Night Auditor

Education and Training High school, bachelor’s degree in Hotel Management, and prior experience in the same position.
Average Salary $26,000 per year
Job Outlook Good

A night auditor works at night at the reception of a hotel, lodge, or a motel and typically performs certain accounting tasks and basic front office duties.
The accounting tasks performed by a night auditor include: verifying revenue documentation, handling the front office cashier’s transactions at night, reconciling settlement accounts and revenue information, and ensuring the accuracy of all the financial information reported during the day. Night auditors are also responsible for ensuring the accuracy of charges to guest folios. Additionally, night auditors manage daily reports generated by the computerized property management system.
The front office duties performed by the night auditor include: greeting guests and assigning rooms, resolving problems arising from guest complaints, answering incoming calls, facilitating guest departures by providing accurate statements, and ensuring guest satisfaction.

Education and Training Requirements

A night auditor should be a graduate, preferable in hotel management with an auditing background. Prior experience in a service industry or a similar job profile is also useful.
Most night auditors are trained on-the-job.

Getting the Job

To become a night auditor, experience in bookkeeping comes in handy. It also helps if the candidate has worked in the hotel industry and has experience in interacting directly with the customers. Night auditors have excellent accounting and bookkeeping skills. They need to have an eye for detail and should be motivated to take up the night shift job. Computer literacy and good mathematical skills are also required for getting a job as a night auditor. Night auditors need to interact with the customers and therefore they need to have a good command of the English language.
Some soft skills that are important for getting a job as a night auditor are: excellent interpersonal skills, pleasant personality, and customer centricity. It is important to have a detail-oriented attitude for night auditors because they need to conduct audits wherein they are required to identify errors made by others. Night auditors need to handle stressful situations as there might be times where they would need to attend to difficult customers. They must be tactful and should be able to control the situation in a composed manner.

Job Prospects, Employment Outlook and Career Development

The job prospects for a night auditor are good. The employment for night auditors is expected to grow by 10% during 2008-2018. The growing hospitality industry, coupled with a growing economy will result in more financial transactions, resulting in the need for more auditors and bookkeepers. Each year, more and more auditors and bookkeepers move to other professions thereby creating new vacancies.
Night auditors typically start as clerks, and then move on to auditors. With experience, they can switch over to bigger hotels offering better salaries. Night auditors can also move on to the role of a lodging manager.
Night auditors are usually employed in hotels, motels, and hospitals. The vacancies can be both full-time or part-time. Students keen on gaining experience in the service industry and accounting can also take up part-time jobs as night auditors.

Working Conditions and Environment

The work environment for night auditors is good as they need to work in an office environment. However, the nature of the work is such that they might experience backaches, eye and muscle strain, and fatigue because of using computers for long hours. Since night auditors work at night, they might even experience a disturbance in sleeping pattern which can take a toll on their health.

Salary and Benefits

An entry level night auditor can earn close to $20,000 per year whereas with experience it might even go up to $30,500. Night auditors might also be paid on an hourly basis. The benefits offered might vary depending on the place of employment.

Where to Go for More Information

American Institute of Professional Bookkeepers
Ste. 500, 6001 Montrose Rd.
Rockville, MD 20852
(800) 622-0121
http://www.aipb.org

Government Accountability Office
441 G St., NW
Washington, DC 20548
(202) 512-3000
http://www.gao.gov