2. The Front Office Management Simulation (FOMS)
Chapter 15
The Front Office Management Simulation (FOMS)

3. Learning Objectives
To explain the need for an effective front office management training tool and how the Pearson Higher Education Front Office Management Simulation (FOMS) fills that need.
To describe the Revenue Management-related content of Lessons 1and 2 in the FOMS.
To describe the Reservation Management-related content of Lessons 3 through 5 in the FOMS.

4. Learning Objectives
To describe the Guest Stay Information-related content of Lessons 6 and 7 in the FOMS
To describe the Guest Departure and Payment-related content of Lessons 8 and 9 in the FOMS
To describe the Accounting and Financial Summaries-related content in Lessons 10 through 12 in the FOMS

5. Front Office Management Training Challenge
20 years ago it was fairly effective to use basic forms and visual illustrations of the reports utilized at the front office to help students learn about the kinds of management activities that occurred there.
Today, however, the operation of the front office in all but the very smallest of hotels is highly (nearly 100%) automated.

6. The Front Office Management Simulation
The FOMS authors have developed supplemental user guides for:
The Instructor
The Student

7. The Front Office Management Simulation
Information for the Instructor
Topic Area
Lessons
1. Revenue Management
1-2
2. Reservation Management
3-5
3. Guest Stay Information
6-7
4. Guest Departure and Payment
8-9
5. Accounting and Financial
Summaries
10-12

8. The Front Office Management Simulation
Information for the Student

9. Revenue Management Lessons
Enter Occupancy Forecast Data
Lesson 1 Main:
Estimate Future Rooms Revenue
Lesson 1 Advanced:
Manage Group Block Data
Lesson 2 Main:
Modify ADR Estimates
Lesson 2 Advanced:

10. Revenue Management Lesson 1 Main: Enter Occupancy Forecast
Forecast (rooms): An estimate of the number and type of rooms to be sold on specific future dates. Also referred to as a “demand” forecast or “occupancy” forecast.

11. Revenue Management Lesson 1 Advanced: Estimate Future Rooms Revenue
Forecast (revenue): An estimate of the rooms revenue to be achieved on specific future dates.

12. Revenue Management Lesson 2 Main: Manage Group Block Data
In this lesson students learn how to modify an occupancy forecast by entering information about group room sales into the forecast.

13. Revenue Management Lesson 2 Advanced: Modify ADR Estimates
In this lesson, students learn how to develop an accurate rooms revenue forecast after they have modified ADR estimates based upon total room demand.

14. Reservation Management Lessons
Make Individual Room Reservations
Lesson 3 Main:
Modify Individual Room Reservations
Lesson 3 Advanced:
Make Group “Master” Reservations
Lesson 4 Main:

15. Reservation Management Lessons
Modify Group “Master” Reservations
Lesson 4 Advanced:
Learn Revenue Management Principles
Lesson 5 Main:
Determine Room Rates to Be Charged
Lesson 5 Advanced:

16. Reservation Management
Lesson 3 Main: Make Individual Room Reservations
In this lesson students learn and extensively practice the procedures front office agents use when making guest room reservations.

17. Reservation Management
Lesson 3 Advanced: Modify Individual Room Reservations
In this lesson students learn and practice the proper procedures for retrieving a reservation from the PMS and then modifying (or canceling) that reservation.

18. Reservation Management
Lesson 4 Main: Make Group “Master” Reservations
In this lesson students learn about and practice making group master reservations.

19. Reservation Management
Lesson 4 Advanced: Modify Group “Master” Reservations
In this simulation students learn how to modify group master reservations in the PMS

20. Reservation Management
Lesson 5 Main: Learn Revenue Management Principles
In this lesson students will learn how and why hoteliers use demand for rooms (as measured by the number of reservations made) to determine their room rates.

21. Reservation Management
Lesson 5 Advanced: Determine Room Rates to Be Charged
In this simulation students apply what was learned in the previous lesson (Lesson 5 Main) to modify room rates to be charged on future selected dates, based upon the room demand levels forecasted for those dates.

22. Revenue Management
Lesson 5 Advanced: Determine Room Rates to Be Charged
Room Rate Strategies

23. Guest Stay Information Lessons
Update Room Status Reports
Lesson 6 Main:
Schedule Room Attendants
Lesson 6 Advanced:
Assign Guests to Specific Rooms
Lesson 7 Main:
Make Alternate Room Assignments
Lesson 7 Advanced:

24. Guest Stay Information
Lesson 6 Main: Update Room Status Information
In this lesson students learn how to read a housekeeping report and use the information in it to update guest room status in the PMS.

