HOSPITALITY · SECTOR

Finance leadership for hospitality.

HOW IT USUALLY LOOKS

The group number is fine, so the group number is what gets looked at. Underneath it, two sites are carrying the estate and two are draining it, and the average conceals both. Labor is managed as a percentage after the period closes rather than scheduled against forecast covers, occupancy or event diary. Rooms, food, beverage and events are reported as one line when each behaves differently and each is priced differently. New sites open on a payback model that ignored the ramp and the pre-opening cost. And the lease or the management agreement — usually the second largest cost in the business — is treated as fixed and unexaminable, when it is the thing most worth renegotiating.

WHAT YOU CAN DO AFTERWARDS

Rank every site on the same basis and act on the bottom two. See which revenue stream is carrying a property and which is being subsidized. Open the next site on a model tested against the last one. Renegotiate before the break date passes.

HOW WE RUN IT HERE
What a finance function in this sector actually needs.

Every hotel, restaurant, bar or venue gets a four-wall P&L on the same basis, with central cost shown separately so a site is judged on what it controls. Ranked every month, with the bottom two discussed by name.

Revenue is separated into the streams that actually behave differently — rooms against food, beverage, events and other — with occupancy, average rate and revenue per available room reported alongside covers, average spend and capture rate. A blended figure hides which one is carrying the site.

Labor is scheduled against forecast demand rather than reviewed afterwards, and input cost is tracked at the recipe or item level, where menu engineering and range decisions can actually move the margin. Seasonality is modeled rather than absorbed, so a slow quarter is a plan and not a surprise.

New sites are modeled with a realistic ramp, full pre-opening cost and a cash payback measured after opening. Lease and management agreement economics — rent to revenue, break dates, renewal windows, incentive fees — go on a calendar so a negotiation begins before the option expires.

THE MEASURE THAT FINDS IT

Four-wall contribution, by property and by site

WHO HOLDS THE SEAT

Has opened sites and closed the ones that did not work. The bench behind them: Hospitality operators, food and beverage cost specialists, and lease and management agreement support.

What Happens Next

Your sector is one conversation away from a written answer. Start with what is actually going on.

One hour on your business, with the CFO who would hold the seat rather than a salesperson. Nothing to prepare and nothing to sign. A written note back within two working days saying what we heard and what we would look at first.
ONE HOUR · NO CHARGE · A WRITTEN NOTE BACK WITHIN TWO WORKING DAYS
THE HOURWhat the business does, how the cash moves through it, and what would have to be different in a year.
THE NOTEWhat we heard and what we would look at first, in writing, within two working days.
THE SEATA CFO who has run finance in this sector before, with a named backup who already knows your file.
THE STANDARDClose by the seventh working day, pack on the eighth, and a published response standard in between.

03Industries

Construction and tradesDistribution and wholesaleManufacturingProfessional servicesHospitalityProperty and real assetsTechnology and recurring revenueHealthcare and clinical groupsTransportation, fleet and logisticsFranchise and multi-unit operatorsConsumer brands and e-commerceNonprofit and member organizations

04Firm

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