The hotel auditor is a hotel employee who inspects the financial records of a hotel’s operation, either daily or over a longer term. Though specialized hotel auditors may include Certified Public Accountants and others on a consulting basis, most hotel auditors are regular hotel employees who are trained to provide short-term monitoring of accounts. Many of these auditors are called “night auditors,” because their shift generally runs from late evening until early morning.
A night auditor may also be a front desk agent, or handle some of the duties of that job in addition to going over financial records. For example, the auditor may check in hotel guests while engaged in audit activities. Although the hotel auditor may technically belong to the accounting department of a hotel, he or she may also participate in customer service training or other aspects of front desk work.
It is important to realize that many hotel auditor jobs include a customer service role. This kind of dual job role requires a broad range of skills, as the auditor has to be good with finances, and have the required social skills to cover the front desk. Other concerns for someone who hopes to become a hotel auditor relate to integrity and general reliability, since the shift of the night auditor is relatively unsupervised.
For the majority of night auditors who function as regular hotel employees, certification or specialized financial education does not play a major role in their entrance into this career. Many in this career become a hotel auditor by filling in when a hotel is in need of a night auditor, since relatively few applicants want to handle the irregular night hours that the employer requires. Although book-keeping experience helps, job interview skills can be even more effective in getting an individual started in hotel auditing.
Another avenue for those who want to become a hotel auditor is through collecting any kind of financial credentials, including college or university programs, vocational skills programs, or financial certifications of nearly any kind. These will give an applicant a better chance at landing their first hotel auditing job. After a hotel employee has worked as a night auditor, he or she may be able to secure another auditing job with more desirable shifts and greater responsibilities.
The typical business plan of a hotel usually provides for nightly accounting work, and this has led to a broad need for hotel auditor employees. Hotel auditing can be a good first step to other book-keeping jobs in banks, small businesses or other venues. Though there are many ways to become a hotel auditor, a primary one involves using on the job training to build practical financial skills, while proving social skills and trustworthiness to initial employers.