What's on a hotel month-end close checklist?

A complete hotel month-end close checklist covers nine phases: pre-close prep, revenue reconciliation, OTA and channel reconciliation, AP and expense processing, payroll and labor accruals, balance sheet reconciliations, journal entries and posting, reporting and USALI generation, and final review and sign-off. Each phase contains 7–14 individual checklist items totaling roughly 80 discrete tasks for a single-property close.

How long does hotel month-end close take?

Most hotel finance teams take between 5 and 15 business days to close the month. Single-property independents close in 3–5 days. Mid-size management companies (10–40 properties) typically run 7–10 day close cycles. Larger portfolios with heavy manual reconciliation often extend to 12–15 days. Hotel accounting close automation can cut these timelines by 30–50%.

Who is responsible for the hotel month-end close checklist?

Ownership is shared. The property accountant owns revenue reconciliation, payroll accruals, and balance sheet recs. The AR accountant owns OTA and commission reconciliation. The AP team owns invoice cutoff and accrual posting. The controller reviews all of it and is the final sign-off. For multi-property portfolios, the corporate accounting team adds a consolidation layer on top.

What's the difference between this checklist and a generic month-end close checklist?

A hotel month-end close checklist includes hospitality-specific items that don't appear on a generic close checklist: OTA reservation matching, VCC settlement reconciliation, USALI department revenue mapping, guest ledger reconciliation, advance deposit (deferred revenue) tracking, loyalty redemption reconciliation, and travel-agent commission processing. These items frequently represent 40–60% of the actual close work at a hotel, which is why a generic close checklist is insufficient.

Can I use this checklist for multi-property portfolios?

Yes. Each phase scales to multi-property. Run the property-level phases (revenue, OTA, AP, payroll, balance sheet) for each property in parallel during close days 1–6, then add a portfolio-level consolidation phase on days 6–8 before final CFO sign-off. The biggest multi-property gotcha is fiscal calendar alignment — make sure every property is closing the same period.

How do I get a printable PDF version of this checklist?

Use your browser's Print → Save as PDF function on this page to generate a printable version. We're also working on a downloadable PDF and an editable spreadsheet version — request access via the demo form and we'll send both when they're ready.

Checklist · Month-End Close

Hotel Month-End Close Checklist

The phase-by-phase checklist hotel controllers use to run a defensible close in under 10 days. Nine phases. Roughly 80 discrete tasks. Built to be printed, posted in the close binder, and worked from top to bottom every period.

Terrace TeamMAY 16, 2026 · 8 min read

Phases

Total checklist items

~80

Target close days

5–10

How to use this checklist

Each phase below contains the work, the typical owner, and the recommended close-day timing. Print the whole thing or work it digitally. Most teams assign each phase to a single owner and review status in a daily 15-minute close stand-up. For the deeper explanation of why each phase exists and where it typically breaks, see the full hotel month-end close guide.

