What’s New in choiceADVANTAGE · Manage Hotel Configuration Configure Night Audit Reports . ... What’s New in choiceADVANTAGE P R O P E R T Y S Y S T E M S T R A I N I N G Page

Release Notes and User Guide

November 2010

Choice Hotels International

Property Systems Training

What’s New in choiceADVANTAGE

Included Enhancements

Revenue By Booking Source Report Reward Program Statistics Reports Customizable Night Audit Reports General Ledger Account Numbers QuickBooks Interface Cancellation Letter E-mail Direct Bill Invoices/Statements Pay Multiple Invoices Now Featuring Multiple Payment Types No Post Update Historical Demand Seasons Year-Over-Year Totals on Hotel Statistics Report Group Reservations on Forecast Overview Guest Tracking Code Associated with Rate Plan Employee Name Populated on Choice Privileges Enrollments Increased Inventory Excess Credit Card Authorization


P R O P E R T Y S Y S T E M S T R A I N I N G

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Welcome Based on feedback we received from you, we have made several enhancements to choiceADVANTAGE. These enhancements will be delivered to you in the form of a system upgrade, which is scheduled for release on Monday, November 8, 2010. The transition will require no functional training; however, this user guide is designed to assist your staff members with the new features so they are better able to provide exceptional service to your guests.

How to Use this Guide This guide has been specifically prepared to help hotel staff get the most out of the new features and functions of choiceADVANTAGE. For more information on the new features and other changes to choiceADVANTAGE, refer to your online help system once the upgrade has been implemented. Online help should be the first place you look for answers.



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Table of Contents

Revenue by Booking Source Report Page 4

Reward Program Statistics Reports Page 5

Customizable Night Audit Reports Page 6

QuickBooks Interface Page 7

General Ledger Account Numbers Page 8

Cancellation Letter Page 11

Email Direct Bill Invoices/Statements Page 12

Pay Multiple Invoices Now Featuring Multiple Payment Types Page 15

No Post Functionality Page 17

Update Historical Demand Seasons Page 20

Year-Over-Year Totals on Hotel Statistics Report Page 21

Group Reservations on Forecast Overview Page 22

Guest Tracking Code Associated with Rate Plans Page 24

Employee Name Populated on Choice Privileges Enrollments Page 26

Increased Inventory Page 26

Excess Credit Card Authorization Page 26



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Revenue by Booking Source Report

This enhancement will introduce a new report in choiceADVANTAGE that allows you to track your revenue by booking source. To access the report, go to: Run Reports

Set the desired business date and click Submit.



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Reward Program Statistics Reports Beginning with choiceADVANTAGE 3.5.3, you will be able to run reports that track the revenue generated for your property by the different Reward Programs. You have the choice of either a Summary or a Detailed report. To access these reports, go to: Run Reports Marketing Reports



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Customizable Night Audit Reports This enhancement will allow you to add reports to the existing core set that are generated automatically. The reports listed below can be set to print using the default settings each night with the audit pack. To configure these reports to print with the audit, go to: Manage Hotel Configuration Configure Night Audit Reports You can select up to 20 reports by putting a checkmark in the box next to the desired report. After making your selections, click Save.



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QuickBooks Export This enhancement will give choiceADVANTAGE 3.5.3 the ability to export financial data that can be imported by QuickBooks. The report can be run at any time for a previous business date. The appropriate General Ledger Account must be associated with each transaction code in choiceADVANTAGE (see page 8). At your convenience, you can import the file into QuickBooks. To create the export file, go to: Run Reports Accounting Reports QuickBooks Export

Select the desired business date and click Submit. You can then import the file into QuickBooks.



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General Ledger Account Numbers This enhancement allows you to assign a General Ledger (GL) Account number to the three main ledgers, as well as transaction codes in the choiceADVANTAGE system. This will ensure the ledger accounts are allotted to the correct GL Account in QuickBooks.

• Guest Ledger • Advanced Deposit Ledger • Accounts Receivable Ledger

To configure the ledgers, go to: Run Hotel Configuration GL Account Configuration

Enter the desired GL Account numbers in the corresponding fields and click Save.



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General Ledger Account Numbers (continued) To associate transaction codes with GL Accounts, go to: Manage Hotel Configuration Transaction Code Configuration

Click the desired transaction code.



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Enter the desired GL Account number in the provided field and click Save. This will need to be done for all transaction codes.



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Cancellation Letter This enhancement will add a Cancellation Letter to choiceADVANTAGE. You will have the ability to print or e-mail it to your guests. If you cancel a guest reservation, you will see an E-mail Cancellation button and Print Cancellation Letter button on the right side of the Reservation Information screen. To print the cancellation letter, click Print Cancellation Letter. If the guest wants the cancellation e-mailed to them, click E-mail Cancellation.

If you select E-mail Cancellation, you will be prompted to confirm the e-mail address; then click Send.



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E-mail Direct Bill Invoices/Statements This enhancement will add e-mail functionality to Direct Bill invoices and statements. There are two options to choose from when e-mailing an invoice. One option is to e-mail it directly from the Invoice Detail screen by clicking E-mail Invoice.

The other option allows you to e-mail one or a group of invoices. To select that option, click E-mail Invoices from the Company Information screen on the Invoices tab.



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The Email Invoice(s) screen will display. Set the desired options and click Send.