25. Guest Stay Information
Lesson 6 Main: Update Room Status Information
In this lesson students learn how to use that feature to schedule room attendants.
Lesson 7 Main: Assign Guests to Specific Rooms
In this lesson students learn how to assign arriving guests to their requested room types at the time of guest arrival.

26. Guest Stay Information
Lesson 7 Advanced: Make Alternate Room Assignments
In this lesson students practice the techniques front office agents use to assign arriving guests to “Ready and Vacant” rooms when the room type originally requested on the guest’s reservation in not available at the time of the guest’s arrive.

27. Guest Departure and Payment Lessons
Post Folio Charges
Lesson 8 Main:
Adjust Folio Charges
Lesson 8 Advanced:
Split Charges and Close Folios
Lesson 9 Main:
Manage Payment Disputes
Lesson 9 Advanced:

28. Guest Departure and Payment
Lesson 8 Main: Post Folio Charges
In this lesson students will learn how front office staff keeps in-house guests’ financial records up-to-date by manually posting (recording) transactions on the guests’ folios.

29. Guest Departure and Payment
Lesson 8 Advanced: Adjust Folio Charges
In this lesson, students learn how to use the PMS to modify the folio of a guest whose bill is to be adjusted. They will do so by:
Retrieving the guest’s folio by referring to a list of In-House guests
Choosing the appropriate guest folio
Entering (posting) the correct amount of the adjustment

30. Guest Departure and Payment
Lesson 9 Main: Split Charges and Close Folios
In this lesson students learn how to close (accept full payment for) guest folios, and if needed, split guest charges among various hotel accounts when checking guests out of the hotel

31. Guest Departure and Payment
Lesson 9 Advanced: Manage Payment Disputes
In this lesson, students will learn about the techniques and actions front office agents should take when they encounter guests who dispute all or parts of the charges that appear on their folios.

32. Accounting and Financial Summaries
Balance and Close Out a Shift
Lesson 10 Main:
Balance a Full Day’s Shift Reports
Lesson 10 Advanced:
Reconcile a Guest Ledger
Lesson 11 Main:

33. Accounting and Financial Summaries
Reconcile a City Ledger
Lesson 11 Advanced:
Complete a Manager’s Daily
Lesson 12 Main:
Assess Competitive Set Data
Lesson 12 Advanced:

34. Accounting and Financial Summaries
Lesson 10 Main: Balance and Close Out a Shift
In this lesson students learn how to balance and close a single work shift; thus generating an accurate shift report.

35. Accounting and Financial Summaries
Lesson 10 Advanced: Balance a Full Day’s Shift Reports
In this lesson students learn how front office agents balance and summarize a full day’s financial transactions, thus generating a Full Day’s Shift Report.

36. Accounting and Financial Summaries
Lesson 11 Main: Reconcile a Guest Ledger
In this lesson students learn how a hotel’s Guest Ledger accurately maintains the purchases and payment transactions of its registered guests.

37. Accounting and Financial Summaries
Lesson 11 Main: Reconcile a Guest Ledger
Non-Guest Payments
Non-Guest Accounts Receivables
Non-Advanced Deposits
Sales

38. Accounting and Financial Summaries
Lesson 11 Main: Reconcile a City Ledger
City Ledger: The set of accounts used to record charges to and payments from a hotel’s nonregistered guests; (for example, food or beverage purchases made by a person who is not a registered guest of the hotel).

39. Accounting and Financial Summaries
Lesson 11 Main: Reconcile a City Ledger
Non-Guest Payments
Non-Guest Accounts Receivables
Non-Advanced Deposits
Sales

40. Accounting and Financial Summaries
Lesson 12 Main: Complete A Manager’s Daily
In this lesson students will apply what they have learned about hotel operations by inserting missing data into (and thus completing) a Manager’s Daily report.

41. Accounting and Financial Summaries
Lesson 12 Advanced: Assess Competitive Set Data
In this FOMS lesson students will learn about, and demonstrate understanding of, the following concepts:
Competitive Sets
ADR Index
Occupancy Index
RevPAR Index

42. Front Office Management Simulation (FOMS)
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Pearson Higher Education
Front Office Management Simulation (FOMS)
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