Hotel daily report format: what it should show, with a free Excel template

A useful daily report lets the owner see what the hotel sold, which payments have been confirmed and what needs follow-up. Those are separate questions: today’s sales and today’s money received need not be equal.

Start with the free Excel template. It separates trading figures, payment checks, the recorded balance and cash in the drawer. Here is how to read them.

What did the hotel sell?

Show rooms, restaurant, bar, laundry and other sales on separate lines. Use the business day consistently, including sales after midnight that belong to that trading day.

For rooms, include rooms available, rooms sold and room revenue. Those inputs give you occupancy, average daily rate and revenue per available room (RevPAR). The worked example in naira explains each calculation.

Keep genuinely complimentary rooms visible separately. Show taxes collected for government outside sales. Service charges need the treatment agreed with your accountant; they are not automatically excluded from revenue just because they are called service charges.

The template keeps amounts collected on behalf of others separate. For room-and-breakfast packages, enter the agreed room and restaurant allocations rather than counting the full package in both departments.

Which payments have been confirmed?

For each method, show:

• Recorded: the payments entered by staff.
• Confirmed: the part of those same payments supported by the relevant check.
• Still to confirm: the difference between them.

Cash needs a count. A transfer needs evidence in the receiving account or payment provider’s records. For POS, distinguish an approved terminal transaction from its later settlement into the bank, allowing for fees and timing. The template’s confirmed POS column uses settlement evidence.

Compare the same set of payments. A settlement today for yesterday’s card transactions is not confirmation of today’s card sales.

Suppose the desk records ₦85,000 for one guest, but the transfer has not been found. The payment section shows ₦85,000 recorded, zero confirmed and ₦85,000 still to confirm. The person checking knows exactly what remains open.

What do the recorded balances tell you?

Now suppose that guest’s bill also totals ₦85,000. If the system credits the recorded payment, the bill balance is zero even though the transfer is still unconfirmed. That is why the report needs both a balance and a payment check.

The template calculates a net recorded balance: opening balance, plus charges, less recorded payments and corrections. It includes credit from payments still awaiting confirmation. Read it alongside the payment section, not as proof that every payment arrived.

It is also not a list of overdue debts. One guest’s advance payment can offset another guest’s unpaid bill in a net total. Keep a separate list of individual guest and company balances, with due dates and unapplied credits shown separately. Check that list before calling someone about payment.

The template is a simple daily summary. Refunds, rejected payments and other adjustments must be reconciled to the underlying bills; its total cannot replace that detail.

Does the drawer match the cash record?

Start with the opening float. Add cash recorded, subtract cash expenses and cash handed over or banked, then compare with the physical count.

For example, ₦20,000 float + ₦96,500 recorded − ₦41,000 expenses − ₦50,000 handed over leaves ₦25,500 expected. If the count is ₦24,500, record a ₦1,000 shortage and the follow-up. An unexplained difference should remain unexplained until checked.

Record each expense with its purpose, payment method and receipt. If evidence is missing, say so. Do not adjust a sales or expense figure simply to make the drawer balance.

Finish with the decisions

A useful closing note might read:

• ₦85,000 transfer still unconfirmed; duty manager to check the receiving account and contact the guest this morning.
• Cash ₦1,000 short; manager to review the handover and cash expense records.
• Company invoice due yesterday; accounts to follow up with the contact named on the invoice.

These are illustrative entries. Their value is that each names an unresolved issue and a next action.

Have one person prepare the report and another check it against the supporting records. Save a copy for each business day. The template’s Month sheet summarises daily figures; it does not automatically chase earlier unresolved payments, so keep that follow-up list separately.

Janus groups recorded payments by method and shows their verification status. Guest bills and company balances provide the detail behind the summary. See how payment checks work.