Front office manager

You run the front desk of a hotel. The desk's work, plus agreeing rates, decisions on discounts and refunds, rooms out of order, the night audit, the shifts and the hotel reports.

Kila describes the front office manager as the role that “runs the front desk: agrees rates, takes rooms out of order, runs the night audit, reviews shifts and the hotel reports. No settings.”

Kila opens Front desk, as for the front office: the hotel day, the arrivals, departures and guests in the house. Your menu has more: Approvals (1), Housekeeping, Night audit (2), Hotel reports (3), Shifts and Trading day.

Peter Otieno's front desk at Naivasha Lakeside Lodge, with Approvals (1), Night audit (2) and Hotel reports (3) in his menu.

Your day

Run the desk with the team: everything the front office does, from checking guests in to checking them out.
Decide what waits for you under Approvals: discounts and refunds within your limits. Approve or reject a request.
The decisions the desk cannot make: a rate below the plan, a charge taken off that someone else posted, a reservation cancelled without its charge, a bill left on the guest’s account at check-out.
Rooms out of order with housekeeping: Run housekeeping from the board.
Review the desk’s shifts as they close: Review a shift.
The night audit, when the night auditor is not there: Run the night audit.
The hotel reports: occupancy and rates, revenue by department, the forecast, the night audit pack and the levy return, under Hotel › Hotel reports.

What you can do

Everything the front office does at the desk.
Agree rates, cancel without a charge, take off any charge, and leave a bill on the guest’s account at check-out.
Take rooms out of order and assign housekeeping.
Run the night audit and read the hotel reports.
Review shifts, and approve discounts and refunds up to your limits.

Everything the role is allowed to do

General: View dashboard; Approve or reject requests
Point of sale: Sell at the till; View sales; Create quotations; Apply discounts; Start refunds and returns; Approve refunds; Void sales; Open and close own shift; Review shifts and variances; Sell gift vouchers and check their balance; Open bills and add orders on tables and tabs (no till shift needed); See the kitchen and bar screens; Move kitchen tickets (cooking, ready, done) and print them; Book, change, seat and cancel table reservations; Take entry charges at the door and keep the headcount; Send an M-Pesa prompt for a bill at the table; Start and release card holds on bills (pre-authorisation)
Rooms and folios: Rooms and folios: see the room grid, reservations, folios and the guest register; Take and change reservations, groups and rooming lists (no room assignment, check-in or money); Assign and move rooms on reservations; Front desk: check guests in and out, post charges and take folio payments and deposits; Agree rates other than the rate plan, book past restrictions and waive cancellation charges; Assign and inspect housekeeping tasks; Take rooms out of order and put them back; Run the night audit; Company accounts, agent contracts and commission, levy returns; Hotel reports and the night audit pack
Catalog: View products and services; Suggest prices for products below the minimum margin
Stock: View stock
Customers: View customers; Create and edit customers
Services: View services and bookings; Book and manage appointments
Credit: Record repayments
Money: Record cash deposited from the till to M-Pesa or the bank after trading (own branch)
Branch operations: Complete opening, closing and log checklists and report issues
Warranty: Look up warranties and take in warranty claims

What needs a manager

Approval limit	Up to
Refunds	KES 20,000.00
Discounts	15%
Stock adjustments	KES 0.00
Credit agreements	KES 0.00

Needs a manager

Discounts and refunds above your limits go to someone with a higher limit, such as the owner.
The hotel’s set-up (“No settings”): Rooms and rates, Hotel settings and Booking page and channels are for the owner. On Rooms and rates Kila tells you “Your role does not include this page”.

Common questions

Why can I not change a room’s price? Prices, seasons and rate plans are the hotel’s set-up, which is for the owner: Set up rooms, rates and seasons.

Who runs the night audit when the night auditor is off? You can. If nobody does, it runs by itself at the time set for it: Run the night audit.

A guest cancels inside the cancellation period. Must they pay? Kila posts the plan’s charge, but you can choose Cancel without charge (manager): Take a reservation.