What Does a Hotel Financial Controller Do?

Meta description: Financial controllers are crucial for the recovery of the hospitality industry. But what do they offer, and why does it matter to our hotels?

The hospitality industry has been crippled by losses as high as £115bn since 2020. While the industry’s worth has been steadily rising since, with forecasts for this year predicting revenue grossing around the £19.76bn mark, there’s still a long way to go before hotels are truly back on their feet.

The right financial team has, therefore, never been more important. By managing every element of a hotel’s day-to-day finances, a financial controller can help hotels that are looking to both increase and improve potential profitability with lasting results.

But what does a financial controller do, and why does it matter?

What Does a Financial Controller Do?

Generally speaking, a financial controller is a senior-level manager who is responsible for day-to-day financial operations. The specifics of this role vary, but general responsibilities of a hotel financial controller may include –

• Preparation and management of the hotel’s financial budgets
• Statement reporting and analysis.
• Hotel budget forecasting
• Overseeing hotel tax compliance
• Supervising payroll
• Monitoring and improving hotel operational costs.
• And much more

In short – a financial controller should ensure efficient spending, profit increases, and seamless finances across payroll and beyond.

Why is a Financial Controller Important?

By managing a hotel’s finance and accounting operations in their entirety, a financial controller can ensure a comprehensive financial understanding. For hotels that are still very much in the recovery phase, this inclusive oversight could spell the difference between success and failure, as well as enabling faster profit increases that can be easily tracked and replicated.

Say a financial controller noticed a profit uptake at the same time each year, due to their ability to oversee patterns that may have been missed otherwise. This could result in a spending increase during that period, which significantly improves hotel budget forecasts, and makes it easier to bridge finances during quieter periods. None of this would’ve been possible from a more siloed approach to accounting without a financial controller in place.

What Makes a Good Financial Controller?

Given that a financial controller holds a management role over the rest of a hotel’s accounting teams, they should possess hard skills including a degree in accounting or finance, preferably an MBA or masters. A formal accounting qualification that’s typically awarded through time spent in the industry is also desirable and could include an ACCA, CIMA, or ICAEW.

Soft skills that can also determine whether a financial controller will be a good fit for your hotel include –

• Strong analytical abilities
• Leadership and communication skills
• Proficiency in hotel accounting software such as OnQ, Squirrel, and DataPlus
• Critical problem-solving skills
• An understanding of hotel tax and insurance compliance
• Etc.

Takeaway

Hiring a financial controller can ensure competitive, growing profits in your hotel. It can also significantly simplify the ways you handle hotel finance. Unfortunately, as with any senior management role, hiring the right person isn’t always easy, especially if you’re advertising on traditional platforms.

Here at JWR, we make it possible for you to approach high-quality financial controllers instead of waiting for them to come to you. So, if you think your finances could benefit, then don’t hesitate to get in touch to discuss your options at jwrecruitment.co.uk today.