Built-in yield management: PMS features a very flexible yield management tool that can use internal data as well as external sources - effective!

Administration of advance payment and claims, accounting

Scheduling and dunning All procedures in a single system: offers, cancellations, options, allotments,

bookings, etc. (flexible) Reporting Guest and address database Flexible multilingual correspondence allowing pdf-export and mail correspondence Management of meeting rooms

Management of board arrangements, packages and activities

Interfaces to other systems are modular additions perfectly suited to the Hotel Management Software: individually customized to our needs.

Accounting: Interfaces enable easy data transfer of all business transactions to your accounting system

Online booking systems: The Channel Manager automatically imports all bookings from the various online booking portals into your Hotel Management Software. Automatic retrieve of availability and rate information.

Payment by debit or credit card: Software directly approaches the card-reading device. No differences within the process of coordination; automatic and correct booking.

Door locking system: Interfaces to all renowned manufacturers available. Simply one click generates the doorcards within the software - also for groups or in advance!

Other info: is able to connect your hotel management software with all existing techniques, e.g. heating control system, electronic cash register, telephone system.

1) Guest accounting/billing

• The accounting/billing office is generally a 'back office' role, both because it does not require direct guest contact - and because it requires detailed, methodical (un-distracted) working with numbers, calculations and records! Its main roles are:

• The posting of charges (expenses incurred by the guest for accommodation, meals and other extras)and payments (e.g.. deposits, pre-payments, staged payments and/or the final settling of the bill) to each guest's bill

• The recording of charges/sales and payments in relevant accounting records, and the 'balancing of those records (so that amounts owing always equal amounts paid or due to be paid)

• The preparation of relevant accounting records and management reports (e.g.. summaries of sales figures)

2) Cashiering and night audit

The cashier's department is like the 'bank' of the hotel, with responsibly for handling payments, monies and valuables. Cashiers may report either to the front office manager or to the accounts manager or both, according to the nature of their work.

Depending on the facilities offered by the hotel, the role of front office cashiers may include:

The opening and preparation of guest accounts (if not handled by a separate accounting/billing department)

Accepting and processing payment from guests in settlement of their bills

Handling foreign currency exchanges for guests (if the hotel is registered to provide this service)

Accepting and processing takings from other departments of the hotel (e.g.. the restaurant and bar), for account-keeping, reporting, safe storage & Providing the cash requirements of other departments (e.g.. the cash 'float’ held by therestaurant or bar, in order to be able to give change to customers, or the 'petty cash' held at reception for small cash expenses)

Administering the safe custody system, whereby guests can deposit their valuables for safekeeping by the hotel

The responsibility of a night auditor, is to post the latest batch of charges/expenses to client accounts, balance guest and hotel accounts, prepare revenue reports, and produce statistics and summaries for management.

3) Reservations ― features are integrated with other functionality such as profiles, cashiering and deposits. This property management software module provides a complete set of features for creating and updating individual, group and business block reservations, including deposit handling, cancellations, confirmations, wait listing, room blocking and sharing.

4) Rate Management ― an extensive set of features for setting and automatically controlling rates, for rate quotation, and for revenue forecasting and analysis to create the most comprehensive rate management system in the industry. OPERA’s Property Management Systems interface with OPERA Revenue Management Systems and other major yield management applications.

5) Profiles ― complete demographic records for guests, business accounts, contacts, groups, agents and sources. Profiles include addresses, phone numbers, membership enrollments, stay and revenue details, guest preferences and additional data that make reservations handling and many other activities faster and more accurate.

6) Front Desk ― handles individual guests, groups and walk-ins, and has features for room blocking, managing guest messages and wake-up calls, and creating and following up on inter-department advisories, or traces

7) Back Office Interface ― revenue transfers, market statistics transfers, daily statistics transfers, and city ledger transfers can be easily made from OPERA Property Management System to a back office system.

8) Rooms Management ― handles all facets of room supervision including availability, housekeeping, maintenance and facility management. The Queue Rooms feature of the property management software coordinates Front Office and Housekeeping efforts when guests are waiting for rooms which are not immediately available for assignment.

9) Cashiering ― posting guest and passer-by charges (including taxes and other generates), making posting adjustments, managing advance deposits, settlements, checkout and folio printing are a few of the many activities handled by OPERA Cashiering. Cashiering accommodates multiple payment methods per reservation including cash, check, credit cards and direct bill. In multi-property environments, guest charges can be cross-posted from any property in the hotel complex.

10)Accounts Receivable ― fully integrated with the OPERA Property Management System database and includes direct billing, invoicing, account aging, bill payments, reminder and statement generation, and account research. Old balances from external accounting systems may be entered.

11)Commissions ― calculates, processes and follows up on travel agent and other types of commission payments,

12)Reporting ― over 360 separate standard reports. Reports can be customized for each hotel and new reports may be created as needed using OPERA’s built-in Report Writer.

13)Fully Configurable ― choice of OPERA features, system behaviors and priorities, and system-wide defaults are controlled by the property. User permissions determine which property management software features may be accessed by each user and user group. Many OPERA screens may be customized by the property.

14)Global Perspective ― supports multi-currency and multi-language features to meet the requirements of global operations. Rates and revenues can be dynamically converted from the local currency to any other currency. The appropriate language for guest correspondence can be automatically determined by the guest’s profile language; country-specific address formats are supported.

15) Hospitality System Interfaces ― OPERA PMS includes interfaces to hundreds of third-party hospitality systems including yield management, telephone and electronic switching, TV and video entertainment, key lock, restaurant POS, activities scheduling, minibar, and wake-up call systems.

16) OPERA Xpress ― OPERA Xpress offers a scaled-down edition of our property management systems for smaller properties or properties offering limited services. Based on the core OPERA property management software product, properties may choose the features they want from a menu of product options.