Hospitality Financial Leadership – The Cat Killer

Warning – this blog post talks about cruelty to cats. I in no way support this practice and I am not promoting the activity in any way. The purpose of this article is to tell a story around the financial controls for hotel paid outs. Even with the disclaimer I am pretty sure I’ll get some flack, but the story is worth it!

I have had some interesting junkets in my career. I feel very fortunate that the company I worked with had some amazing hotels in very interesting and exotic locations. The purpose of these trips varied but often it involved an audit or, better still, a look inside the hotel’s books to see what was going on. You can tell a lot about the health and welfare of a hotel by examining its accounts and records. Even the way they are kept and maintained is a solid reflection of the quality of the management and the stewardship.

On this trip I was sent to the island of Barbados, where we had two hotels that were adjacent to each other. The properties were right on the ocean on the leeward side of the island. I had been here before as the hotels were part of my region. That region being a strange concoction of geography spanning central Canada and the southeastern Caribbean.

The hotels were very interesting to say the least. You really come to see the unique beauty and challenges of island life. One of the aspects of the hotels caught me totally off guard and that was the large population of cats that roamed freely around the property. The hotels and their public spaces and restaurants were open to the environment. Most days that meant the warm tropical breezes would greet you morning, noon, or night.

But what that openness also meant was the cats had the run of the place. You would see cats everywhere. There were so many cats that it felt like you were in a cat-only compound and not a hotel. The cats would avail themselves especially at breakfast. The buffet was a special opportunity to socialize with the guests and almost without exception the cats were tolerated, and some were even encouraged to accompany the guests tableside. Patiently waiting for an empty table to shmooze or a gift from above.

I inquired about the cats and the situation was such that the reproductive prowess and the tropical weather meant the cats were a force to be reckoned with and here to stay. I was OK with that, and it seemed everyone else was too, that is until I uncovered the smoking gun.

As part of my review of the records I needed to examine a few days of the night audit. That’s where the financial transactions for each day are detailed in reports and ledgers from the front office and restaurants. Detailing the sales and subsequent settlements for all the activities is a mainstay in any hotel, this one was no different.

For two hotels that were not very large by their room counts, the number of reports and slips of paper was impressive. Examining the summary of transaction totals, a report that shows the entire list of revenue totals, sales taxes collected, payments received, and all other miscellaneous activities revealed an item you don’t see much of anymore. Paid outs.

Paid outs in hotels are largely a thing of the past. That’s when guests would literally use the hotel as their bank for the duration of their stay. Charging anything and everything to their room also meant taxis, flowers, shopping, movie tickets, excursions, gratuities, you name it and back in the day the “paid out” was the today equivalent of a credit card that has no limits.

On this day I saw the paid outs total was $70. This caught my attention because it means that someone submitted a receipt(s) for $70 and that someone else got $70 in cash. This is the first sign of the preverbal tip-off that something is potentially awry. It’s like you just saw the clue that will potentially unravel the entire mystery.

Digging through the slips I found three paid outs totaling $70. Two for $30 each and one for $10. There was no detailed explanation on the slip which is a requirement, only the amount and a scrawling illegible signature. I was intrigued. What was going on here…. ran through my mind. A simple and blatant case of someone or some people helping themselves to the cash? I had seen it before but never this obvious. No imagination whatsoever.

Further review showed me the paid outs were all posted to the same house account titled “grounds & landscaping.” That’s a very common maintenance department expense for any hotel. But what would the hotel be acquiring for the gardens that required a cash payment….. My Spidey Sense was tingling.

I took the slips to the Controller and asked her what she made of it. She had a look of bewilderment and simply screamed, “Marcia!” A few seconds later the revenue auditor, Marcia, appeared on the scene. “What are these for?” the controller inquired with a degree of suspicion. To which Marcia replied, “Those are for George, he is the cat killer!”

“Cat Killer,” I said!

The controller excused Marcia and explained to me in a near whisper that on occasion the hotel has a late-night visitor simply known as the Cat Killer. His job was to capture and exterminate any sick or nuisance cats. Apparently, it had been a long-established practice.

I had several questions which the controller was unable to answer. She suggested I speak with Donivan, the maintenance manager. Later that day I made my way to the maintenance compound and found Donivan at his desk writing some purchase orders.

I introduced myself, and we made some small talk. He was a long-serving leader, and it was apparent immediately that he had a great passion for the properties and his role in maintaining the facilities. I told him what I had found in the audit and asked him how they managed the “Cat Killer.” He chuckled and explained that George the Cat Killer was also an employee, and his regular job was as a laborer on the grounds crew and his sideline, perhaps the equivalent of today’s “side hustles” was managing the cat population. Quite the gig!

I returned to the office and the following day I had my exit interview with the Controller and General Manager, where I discussed my observations and findings. This gives them the opportunity to explain any inconsistencies before I complete my written report.

Most of our discussion on issues I found was routine until the item of the Paid Outs came up. With as serious a face and tone to match that I could muster, I explained that the standard for any paid out was “backup” in the form of a receipt and with the Cat Killer slips there was no evidence of a slip so in the future we should have George submit the tails of the cats he captures…… as backup. The GM was speechless, the controllers’ eyes were as large as golf balls, and I held the moment until I couldn’t any longer. We all had a good laugh and then it was time for a trip to the bar for a departure cocktail. The cats were there as always and most still had their tails!

At Hotel Financial Coach I help hotel leaders and teams with financial leadership coaching, webinars and workshops. Learning and applying the necessary financial leadership skills is the fast track to greater career success and increased personal prosperity. I significantly improve individual and team results with a proven return on investment.

Call or write today and arrange for a complimentary discussion on how you can create a financially engaged leadership team in your hotel.

Contact David at (415) 696-9593.
Email: david@hotelfinancialcoach.com
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