Phase 01
Pre-close prep
Work done in the final week of the period to make close-day-1 productive. The teams with the fastest close cycles do as much of close as possible before the period actually ends.
OwnerProperty accountantTimingLast week of periodItems8 tasks
- Confirm the close calendar and owner assignments are distributed
- Verify all PMS, POS, spa, and ancillary system period-close dates align
- Send AP cutoff reminder to department heads
- Pull preliminary revenue, occupancy, and ADR trend to flag anomalies
- Confirm OTA statement delivery dates with each channel
- Pre-build the variance commentary template with prior-month structure
- Run a mid-month balance sheet rec preview to surface issues early
- Confirm payroll cutoff and labor accrual base hours
Phase 02
Revenue reconciliation
Tie every revenue dollar from the operational systems (PMS, POS, spa, parking) to the GL. This is where misposted department revenue gets caught before it shows up wrong on the USALI report.
OwnerProperty accountantTimingClose days 1–2Items10 tasks
- Run final night-audit for the last day of the period
- Lock the PMS period and export the daily revenue summary
- Reconcile total room revenue: PMS night audit vs GL room revenue account
- Reconcile F&B revenue by outlet: POS vs GL F&B accounts
- Reconcile spa, parking, telephone, gift shop, and other-operated revenue
- Reconcile resort fees, destination fees, and incidentals
- Reconcile tax collections by jurisdiction (occupancy, sales, tourism)
- Verify allowances, comps, and rebates against contracted limits
- Confirm stay-through revenue is correctly split across period boundary
- Document any revenue variances >$500 with supporting explanation
Phase 03
OTA & channel reconciliation
Match every OTA statement, brand central billing remittance, travel-agent commission, and loyalty redemption against PMS reservation data. Historically the biggest single time sink in the hotel month-end close.
OwnerAR accountantTimingClose days 2–4Items10 tasks
- Booking.com invoice reconciled against PMS folio data
- Expedia Collect and Hotel Collect statements reconciled
- Marriott/Hilton/IHG central billing reconciled (for branded properties)
- Onyx CenterSource and travel-agent commission statements reconciled
- Loyalty redemption statement reconciled against PMS loyalty postings
- Commission rates validated against contracted rates by rate plan
- Cancellation and no-show treatment matches between OTA and PMS
- VCC settlements matched to folio totals
- Dispute documentation prepared for flagged exceptions
- Final commission accrual journal entry posted
Phase 04
AP & expense
Cutoff AP intake for the period, post invoices to the right accounts, and accrue for everything unbilled. The discipline here drives whether you have post-close adjustments later.
OwnerCorporate AP / property APTimingClose days 3–5Items10 tasks
- Hard cutoff on AP invoice intake confirmed
- Three-way match completed for inventory and capex invoices
- Department coding per USALI verified
- Accruals posted for unbilled utilities, contracted services, and recurring vendors
- Prior-period accruals reversed
- Prepaid expense amortization posted (insurance, software)
- Inventory consumption and ending inventory adjustments posted
- Vendor statements reconciled for top 10 vendors by spend
- Open PO report reviewed and stale POs closed
- Use-tax accrual reviewed for the period
Phase 05
Payroll & labor
Accrue for hours worked but not yet paid, allocate labor to the right USALI departments, and review labor against forecast.
OwnerProperty accountantTimingClose day 4Items7 tasks
- Payroll accrual posted for hours worked through period-end
- Departmental labor allocation per USALI confirmed
- Employer FICA, unemployment, and benefit accruals posted
- PTO and vacation accrual updated
- Bonus and incentive accruals updated
- Labor vs. forecast variance reviewed and documented
- Overtime trend reviewed for anomalies
Phase 06
Balance sheet reconciliations
Every balance sheet account reconciled to a supporting schedule. Non-negotiable monthly discipline that keeps the books audit-ready.
OwnerProperty accountant / controllerTimingClose days 5–6Items14 tasks
- Operating bank account reconciled
- Payroll bank account reconciled
- Depository bank account reconciled
- Credit card settlement clearing accounts reconciled
- VCC clearing account reconciled
- Accounts receivable aging reviewed (group masters, city ledger, corporate)
- Guest ledger reconciled to PMS in-house balances
- Accounts payable aging reviewed
- Accrued liabilities reconciled to supporting schedules
- Prepaid expenses reconciled to amortization schedule
- Inventory reconciled to count or perpetual records
- Fixed asset additions and disposals posted
- Deferred revenue (advance deposits, gift cards, loyalty) reconciled
- Suspense and clearing accounts cleared to zero or explained
Phase 07
Journal entries & posting
Prepare, review, approve, and post every journal entry generated by the prior phases. Maintain segregation of duties.
OwnerProperty accountant / controllerTimingClose days 6–7Items8 tasks
- Standard recurring JEs posted (depreciation, prepaid amortization)
- All accrual JEs from prior phases prepared and reviewed
- Reclassification entries posted
- Intercompany entries posted and confirmed by both sides
- FX translation entries posted (if applicable)
- Every JE has supporting documentation attached
- Segregation of duties verified — preparer ≠ approver
- Final JE batch posted to GL
Phase 08
Reporting & USALI
Produce the period reporting package — USALI operating statement, balance sheet, cash flow, and variance commentary.
OwnerControllerTimingClose days 7–8Items10 tasks
- USALI Schedule of Operations generated
- Balance sheet generated
- Cash flow statement generated
- Operating metrics calculated: occupancy, ADR, RevPAR, GOPPAR, TRevPAR, flow-through
- Budget and prior-year variance populated
- Variance commentary written for all line items >5% or >$10K
- Brand-specific reporting package generated (for branded properties)
- Management fee calculated and reconciled (for managed properties)
- Owner package compiled and reviewed
- Lender reporting package compiled (if required)
Phase 09
Review & sign-off
Final review by the controller and CFO, formal sign-off, and distribution. This phase is where late issues surface — and where the team that compresses close most aggressively wins.
OwnerController / CFOTimingClose days 8–9Items10 tasks
- Controller review of the full close package
- CFO review for multi-property portfolios
- Final sign-off recorded in close-tracking system
- GL period locked
- Reporting package distributed to owners and asset managers
- Franchisor reporting submitted (for branded properties)
- Lender reporting submitted (if required)
- Close working papers and supporting documentation archived
- Post-close adjustment count logged for KPI tracking
- Close retrospective: what slowed us down this period?

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Frequently asked questions

Hotel month-end close is the structured accounting process that finalizes a hotel's financial records for the prior month. It includes night-audit cutoff, revenue reconciliation against the PMS, OTA and commission reconciliation, AP processing and accruals, payroll and labor accruals, balance sheet reconciliations, journal entry posting, USALI reporting, and final sign-off. The full hotel month-end close runs 5–10 business days at most properties.