Transcription
DataReportingGuidelines
Data ReportingGuidelinesThe STR data reporting guidelines were developedand evolved to align with the Uniform Systemof Accounts for the Lodging Industry (USALI),currently in its eleventh edition.The guidelines conform to USALI, where possible,with the spirit and intent to uphold benchmarkingbest practices and performance data consistency.In the current version, STR has provided additionalclarity on specific topics found on page 3.If you have any questions or require additionalsupport, please contact us at support@str.com orhotelinfo@str.comSTR Data Reporting Guidelines 02
SummarySummary of STR Data ReportingGuidelines ClarificationsSurcharges, Service Charges, and Gratuities.A careful evaluation should be conducted todetermine whether or not these charges shouldbe included or excluded within rooms or otherrooms revenue, both the USALI 11th ed. andGAAP requires an assessment of whether thehotel is acting as a principal (i.e. collecting thecharges for its own benefit) or as an agent (i.e.collecting the charges and required to passthrough onto a third party, e.g. employees orgovernment).Regarding including or excluding service chargeswhen reporting rooms/other revenue:Reporting Rooms AvailableEnhanced clarity for reporting full available,renovation closed, extended closed, and mixedownership rooms.Commissions and Fees – GroupEnhanced guidance provided for handling GroupCommissions and Fees (Contra Revenue)can be found here.Please refer to page 7 for more information aboutgroup negotiated rates with commissions and rebates.When acting as a principal, the full amountof services charges are only to be included inrevenue if:Package RevenuesAdditional clarity regarding properties providinggratis food and/or beverages to guests wherethe guest cannot opt out of the food/beverageportion.1) The fees/charges are mandatory, customary,non-discretionary and automatically added toa customer account and the customer has nodiscretion or the ability to “opt out”, andMarketing PromotionsGuidance provided for handling rooms revenuegenerated from “Buy Two Nights, Get One Free”and similar marketing promotions.2) The hotel is able to collect the charges for itsown benefit (i.e. it is not required to pass-throughthe collected charges onto a 3rd party).Pet and Smoking RoomsGuidance provided for reporting as roomrevenue/ADR (“room type”) versusMiscellaneous Income as cleaning or penaltyfee/s.When acting as an agent, services charges areexcluded from rooms/other revenue.Should you have any questions on this subject,please email us athotelinfo@str.com (outside North America) orsupport@str.com (North America).Details are provided for each of these areaswithin the STR data reporting guidelinessections below.STR Data Reporting Guidelines 03
Include in RoomsRevenue Figures:“No-shows”Reporting RoomsRevenueOnly revenue generated from guestroom rental shouldbe included in Rooms Revenue figures reported to STR.Revenue produced from food and beverage orother sources, including the “non-room revenue”components of package rates, should be excludedfrom Rooms Revenue reported to STR. Rooms Revenuereported to STR should be net of rebates, refunds,allowances, overcharges and taxes. Specifics of whatshould be included and excluded from Rooms Revenuereported to STR are provided below.Revenue derived from a transient or group guest who has individuallyguaranteed payment to reserve a room, but has failed either to occupy theroom or cancel the reservation within the prescribed time frame.For clarity, revenue from group attrition (cancellation) and transient guestcancellation after the cutoff date are included in Attrition Fees and CancellationFees within Miscellaneous Income (Schedule 4) and not Rooms Revenue or OtherRooms Revenue.Surcharges and service charges(property acting as principal)These charges generally include any mandatory, customary, non-discretionaryor other charges automatically added to a customer account in respect of theservice or use of an amenity in which a customer has no discretion or the abilityto “opt-out” (particularly common in the Middle East and Asia Pacificregions).1 These charges typically include a compulsory service charge or aguest room cleaning charge. Charges are mandatory and not required to bepassed through to a 3rd party (e.g. employee or government agency).2 Forreporting and benchmarking consistency, the entire service charge amount inthe respective currency should be included in Rooms Revenue reported to STR.Partial day and “day use” revenueRooms Revenue from sources such as: hospitality suites, dressing rooms,employment interviews, movie auditions and wholesale distributors (forexample, clothing, toys, other merchandise). No Food and Beverage servicesshould be included.Pet or smoking roomsOffered as any other “room