Hotel accounting clerk interview questions

What this hire must get done

Write the scorecard before you interview, then hire against it. Set the bracketed targets from your own numbers.

What to tell candidates before the interview

Say the hard parts plainly. People who wouldn't stay drop out early, and the ones who stay knew what they signed up for.

• Give the real schedule: weekdays, [8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.], with longer days during the close, in January and in the days after a large group leaves.
• Say how many outlets, rooms and direct-bill accounts they'll handle, and which property management, register and accounting systems you use.
• Explain the controls they'll work under: drops counted with a witness, someone reviewing their adjustments, and no one approving their own entries. Good clerks welcome them, because the checks protect them too.
• Tell candidates up front if a credit report or background check comes with this job, at what stage, and that nothing is pulled without their signed consent. Credit-check rules vary by state and city, and some places push criminal-record questions past the conditional offer.

How to run the interview

1. Same questions, same order. Ask every candidate the questions below and the same follow-ups. It is the only way to compare people fairly.
2. Two interviewers. An owner or manager and someone who does the work. Take notes on what the candidate says, not on how you feel about them.
3. Score right after each answer. 5 sounds like the strong answer, 3 like the mixed one, 1 like the weak one. Use 2 and 4 for answers in between.
4. Rate alone, then compare. Compare candidates question by question, and talk only after everyone has scored. Big gaps are worth a conversation.

1. Technical · Income audit

   It's Monday morning, and the night audit packages for Friday, Saturday and Sunday are on your desk. Walk me through what you tie to what, and in what order.

   It shows whether they truly re-check the night's work or just confirm that the report's totals add up.

   Follow-ups

   • How do you know the guest ledger is right at the end of each day?
   • What do you do with a rate that doesn't match what was booked?
   • What do you send back to the desk, and how?

   5Strong

   Works one day at a time: rates against rate codes and group contracts, tax and exempt backup, each outlet's room charges against PMS postings, voids and allowances against approvals, card and cash totals against settlements and drops, then the guest ledger roll-forward.

   3Mixed

   Checks rates, taxes and outlet postings carefully, but treats the weekend as one batch or skips the guest ledger roll-forward, so a day's error can hide.

   1Weak

   Confirms the night audit report balances and signs off, or only spot-checks a few folios.

2. Technical · Income audit

   The restaurant's register shows more charged to rooms last night than the PMS received from it. How would you track down the gap?

   Interface gaps between the register and the PMS are where hotel revenue goes missing, and finding them takes a method, not a guess.

   Follow-ups

   • What would you compare first, totals or checks?
   • What happens to a room charge posted to a guest who already checked out?
   • Once you find it, who fixes it, and where does the charge go?

   5Strong

   Compares only the room-charge tender, check by check, against PMS postings. Looks for postings the interface rejected, like a checked-out or wrong room, and checks closed after the business-date cutoff. Gets the charge onto the right folio, or the city ledger, with approval, and tells the outlet.

   3Mixed

   Finds the missing check by working line by line, but starts with all sales instead of the room-charge tender, and doesn't ask why the interface dropped it.

   1Weak

   Adjusts one side to match the other, or leaves the difference for month-end.

3. Situational · Deposits and settlements

   Counting Monday's drops with your witness, one desk agent's envelope is [40] short and the bar's is [40] over. The desk manager says to net them and move on. What do you do?

   Netting hides two problems behind one clean number, and how a clerk answers a manager here shows how they'll protect the cash room.

   Follow-ups

   • What do you put in writing, and whose signature goes on it?
   • What could make two envelopes off by the same amount?
   • How do you answer the desk manager?

   5Strong

   Records each envelope as counted, by employee, with the witness signing. Deposits what was counted and reports the short and the over separately to the director of finance for follow-up under the cash policy. Notes any sign of a mislabeled envelope, and tells the manager why they can't be netted.

