The laws affecting lodging facilities are more numerous and complex than those affecting most other types of businesses. Managers should have enough knowledge to be aware of how to develop strategies to minimize the property’s exposure to potential litigation and to train employees to minimize risks in their departments. | Budgeting and Forecasting: Current Practice in the Lodging Industry Raymond S. Schmidgall and Agnes Lee DeFranco Copyright © 2011 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved Introduction Financial forecasts and budgets can strengthen management’s control of hotel operating expenses and help determine the profitability of the property. Forecasts give owners a projected level of sales. Budgets alert owners and operators to significant expenditures that are on the horizon or predictable shortfalls in revenues. Copyright © 2011 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved Introduction Cont. Used together, forecasts and budgets can provide a benchmark for: Sales-incentive programs. Executive-compensation bonuses. Incentive-based management fees. Capital expenditures. Major difference between forecasting and budgeting is that budgeting is normally viewed as a process that covers a longer period of time than forecasting. Long-range budgeting is a form of strategic planning. Copyright © 2011 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved The Current Study This study serves the following purposes: To determine the purposes, methods, and procedures in performing an operations budget. To determine how an operations budget is used in budgetary control. To determine the techniques used in forecasting revenues in the various operating departments in lodging properties. Copyright © 2011 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved The Current Study Cont. Limitation – Respondents may belong to the same national chain and thus represent the same corporate operating procedures. The instrument – Designed a four-part questionnaire. Employed a pilot study. Part 1 included demographic information. Parts 2 and 3 consisted of procedures and methods used to develop an operations budget and how the budget is used for financial control. Part 4 asked for information regarding various operating departments’ forecasting techniques. Copyright © 2011 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights . | Budgeting and Forecasting: Current Practice in the Lodging Industry Raymond S. Schmidgall and Agnes Lee DeFranco Copyright © 2011 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved Introduction Financial forecasts and budgets can strengthen management’s control of hotel operating expenses and help determine the profitability of the property. Forecasts give owners a projected level of sales. Budgets alert owners and operators to significant expenditures that are on the horizon or predictable shortfalls in revenues. Copyright © 2011 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved Introduction Cont. Used together, forecasts and budgets can provide a benchmark for: Sales-incentive programs. Executive-compensation bonuses. Incentive-based management fees. Capital expenditures. Major difference between forecasting and budgeting is that budgeting is normally viewed as a process that covers a longer period of time than forecasting. Long-range budgeting is a form of strategic planning. Copyright ©