type” (beach/scenic view, suite, high floor,concierge level/floor).Note, pet or smoking fees charged as a penalty, cleaning, or damages arereported in Miscellaneous Income (Schedule 4). See Exclude from RoomsRevenue Figures- Pet or Smoking Fees.Early/late departure feesSTR tracks Food and Beverage and Other Revenue forhotels participating in the STR Segmentation program(see Segmentation Definitions).Rollaway bed/Crib rentalExclude from RoomsRevenue Figures:Resort FeesResort Fees are not part of Rooms Revenue service charges and are not to be includedin Rooms/Other Rooms Revenue figures reported to STR. Resort Fees must be includedin Miscellaneous Income (Schedule 4).Commissions and Fees - GroupWhen the contracting party directly receives a rebate/commission as a result of thecontract with the hotel, where the analysis of gross versus net reporting would indicatenet reporting, the hotel should record the rebate/commission as a contra revenue (areduction of revenue). See Gross versus Net, USALI Part V page 340.When as a result of contractual arrangement, the hotel (the obligator) must make apayment to a non-related third party, where the analysis of gross versus net reportingwould indicate gross reporting, the payment would be recorded aspart of Commissions and Fees – Group expense. See Gross versus Net, USALIPart V page 340.Product or service-related refundsRefunds due to product or service related issues are a reduction toRooms Revenue.Group attrition (cancelation) and transient guest cancellationFees received due to cancellations (generally advance deposits for meetings, conventions,groups, guest sleeping room blocks, etc.) should be excluded from Rooms Revenuereported to STR.For clarity, revenue from group attrition (cancellation) and transient guest cancellationafter the cutoff date are included in Attrition Fees and Cancellation Fees withinMiscellaneous Income (Schedule 4) and not Rooms Revenue or Other Rooms Revenue.Food and Beverage and ancillary feesIncluded in package rates or at all-inclusive hotels (e.g. parking, transportation,internet or golf/spa).Pet or smoking feescharged as a penalty, cleaning, or damages are reported in Miscellaneous Income(Schedule 4).Surcharges, Service Charges, Gratuities(property acting as an agent).Charged as a penalty, cleaning, or damages are reported in Miscellaneous Income(Schedule 4).GratuitiesA gratuity is generally a discretionary amount added to an account or left directly withan employee by the customer. Gratuities are generally retained by the employee atthe time of the transaction in the case of cash or disbursed by the employer as trusteefor the employees in the case of charged gratuities. A gratuity is not income to theproperty. It is treated as income directly in the hands of the employee.Taxes and Government mandated surchargesSTR Data Reporting Guidelines 041 See Uniform System Accounts for the Lodging Industry; page 12.2 See Uniform System of Accounts for the Lodging Industry; pp. 351-352.
Wholesalers, eChannel, online travel agencies(OTAs) and/or internet ratesNet (not gross) Rooms Revenue from wholesale and “paywhen booked” internet rates should be reported to STR.Additional RoomsRevenue Allocation/Reporting NotesGross (not net) Rooms Revenue should be reported toSTR for “pay later” internet rates, similar to traditionaltravel agencies. Commissions on these gross revenuesare recorded as an expense to the rooms department.Package rates:Only the room revenue portion of package rates shouldbe reported to STR. To identify the room revenuecomponent in package rates, the Fair Market Value (FMV)of each package item should be determined. The FMVroom revenue percentage should then be applied to thepackage rate to determine the Rooms Revenue figurereported to STR.1) The fees/charges are mandatory, customary, non-discretionaryand automatically added to a customer account and the customerhas no discretion or the ability to “opt-out”, and2) The hotel is able to collect the charges for its own benefit (i.e. it isnot required to pass-through the collected charges onto a 3rd party).When acting as an agent services charges are excluded from rooms/other revenue.Should you have any questions on this subject, please email us athotelinfo@str.com (outside North America) or support@str.com(North America).The conservative average of prevailing rates for similaraccommodations in the hotel or as set forth by ratestandards established by brand/chain.Two best practices options exist for recording loyaltyredemption or rewards:1) Only record redemption/reward revenue in the monthend total (e.g. January monthly total).2) Care should be given when reporting weekly and dailyredemption/reward revenue. Revenue should not bereported on one day of the week but spread/allocatedover each day of the week (i.e. day 1-7).Marketing