   3Mixed

   Records, deposits and reports each envelope separately, but doesn't check the drop log or the cashier reports, so whoever follows up starts with less.

   1Weak

   Nets the two, counts without the witness, or quietly covers the gap from another fund.

4. Behavioral · Deposits and settlements

   Tell me about a time the money the card processor deposited didn't match the card totals you'd posted. How did you work out why?

   Card settlements arrive net of fees, refunds and chargebacks, on different days by card brand, so tying them takes patience and a method.

   Follow-ups

   • What did you check first?
   • What turned out to be the cause?
   • What did you change so it didn't happen again?

   5Strong

   Matched batch by batch and day by day, separated fees, refunds and chargebacks the processor had netted out, found the real cause, like an outlet batch that never closed, and changed the step behind it.

   3Mixed

   Found and cleared the difference with help from the processor, but can't say clearly what caused it.

   1Weak

   Booked the gap to fees or an over-and-short account without finding the cause.

5. Situational · City ledger collections

   A conference checked out last week. The planner says [12] room nights on the master bill belonged on attendees' own folios, and won't pay any of it until they're moved. What do you do?

   Group billing disputes are common and costly. The right answer protects the hotel's money without losing the account.

   Follow-ups

   • What do you read before you answer the planner?
   • What do you do about the part of the bill nobody disputes?
   • Who else at the hotel needs to know?

   5Strong

   Pulls the contract's billing instructions, the rooming list and each folio. Moves only what the contract supports, with approval, and asks for payment on the undisputed balance now. Brings in the sales manager who booked the group, logs every contact, and sets a date for the rest.

   3Mixed

   Checks the contract and corrects the folios properly, but holds the whole invoice until the dispute is settled, so undisputed money waits weeks.

   1Weak

   Moves everything to keep the planner happy, or argues without reading the contract.

6. Behavioral · City ledger collections

   Tell me about the oldest receivable you collected, or failed to. What did you do at each step?

   Collections are won by steady, logged follow-up and the right contact, and a real story shows whether the candidate keeps going.

   Follow-ups

   • Who were you dealing with, and how did you find the person who could pay?
   • What did you write down after each contact?
   • When did you hand it up, and to whom?

   5Strong

   Gives dates and steps: confirmed the balance and backup, found the person who approves payment, logged each call and email, offered a plan when it made sense, and escalated on a set schedule. Knows how it ended and what they'd do sooner.

   3Mixed

   Kept at it and got paid, but can't say what the log showed or when they'd escalate.

   1Weak

   Sent statements and waited, or can't name a specific account.

7. Situational · Disputes

   A guest disputes a two-night no-show charge, saying they called to cancel. The processor's response is due [Friday]. What do you do?

   Some disputes should be fought and some should be refunded. Telling them apart quickly saves money and guests.

   Follow-ups

   • Where do you look for the cancellation the guest describes?
   • What goes in the response if you fight it?
   • If the guest did cancel, how do you give the money back?

   5Strong

   Checks the reservation history and call and email logs first. If the guest did cancel, accepts the dispute instead of refunding a second time, and tells reservations. If not, sends the confirmation, policy, guarantee and history, with a note tying each to the claim, well before the deadline.

   3Mixed

   Checks the history and sends the right documents, but on the last day, with no note tying them to the claim.

   1Weak

   Sends the folio alone, misses the deadline, or fights it without checking for a cancellation.

8. Situational · Card data security

   A company's travel manager emails you a full card number, expiration date and security code to pay their city ledger balance. What do you do?

   Card data turns up in inboxes every week at a hotel, and what the clerk does with it decides whether the hotel stores data it should never keep.

   Follow-ups

   • What happens to that email afterward?
   • What do you put on the invoice and in the file?
   • How do you want them to pay next time?

   5Strong

   Runs the payment only if hotel policy allows it, then deletes the email from the inbox, the trash and anywhere it was forwarded. Replies in a new message with no card details, offers a safer way to pay, like a phone call, and keeps only the last four digits.

