Hotel accounting has its own dialect — rooms, F&B and “other” revenue behave differently enough that the industry runs a standard system (USALI) to keep them apart. Here’s a right-sized version for independent properties, hotel-specific accounts marked.
The numbering backbone
1000s Assets · 2000s Liabilities · 3000s Equity · 4000s Revenue · 5000s Direct costs / COGS · 6000s Operating expenses
Leave gaps between codes (1000, 1010, 1020…) so new accounts slot in without renumbering — the classic rookie regret is a packed sequence in year one.
Sample chart of accounts — hotel
| Code | Account | Type / note |
| 1000 | Operating bank account | Asset |
| 1100 | Guest ledger (in-house folios) | Asset — current guests’ unbilled charges |
| 1110 | City ledger (OTA & corporate receivables) | Asset — checked-out, unpaid |
| 1200 | Food & beverage inventory | Asset |
| 1300 | Property, furniture & equipment | Fixed asset |
| 2000 | Accounts payable | Liability |
| 2100 | Advance deposits | Liability — bookings not yet stayed |
| 2200 | Occupancy/lodging taxes payable | Liability |
| 3000 | Equity / retained earnings | Equity |
| 4000 | Room revenue | Revenue — the flagship department |
| 4100 | Food & beverage revenue | Revenue — its own department |
| 4200 | Other operated departments (spa, parking, laundry) | Revenue |
| 5000 | Rooms department costs (housekeeping, amenities, OTA commissions) | Departmental expense |
| 5100 | F&B cost of sales + kitchen labor | Departmental expense |
| 6000 | Undistributed: admin, marketing, maintenance, utilities | Overhead |
The departmental logic
The hotel COA’s whole idea is department-level profitability: rooms revenue minus rooms costs, F&B minus F&B costs — because a property can run a stellar rooms margin while the restaurant quietly loses money, and a blended P&L will never say so. Guest vs city ledger is the industry’s receivables split (staying vs departed), and advance deposits sit as liabilities until the night is actually delivered — recognizing them early is the sector’s classic books-flattering mistake.
Two metrics fall straight out of this structure: RevPAR from the rooms lines, and departmental margins that feed any margin analysis. Cash seasonality — the other hotel constant — is what the days cash on hand calculator was built for.
FAQ
What is USALI? The Uniform System of Accounts for the Lodging Industry — the standard hotel COA/reporting framework. Independent properties typically run a simplified version like the one above.
What are guest ledger and city ledger? Guest ledger: charges of guests currently in-house. City ledger: receivables after checkout — OTAs, corporate accounts, groups.
When is room revenue recognized? When the night is delivered, not when the deposit arrives — advance deposits are liabilities until the stay happens.
Why departmental accounting? Because rooms and F&B have different economics — separating them reveals which parts of the property actually make money.