PromotionsRooms revenue generated from “buy two nights, get onefree” and similar marketing promotions should be spreadevenly over the nights generated by the promotion.Regarding including or exluding service charges whenreporting rooms/other revenue:When acting as a principal, the full amount of services charges areonly to be included in revenue if:Loyalty program redemptions and rewards:Example:A spa package consisting of a guestroom for one night,four meals and the use of the property’s spa facilities atan inclusive price of 240, not including taxes, gratuitiesor service charges. Despite the fact that the FMV of thepackage is 320, only the 240 total amount will show onthe guest account, plus sales, excise and transient taxesas applicable to each revenue category. The propertycomputes the departmental allocations of the 240 salesprice as nsRooms 16050% 120Food 11235% 84Spa 4815% 36Total 320100% 240Where properties provide incidental (gratis) food and/orbeverages to a guest, or where the guest cannot opt out ofthe food program, or where meals are provided as part of afranchise company or brand standard, the cost of the foodand/or beverage item is charged to the rooms department,and no allocation of revenues should be made to the Foodand Beverage department.STR Data Reporting Guidelines 05
Include in RoomsSold Figures:Revenue generating rooms soldReportingRooms SoldOnly revenue generating guestroomsshould be reported to STR as roomssold. Complimentary rooms shouldbe excluded in the rooms sold figures.Specifics of what should be includedand excluded from rooms sold reportedto STR are provided below:Day use and partial day room soldRooms sold from sources such as: hospitality suites,dressing rooms, employment interviews, movie auditionsand wholesale distributors (for example, clothing, toys,other merchandise). No Food and Beverage servicesshould be included. It is possible for the sourcesparticularly at resort, airport and highway locations toachieve higher than 100% occupancy.Rooms occupied without chargein connection with a promotion or contractExclude from RoomsSold Figures:Complimentary roomsNot associated with a promotion or contract (e.g. gratisrooms provided to employees, owners and familiarizationtours).“No-shows”No room nights sold are to be recordedfor a no-show.Owner occupied condominiumsOwner occupied rooms should be treated ascomplimentary rooms.(e.g. stay two nights, get one free; book a50-room group, get one room free).STR Data Reporting Guidelines 06
There should be NO adjustment in room availability reported to STR if rooms are temporarily out ofservice for renovation. If rooms are permanently removedfrom inventory, hotel management should contact STRto adjust the hotel’s room count.Reporting RoomsAvailableFull room night availability(i.e. number of rooms at the propertymultiplied by the days in the period)must be reported for each hotel.If a property removes ALL rooms from inventory forrenovation (complete closure), for a period of more thanone calendar month, STR should be notified sothat the property may be marked as “Renovation Closed”.Hotels marked as “Renovation Closed” assume closedstatus, have no available inventory during the renovationperiod, and therefore no impact on the performance ofcompetitive sets or industry segments.Additionally, if rooms are closed for an extended periodof time (typically over six months), “Extended ClosedRooms”, due to natural or man-made disaster (hurricane,earthquake, fire, oil-spill, etc.) please notify STRfor proper handling of a room inventory reduction.Seasonally Closed RoomsWhen all operations of a hotel are closed for a minimumof 30 consecutive days due to seasonal demand patterns,then the rooms for this period should be removed fromthe annual saleable inventory. The hotel must be seasonally closed consistently at the same time each year. STRshould be notified so that the property may be identifiedas “Seasonally Closed” for the applicable period.Mixed-ownership properties (i.e. hotels includingtimeshare/condo inventory)Properties of all types are building or converting roomsinto residential units creating “mixed-ownership” entities.These facilities may be timeshare, strata, fractional useor whole ownership. Merely operating these mixed-own-ership properties as a lodging operation does not in andof itself qualify the revenue stream to be recorded in theRooms department. Consideration should be given to thefacts and circumstances of each project.The first step in identifying the revenue treatment of themixed ownership property is to determine if the reportingshould be gross or net (see Part V, USALI). When workingthrough the criteria for gross versus net, weight shouldbe given to which party incurs the predominant economicloss if the renter fails to pay. Once the revenue treatmentis