Hotel software glossary: The words hotel software uses, in plain English.
Useful when training new front office staff, or when a software salesperson starts talking in abbreviations. Each term links to where you can read more.
A
- ADR (average daily rate)
- Room revenue divided by the number of rooms sold. If you sold 40 rooms for ₦2,000,000 last night, your ADR was ₦50,000. ADR tells you what guests actually paid, after discounts and corporate rates, not what your rate card says. Read more
B
- B&B (bed and breakfast)
- A rate that includes breakfast. In Biodux, B&B guests appear on a separate list at the restaurant till so breakfast is recorded against the room, not given away. Read more
- Blacklist
- A flag on a guest profile for someone the hotel won’t accept again, for example after an unpaid bill. Biodux warns staff when a blacklisted guest is being checked in. Read more
- Booking engine
- The booking page on a hotel’s own website where guests check availability, choose a room and pay. A booking engine connected to the PMS can only sell rooms that are really free. Read more
C
- City ledger
- The list of credit accounts a hotel bills after the guest has left, usually companies, agencies, embassies and travel agents. It is the hotel’s accounts receivable for anyone not currently in house. Read more
- Complimentary (comp)
- A room, meal or drink given free. Good systems still record comps so stock goes down and management can see what was given away and by whom. Read more
D
- Density chart (also: Room rack)
- A grid of every room against every date, coloured by status: vacant, occupied, reserved or out of order. Reservations staff use it to see at a glance what can still be sold. Read more
- Deposit
- Money paid before arrival or at check-in to secure a booking. The PMS should carry it to the guest’s bill and say what happens to it if the booking is cancelled. Read more
- Due out
- A guest expected to check out today. Housekeeping uses the due-out list to plan which rooms to turn over first. Read more
F
- FIAS
- Fidelio Interface Application Specification: the protocol Oracle Opera uses to exchange guest, room and billing information with other hotel systems such as TV, phone and entertainment platforms. Biodux PMS speaks FIAS too. Read more
- Flash report
- A one-page summary for the general manager each morning: occupancy, ADR, RevPAR, revenue by department and how today compares with the month and year so far. Read more
- Folio
- The guest’s bill. Every charge, payment, deposit and refund during a stay is posted to the folio. A guest can have more than one, for example one for the company and one for extras. Read more
G
- GR card (guest registration card)
- The form a guest signs at check-in with their details, room, rate and dates. Biodux prints it with the hotel’s name and logo. Read more
- Group account
- One account that a group’s rooms and agreed charges are billed to, such as a wedding party or a conference. Each guest’s personal extras can stay on their own bill. Read more
H
K
- KOT (kitchen order ticket)
- The ticket that tells the kitchen or bar what to prepare. A good POS prints each item at the station that makes it. Read more
M
- MRZ (machine-readable zone)
- The two or three lines of letters and chevrons at the bottom of a passport photo page. Software can read the MRZ to fill in the holder’s name, number, nationality and dates without typing. Read more
N
- Night audit
- The end-of-day routine where room charges are posted to every in-house guest, the day’s transactions are checked and the figures are closed. Read more
- No-show
- A guest with a reservation who neither arrives nor cancels. Hotels track no-shows to decide deposit and overbooking policies. Read more
O
- Occupancy rate
- Rooms sold divided by rooms available, as a percentage. 45 rooms sold out of 60 available is 75% occupancy. Read more
- OTA (online travel agent)
- A booking site such as Booking.com or Expedia that sells hotel rooms for a commission. Direct bookings through your own website avoid that commission. Read more
- Out of order
- A room taken out of service for repairs or another reason. It shouldn’t be sold or counted as available until it is put back. Read more
P
- PMS (property management system)
- The software a hotel’s front office runs on: reservations, check-in and check-out, guest bills, room status and daily reports. Read more
- POS (point of sale)
- The till system in a restaurant, bar or shop. In a hotel, the POS should be able to charge a sale to an in-house guest’s room. Read more
R
- Rack rate
- The full published price of a room before any discount. Corporate, agent and seasonal rates are discounts from it. Read more
- Requisition
- A request to issue stock from the main store to an outlet or department. A numbered requisition with names on it is the basic control against stock disappearing. Read more
- RevPAR (revenue per available room)
- Room revenue divided by all rooms available, sold or not. It combines occupancy and rate into one number, so it’s the fairest way to compare nights or hotels. Read more
W
- Walk-in
- A guest who arrives without a reservation. The front desk checks them in directly from the available rooms. Read more
Related
Keep reading
- GuidesWhat is a hotel PMS, and does your hotel need one?A hotel PMS (property management system) is the software your front office runs on. It holds reservations, checks guests in and out, keeps each guest’s bill, tracks which rooms are clean and ready, and closes the day with a night audit and management reports.Read more
- GuidesADR, RevPAR and occupancy explained, with naira examplesOccupancy is rooms sold divided by rooms available. ADR is room revenue divided by rooms sold. RevPAR is room revenue divided by rooms available, which is the same as occupancy times ADR. RevPAR is the fairest single measure, because it rewards neither empty rooms nor cheap ones.Read more
- GuidesThe hotel city ledger, explainedThe city ledger is the list of credit accounts a hotel bills after the guest has gone, usually companies, agencies, embassies and travel agents. When a guest checks out and the bill isn’t paid on the spot, the balance moves from their folio to the payer’s city ledger account until it is settled.Read more
- GuidesThe hotel night audit checklistA night audit closes the hotel’s day. Check arrivals, departures and room status, settle open outlet bills, post the day’s room charges to every in-house guest once, balance cash against receipts, then print the night auditor’s and manager’s reports for the morning.Read more
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