To e-mail a statement, click E-mail Statement from the Invoices tab on the Company Information screen.



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The Email Statement screen will display. Set the desired options and click Send.



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Pay Multiple Invoices Now Featuring Multiple Payment Types This enhancement will allow you to pay multiple invoices with additional payment types. In addition to Check, you will also have the following options.

• Credit Card • Franchise Credit • Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) • Cash

From the Invoices tab of the Company Information screen, click Pay Multiple Invoices.



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The Pay Multiple Invoices screen will display. Select the desired payment method from the Payment Method drop-down list. You will be prompted for information depending on which payment method you choose. Fill in the information in the fields provided (required fields are indicated with a red asterisk) then click Continue.

The Pay Multiple Invoices - Select Invoices screen will display. Select the desired invoices by placing a checkmark in the box on the right side of the invoice. When finished, click Save.



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No Post Functionality This enhancement will allow you to set an account to “No Post”. For example, you may not want a cash paying guest to authorize additional charges to their room other than room, tax and any Recurring Charges that post with the audit. When an account is flagged as “No Post” the following rules will apply:

• A warning message will be displayed when a manual posting is attempted on the account. • A warning message will be displayed when setting up charge routing. • A warning message will be displayed when transferring charges. • Room, tax, and recurring charges will not be affected. • Interface postings will be disabled.

If “No Post” has been set, an icon will display on the screen next to the guest’s name.



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No Post (continued) There is also a “No Post” indication on the guest folio in the Overview area next to the Balance.

You can set an account to “No Post” in several places:

• When making a reservation • When checking in a walk-in • After the guest is in-house

To set an account to “No Post”, put a checkmark in the “No Post” box.



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Update Historical Demand Seasons This enhancement will allow you to make changes to previous demand seasons. This will enable you to more accurately reflect the actual business demands of the time period which is beneficial when planning future demand seasons. To edit a previous demand season, go to: Manage Hotel Configuration Configure Demand Seasons View and Update Demand Seasons Select the desired season by clicking the Start Date.

Make your desired changes and click Save.



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Year-Over-Year Totals on Hotel Statistics Report Beginning with choiceADVANTAGE 3.5.3, the Hotel Statistics Report will include the Period to Date and Year to Date data for the previous year. This will give you a more comprehensive snapshot of your hotel’s current performance versus last year’s performance.



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Group Reservations on Forecast Overview This enhancement will add group reservations to the Forecast Overview screen. This will allow you to more accurately forecast occupancy levels. The following fields have been added:

Group Blocks Remaining on Hand - Rooms blocked for groups that have not been picked up yet. Group Blocks Picked Up on Hand - Rooms blocked for groups that have been picked up (reserved). Tentative Group Blocks - Rooms tentatively blocked for groups that have not been taken out of inventory.

To access the Forecast Overview, go to: View Forecast



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Group Reservations on Forecast Overview (continued) The Forecast Overview report will be updated as well. To print it, go to: Run Reports Forecast Overview



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Tracking Code Associated with Rate Code This enhancement will enable you to associate a particular Guest Tracking Code with a rate plan. This will make use of Tracking Codes more accurate. To associate the Guest Tracking Codes with a rate plan, go to: Manage Hotel Configuration Guest Tracking Codes

If you need to create new Tracking Codes, click the Add button. Otherwise, click Associate Tracking Codes to Rate Plans.



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Tracking Code Associated with Rate Code (continued) All of your rate plans will be listed. A Tracking Code can be associated with as many rate plans as you desire, but a rate plan can be associated with only one Tracking Code. For example, if you have several rate plans associated with the zoo in your area, you can reuse the Zoo Tracking Code for as many rate plans as you desire. However, each of those rate plans can only be associated with one Tracking Code; in this case, ”Zoo”. When you are finished, click Save.

Now, any future reservations created with these rate plans will automatically have the Tracking Code field populated.



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Employee Name Populated on Choice Privileges Enrollments This enhancement will automatically populate the employee name field when enrolling a guest for Choice Privileges. This allows more accurate tracking of employees who have enrolled guests in Choice Privileges.

Increased Inventory This enhancement will expand choiceADVANTAGE’s current inventory limit of 51 weeks to 3 years (1,092 days). This will allow you to set your rates and stay controls, make reservations on a local level, as well as manage your revenue for upcoming events in your area for up to 3 years. Please take these important steps prior to and following the 3.5.3 upgrade:

Non-Rates Center Properties: • Prior to the upgrade, check your Rates and Inventory in Choice Central to ensure that

you have rates built for the next 3 years. • Following the upgrade, be sure to set your stay restrictions (MLOS and CTA) via

Revenue Management in choiceADVANTAGE. Rates Center Properties: Prior to the choiceADVANTAGE upgrade, please check your rates and stay restrictions (MLOS and CTA) via the Rates Center application to ensure they are accurate for the next 3 years of inventory.

Excess Credit Card Authorization Day Use Rooms will now only be authorized at the time of check-in and at night audit, if the guest is still In-House. Early Departures will no longer request additional authorization at the time of check out if none is required for the amount due.

Documents

What’s New in choiceADVANTAGE · Manage Hotel Configuration Configure Night Audit Reports . ... What’s New in choiceADVANTAGE P R O P E R T Y S Y S T E M S T R A I N I N G Page