determined, there are three scenarios for inclusion inthe Statements of Income outlined in USALI. The scenario provided below details when and how data should bereported to STR.Property assumes the predominant economic risklong term (Scenario 1)The property enters into an agreement with the third-party unit owner that extends one year or beyond and theunits are included in the hotel room inventory for the fullyear. Under the terms of the agreement, the propertyassumes the economic risk associated with operatingthe third-party-owned units pursuant to the contractualrelationship.The associated revenue stream is recorded in the Roomsdepartment with the Transient, Group, Contract andOther Revenue categories, and the units are consideredavailable rooms in the property room inventory. Wherethe contract permits the unit owner a limited number ofnights in the unit, the unit would remain in the availableroom pool and would be recorded as a complimentaryroom when the owner is occupying the unit.STR Data Reporting Guidelines 07
Transient Rooms RevenueGroup Rooms RevenueIt also includes rooms leased to guests who haveestablished permanent residence, with or without acontract.A group is typically defined as 10 or more rooms pernight sold pursuant to a contract. Group Rooms Revenueis recorded net of discounts to wholesalers for sellinglarge blocks of rooms. Rebates or subsidies granteddirectly to a group should be recorded as contra revenue.Commonly includes revenue derived from rental of roomsand suites by individuals or groups occupying less than10 rooms per night.SegmentationProgramDefinitionsTransient stays typically include the following categories: Retail Discount Negotiated Qualified WholesaleIncludes revenue derived from renting blocks of rooms orsuites to a group.Rooms Revenue is generally segregated by marketsegment.Market segments typically include the followingcategories: Corporate Association/Convention Government Tour group/Wholesalers SMERF (Social, Military, Educational, Religious,Fraternal)Contract Rooms RevenueIncludes revenue derived from a contract with anotherentity for a consistent block of rooms for an extendedperiod over 30 days. Contract Rooms Revenue isrecorded net of discounts.Examples include domiciled airline crews, ongoingcorporate training seminars and incentive–based benefitprograms.STR Data Reporting Guidelines 08
Food and Beverage Revenue- Revenues derived from the sale of food, includingcoffee, milk, tea and soft drinks.AdditionalRevenueSegmentationReporting Definitions- Revenues derived from the sale of beveragesincluding, beer, wine, liquors and ale, includingbanquet beverage revenues.- Revenues derived from other sources such asmeeting room rentals, audiovisual equipmentrentals, cover or service charges or other revenueswithin the Food and Beverage department (includesbanquet service charges).Other RevenueIncludes all revenues collected by the propertythat are not defined above as Rooms Revenue orFood and Beverage Revenue (e.g. parking, spa,telecommunications).Other Data Reporting Notes- Partial Month Data: Monthly data for hotels newto a company’s portfolio (i.e. new construction,acquisitions, conversions) should be reported toSTR only if the property was open 15 or more daysin the initial month of operation.- Hotel “Soft Openings”: Management of newlyconstructed hotels should provide STR the correctphysical room inventory at the time of opening andshould report full room night availability basedon the current room count. As rooms are openedand added to the property count, managementshould provide STR with updates on physical roominventory count, including date of room additionand number of rooms added, until the hotelreaches full availability.Total RevenueIncludes all revenues generated from hotel operationslisted above as Rooms, F&B and Other Revenue (e.g.parking, spa, telecommunications).STR Data Reporting Guidelines 09
Should you have any questions about these reportingguidelines, please do not hesitate to contact us:Get in touchSTR (North America)support@str.comwww.str.comSTR International (Outside North America)hotelinfo@str.comwww.str.comFor additional information on the Uniform System of Accounts for the Lodging Industry, Eleventh RevisedEdition please visit the HFTP: https://www.hftp.org/hospitality resources/usali guide/Site navigation includes:-Purchase the USALI 11th Revised Edition-Supplemental Resources-Clarifications and Amendments-Frequently Asked Questions-Articles and Guides-TemplatesSTR Data Reporting Guidelines 010
Group attrition (cancelation) and transient guest cancellation Fees received due to cancellations (generally advance deposits for meetings, conventions, groups, guest sleeping room blocks, etc.) should be excluded from Rooms Revenue reported to STR. For clarity, revenue from group attrition
