Jo Fuller, Head of Pre-Sales & Product Innovation at Percipient, looks at what makes Sage Intacct the perfect match for any modern hospitality business.
There’s no question that Sage Intacct is built for the specific demands of the hospitality industry. As is demonstrated by recent success stories from the likes of Exclusive Collection; L’Enclume owner Umbel Group; Denbighshire Leisure; Dakota Hotels; and Hastings Hotels, it is helping the industry to navigate its way through a challenging new era, and modernise the way in which it operates.
But how has it become so acclaimed in this sector?
Top Features of Sage Intacct
Here’s our guide to its top 10 features:
1. Multi-Entity
Because Sage Intacct supports the same chart of accounts for every entity, from specific hotels or restaurants to companies within wider groups, users can simply tab across to view almost any kind of information, from cost centres or suppliers to occupancy levels and service utilisation, in exactly the same way.
From a pure accounting perspective, by being able to account for properties in the same way, it’s easy to understand what costs are versus another property, undertake cross-departmental analysis and see profit and loss (P&L) by property, crucially, all in just a few clicks. Where a shared service facility is used, it can support this.
2. Consolidation
This comprehensive picture of performance, which can be accessed at any given time, allows direct comparisons to be made and where trends and anomalies exist, they can be investigated and addressed at the earliest opportunity.
3. Speed of Insight
This speed of insight facilitated by Sage Intacct is a game changer in the running of a hospitality business. A group food and beverage manager, for example, can see, at the click of a filter, which restaurants are most profitable, and therefore adjust resources, marketing and investment accordingly. Similarly, the general ledger (GL) structure makes it easy to see key data on specific areas, for example, if gym memberships dip, this will flag and allow someone to investigate possible reasons why.
4. Non-Financial Data
Sage Intacct’s ability to process and contextualise non-financial data is a key benefit. It can show the number of rooms occupied and available at any given time to generate an average daily rate (ADR) and calculate revenue per available room (RPAR) which is the dominant lever in ascertaining profitability. It crunches non-financial data to do simple calculations around availability, occupation and revenue via dashboards.
5. User Experience
Intuitiveness as part of the user experience goes a long way not only in extrapolating the system’s benefits and encouraging adoption, but also allowing teams to seamlessly navigate the required data. Even when navigating big changes such as a property acquisition or devolvement, it is easy to quickly add or remove an entity. Properties can be clustered according to region, type of hotel or brand as needed, while data can be aggregated by bars, restaurants or spas to see a whole group picture of what’s going on across the group.
6. Fast Integration
Integration is a common challenge associated with new financials or ERP projects and can impede ROI significantly. Sage Intacct integrates with any PMS, EPOS, or other best-of-breed systems, allowing seamless processing of all relevant data. Even in the case of procurement for food & beverage which is very specialist given the volume and short lead times involved, it can be integrated quickly and painlessly for fast benefits.
7. Continuously Updated
Sage Intacct has four new releases each year, which occur automatically, ensuring new features and capabilities are seamlessly rolled out with no disruption to the business. This is in stark contrast to the days of having to schedule a major upgrade every few years which generally came with both a hefty price tag and significant disruption.
8. AI
There are several exciting developments in the machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) space when it comes to Sage Intacct. A good example is GL detection which flags any unusual postings for greater risk management, and the merging of guest ratings into the system to map anomalies with a wider context. For example, if there’s a pattern of complaints around a particular restaurant’s service and the system can tell you that staff absence was high at that time, a picture can be gained to highlight, understand and address any issues.
9. Automated Bank Feeds
Cashflow is king in any business but particularly given the economic challenges being faced by companies, it’s fundamental to have a live view of the balance sheet and a tight handle on any outstanding debt. Sage Intacct applies intelligence to match transactions with bank feeds to support greater control in this area.
10. Speed of Implementation
With many organisations under pressure to modernise quickly to meet a raft of new and emerging challenges and changing dynamics in the sector, speed is very much of the essence. Few can afford the luxury of a 12-month digital transformation project when customers are lining up with high expectations, and competitors are storming ahead with a more digitalised offering. Sage Intacct can be deployed in a matter of weeks, bringing huge ROI.
Sage Intacct for Hospitality
Download our product guide for more insight into how Sage Intacct is the best-fit finance solution for hospitality organisations, or take a look at the best-of-breed functionality in action in our self-led software tour.
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