Inside Look from the Global Finance Committee

The brain trust of hotel industry experts who are tasked with future planning and development for theUniform System of Accounts for the Lodging Industry(USALI®) is back in full, collaborative force to produce the new USALI 12^th Revised Edition. This group, the Global Finance Committee (GFC) sponsored by HFTP and AHLA, recently met in Washington, DC to discuss major financial and operating revisions and enhancements that will be made to the new edition.

In this blog post, Robert Mandelbaum, GFC member and director of research information services at CBRE Hotels Research, summarizes the many notable changes to date:

• The Utilities Schedule (11^th edition) will become the newEnergy, Water, and Waste (EWW) Schedule. The subject of a recentHOTEL YEARBOOK articles by HFTP CEO Frank Wolfe, this new Schedule will address increasing expectations from guests, investors and companies for reliable ESG reporting standards, metrics and statistics (read the article to learn more).
  • theEWW Schedule will include new required expense categories to capture energy, water, sewer expenditures, waste and contract services. It will also incorporate a recommended schedule for obtaining environmental and greenhouse gas emissions and statistics.
• The definitions for each of the rate categories used for the Rooms Revenue segment have been expanded; and an optionalChannel Mix schedule has been added.
• Enhanced guidance will help users determine if a retail operation selling food and beverages should be considered asFood & Beverage (F&B)revenue or asOther Operated Departmentrevenue.
• New guidance will enhance the tracking of costs associated with services and amenities offered to participants of aGuest Loyalty Program.
• Guidance will be added to theMiscellaneous Income, Non-operating Income, and Expenses,andBalancesheetsections to reflect the latest lease accounting rules and regulations changes.
• Additional expense categories in theSales and MarketingDepartmentwill reflect the many new digital methods used to promote hotels.

Ahead of the new edition, HFTP is introducing a brand-new digital format for the USALI, published via the cloud-based publishing platform Kitaboo. The new digital version of the current 11^ththe USALI edition is expected to be available in Spring 2023, and the new 12^thedition will be added to the platform once it is released. .

For questions, contact HFTP at [email protected] or +1 (512) 220-4020. Follow news and information on the USALI 12^thRevised Edition, on the HFTP website.