A day in the life of a Night Auditor
As Night Auditor on-board a cruise ship I am in charge of the Reception Desk during the night, and so needed to have had the position of Receptionist, prior to taking this position.
I need to be able to answer questions from guests and crew, as well as being able to deal with any situation which might arise on my shift. I am the first person of contact for any problems, medical issues, arguments or fights between guests which arise.
My shift usually starts between 10pm and 11pm, and ends around 8am. Of course schedules may be adjusted according to what is needed operationally on-board the ship.
I take over from the Receptionist who has the late shift, and they brief me on the days events and on which items are still outstanding, and of what extra tasks might need to be completed that night.
My tasks include completing all the daily revenue reconciliation for the end of cruise revenue report. Each outlet on-board the ship where items are sold has a POS, where all purchases are posted. Once the venues are closed, the PO in their locations are closed. This is done by printing the daily reports of each server, and a total report of sales for this day at this specific location. The reports and all tickets signed by the guests are handed to me, or left for me at a designated location at Reception.
I will then compare the total amount of signed tickets with the total of the Revenue Report from the POS, for each server. If there are tickets missing, I must go through all postings to identify what is missing, and the server will be responsible for either handing in the ticket or paying the outstanding difference.
Then I compare the total revenue from the revenue report of the POS with the total revenue posted for this venue in the hotel program. If there are differences then I need to find them, and make the appropriate corrective postings.
Once all revenues have been compared and are matching, and the last outlet on the ship has closed, I run the 'end of day' program for all POS and revenue centers. This enables the computer systems to change to the next date of revenue.
The reports created by the me will go to the Hotel Controller, together with any special tickets (such as special cocktails not on the ship's menu. This is for the Hotel Controller to manually adjust the used beverages for this cocktail, to make sure the inventory system is up to date).
The revenue reports are kept for the Hotel Controller in order for them to keep track of the revenue of each server, and therefore for their respective salary. Another copy of my reports go to the First Purser or Chief Purser.
I am also responsible for sorting all tickets signed by guest and crew for their purchases, into the corresponding files as back up for any guest questions and supporting documentation for the ship's accounts.
Each shift is busy, different and never boring!
Claudio Venancio da Silva, Brazil