Night audit explained: what closing the hotel day actually does

The night audit is the routine that closes one hotel day and opens the next. It confirms that every stay has been charged for the night, decides what happens to guests who did not arrive, checks the day’s money against what was recorded, and moves the hotel’s business date forward by one.

What a night audit checks

1. Arrivals not checked in. Each one is either a late arrival (keep the room) or a no-show (release the room, charge the fee if the policy allows).
2. Departures not checked out. A guest still in house after their departure date is either an extension or a mistake.
3. Room charges posted. Every occupied room carries tonight’s room and tax charges on its folio.
4. Payments recorded. Cash, card and online payments for the day agree with what reached the bank or the terminal.
5. Occupancy and revenue for the day, as the final numbers for reporting.

The business date is not the calendar date

A hotel’s day does not end at midnight. The business date stays “Tuesday” until the audit closes it — even at 2 a.m. on Wednesday. That is why a guest arriving at 1 a.m. still belongs to Tuesday’s arrivals.

This matters for software too. If a system uses the server’s clock instead of the property’s time zone, a hotel in Sofia can find its day rolling over three hours early — in the middle of the night shift.

Close each day exactly once

The most expensive night-audit mistake is closing a day twice, or skipping one: charges posted twice, or one night with no room revenue at all. Two people closing at once, or a manual close plus an automatic one, are the usual cause. The system should make it impossible.

Make it a five-minute job

• Review no-shows and late arrivals before midnight, while you can still phone the guest.
• Let the system post room charges, not a person.
• Read one summary — occupancy, revenue, open balances — and close.

In Revio

The Close Day screen in RevioPMS shows tonight’s audit — occupancy, revenue and no-shows — and closes the business date once. The date only rolls if it is still the date that was read, so a manual close and an automatic one can never both advance it. Dates follow the property’s own time zone.

Questions

Does a small hotel need a night auditor?

Usually not a dedicated one. With software that prepares the checks, a receptionist or manager can close the day in a few minutes at the end of the evening shift.

What happens if the day is not closed?

Room charges may not post, no-shows stay open, and the next day's reports start from a wrong position. It is better to close a day late than not at all — and a good system will not let the same day be closed twice.

When is the right time to close the day?

After the last expected arrival is decided. Many hotels close between midnight and 3 a.m.; what matters is consistency and the property's own time zone, not the server's.