Hotel night audit checklist: what to check before you close the day
In short: Before the night audit, make sure every arrival is checked in or accounted for, every departure is checked out, room statuses match the front desk and every cash drawer balances. The audit then posts room and tax charges, flags no-shows, rolls the business date and locks the day. Afterwards, review the manager's flash and the exceptions.
Every expected arrival is checked in, cancelled or still genuinely expected
Anyone left over will be flagged as a no-show
Every departure is checked out, and its folio settled or moved to the city ledger
An open folio for a guest who has left becomes an unpaid balance
Room status on the housekeeping board matches the front desk
A room shown occupied but empty, or the reverse, points to a missed check-in or check-out
Restaurant and other outlet charges are posted to the right rooms
Late charge-to-room orders belong on tonight's folio
Every cash drawer is counted by payment method
Differences are easiest to explain on the same shift
Every discount, void and reversal has a reason
Unexplained concessions are where money quietly leaks
What the audit does
Posts the night's room charge to every in-house folio at the agreed rate.
Applies taxes and service charge to those charges.
Flags guests who did not arrive as no-shows, so your no-show policy can be applied and the room released.
Rolls the business date forward.
Locks the day, so posted figures cannot change silently; corrections go through reversals with a reason.
After the audit
Read the manager's flash: occupancy, ADR, RevPAR and revenue for the day just closed.
Deal with no-shows: take deposits or card holds according to your policy.
Compare tomorrow's arrivals with available rooms, so any shortfall is found tonight, not at the desk.
Follow up open balances and city-ledger items for companies and agents.
Common problems and fixes
Problem
Likely cause
Fix
A guest is charged twice for one night
The room charge was posted by hand before the audit
Post room charges only through the audit
A cash drawer is short or over
A payment recorded under the wrong method, or not recorded
Count by method at shift close and note the difference
A guest who left still shows in house
Check-out was never done in the system
Check out and settle before the audit; compare with the room board
Revenue does not match last week's report
Charges edited after the day closed
Lock each day and correct only with reversals
Manual or automated?
In a manual audit a night auditor works through these steps by hand, often for hours. An automated audit does the posting, no-show flagging and date roll on a schedule or on demand, so staff time goes into the checks before and the review after. In bedsKey, the night audit posts room and tax charges, rolls the business date, flags no-shows and locks the day — on a schedule or on demand — and every amount is calculated in exact decimals. The night audit guide explains the concept in more depth.
Common questions
What time should the night audit run?
Most hotels run it after midnight once the day's late arrivals are settled. Pick a fixed time that suits your property and keep it consistent, so every business day covers the same hours.
Does a small guest house need a night audit?
Even a small property needs each day closed: charges posted, no-shows handled and figures locked. With an automated audit this takes no staff time.
What happens if the night audit is not run?
Room charges are not posted, the business date does not move and no-shows are not flagged, so folios and reports drift away from reality. It should run every night.