   3Mixed

   Processes it and deletes the email, but doesn't tell the client a safer way to pay, so next month's payment arrives by email too.

   1Weak

   Prints it for the file, forwards it to a coworker, or writes the number on the invoice.

9. Behavioral · Owning mistakes

   Tell me about an error of yours in a posting, a bill or a deposit that reached someone before you caught it.

   You'll learn whether they tell you about errors or hope nobody notices.

   Follow-ups

   • How did you find out?
   • How soon did your supervisor hear it from you?
   • What check do you run now that you didn't then?

   5Strong

   Names the specific error, told the supervisor and the person affected quickly, corrected it with the right entry, and added a check that has caught others since.

   3Mixed

   Owns the mistake and fixed it, but the lesson is just to be more careful.

   1Weak

   Can't name one, or tells a story about a coworker's error.

10. Behavioral · Income audit

    Tell me about a pattern you noticed in voids, comps, allowances or rate overrides at work. What did you do with it?

    The income audit is where small, repeated losses show up first. You want someone who notices and reports facts without playing detective.

    Follow-ups

    • What made you look twice?
    • What did you pull to check it?
    • Who did you bring it to, and what did you show them?

    5Strong

    Describes a real pattern, like one person's voids right after cash payments, pulled the detail by person, shift and reason, and took the facts to a manager without accusing anyone or telling coworkers.

    3Mixed

    Noticed and reported it, but without pulling the detail first, so the manager had to start from scratch.

    1Weak

    Never looks past the totals, or confronted the coworker directly.

Work exercise: tie a day that doesn't tie

Hand finalists a made-up day: the PMS revenue report by department, the restaurant and bar register reports by payment type, the processor's settlement report and the deposit slip. Plant [four] errors: a restaurant room charge posted twice, a bar card batch that settled a day late, a cash drop entered with two digits swapped, and a PMS refund never sent to the card. In [30] minutes, they tie the day and list each difference and its fix. Show cards by last four digits only.

Use made-up materials, never real customer work, and keep it to the time shown. Follow your own safety rules for anything hands-on.

Reference check questions

Tell finalists you'll call a former manager, and get their permission first. Ask about what they did, not whether they were nice.

• How long did their daily income audit take, and how often did you find something they'd missed?
• Tell me about a short drop, a missing deposit or a coworker's error they found. How did they handle it?
• How did their city ledger aging and dispute deadlines look while they owned them?
• How did they handle card numbers and other private information? Would you put them back in your cash room?

Questions to skip, and what to ask instead

Ask only what the job needs. Questions that touch age, health, family or pay history can break federal, state or local law, even when you mean well.

• SkipAny debts or bankruptcies we should know about? You'd be handling the cash room.

  AskBefore a screening company pulls a credit report, federal law says the candidate must get a stand-alone written notice and sign off on it. Credit checks for jobs are also limited in several states and cities. New York City's ban covers most jobs, and its exemption for handling funds generally reaches only executive roles, not clerks. During the interview, have them describe how they've counted and deposited cash and who reviewed it.

• SkipWho watches your kids if month-end runs late?

  AskMonth-end and big group checkouts mean [two or three] longer days a month. How would that work for you?

• SkipSo what's your current hourly rate?

  AskThis job pays [range] an hour. Is that in the range you need?

Common mistakes when hiring a hotel accounting clerk

• Assuming any bookkeeper can audit a hotel's day

  A strong bookkeeper from an office or store may never have tied a register to a PMS or chased a group's master bill. Hotel revenue arrives overnight from several systems. Hand them a day that doesn't tie and watch how they start.

• Treating trust as the control

  Owners often hire the clerk who seems most honest and then let that person count drops alone, post adjustments and reconcile the bank. Split those jobs no matter whom you hire. The checks protect a good clerk from suspicion and catch a bad one early.

Hotel accounting clerk interview FAQ