Mary MacAusland, CPA, Ph.D., is a senior lecturer at the Nolan School of Hotel Administration in the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business, where she teaches courses in financial and managerial accounting and financial statement analysis. Prior to joining Cornell, Professor MacAusland was actively engaged in both academe and industry, serving in senior positions in several organizations. She was previously on the faculty at the University of New Hampshire and Franklin and Marshall College, and taught for several years at a small community college. Professor MacAusland also worked in the life-care management and development field as a controller and has held numerous positions with the United States Tennis Association (USTA), most recently as vice-chair of the audit committee. She served on the executive boards of USTA Middle States and the Berks County Chapter of the American Red Cross for many years and chaired several special events, raising significant amounts for local charities. Professor MacAusland was also a longtime member of the investment committee for the Berks County Community Foundation, where she helped to establish investment guidelines and monitor performance for $50 million in managed assets and was integral in establishing a permanent fund with the foundation to provide grants for tennis programs for at-risk youth.
Examining the Uniform System of Accounts for the Lodging Industry (USALI)Cornell Course
Course Overview
An operating statement tells the tale of a hotel's performance, and in this course, you'll begin to decipher this narrative at an overarching level. You'll dissect the hotel operating statement, scrutinizing each major section and the intricate story it weaves. As you delve into the specifics of hospitality lodging accounts, your analysis of the reported figures will deepen, helping you discern the hotel's current situation: How is it yielding profit? Where are its pain points? You might observe that while the hotel's revenues are on an upward trend, its expenses are also climbing. Why is that? What's the underlying cause? Should management adjust its strategy?
Even if you're not an accountant or the person responsible for crafting the operating statement, you play a significant role within the hotel property management. The lodging industry employs a unique reporting structure using uniform terms and definitions, known as the Uniform System of Accounts for the Lodging Industry (USALI). This system, while being unique to the hotel industry and not widely taught, is essential for hotel decision makers. You need to build a strong enough understanding of USALI to interpret the numbers and make informed decisions accurately.
The operating statement serves as a call to action. Every decision you make has ramifications. The key question is: What will you champion?
Key Course Takeaways
- Identify the key components of a hotel operating statement
- Review accounting definitions and terms used in the hotel industry
- Examine the operating statement from five critical perspectives so that you can assess hotel performance
How It Works
Course Author
Who Should Enroll
- Hotel owners
- Hotel general managers and directors
- Hotel managers and department heads
- Hotel employees using financial information for decision making
- Accounting professionals seeking to move into the hotel industry
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