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Hospitality and Food Industry Management Accounting for the Hospitality Industry

Analytical Thinking

Course Description

This course introduces financial and managerial accounting principles as applied to hospitality operations. Students will learn to prepare and interpret hospitality-specific financial statements, apply cost control techniques, and use budgeting and pricing strategies to support decision-making. Emphasis is placed on the Uniform System of Accounts for the Lodging Industry (USALI) and real-world hospitality scenarios.

Athena Title

Accounting for Hospitality Ind

Prerequisite

HFIM 2500

Semester Course Offered

Offered fall

Grading System

A - F (Traditional)

Student learning Outcomes

  • Students will describe the hospitality accounting cycle and explain how financial information flows through journals, ledgers, trial balances, and financial statements used in hotel and restaurant operations.
  • Students will apply hospitality specific accounting standards—including USALI formats—to prepare journal entries, trial balances, and core financial statements for lodging and foodservice operations.
  • Students will analyze revenue, expenses, and cost behavior to conduct cost volume profit (CVP) analysis, identify variances, and interpret performance trends within hotel and restaurant departments.
  • Students will evaluate financial ratios, budgets, and profitability metrics to assess operational efficiency and recommend data driven improvements to hospitality managerial decision making.
  • Students will create a comprehensive departmental operating budget incorporating forecasting, pricing decisions, and labor/operational cost structures appropriate to a hospitality business scenario.

Topical Outline

  • 1. Introduction to Hospitality Accounting & USALI
  • 2. Accounting Cycle & Journal Entries
  • 3. Adjusting Entries & Trial Balance
  • 4. Income Statement & Balance Sheet (Hospitality Formats)
  • 5. Cash Flow Statement & Internal Controls
  • 6. Payroll & Inventory Accounting
  • 7. Ratio Analysis & Financial Statement Interpretation
  • 8. Cost Behavior & CVP Analysis
  • 9. Menu Engineering & Pricing Strategies
  • 10. Departmental Budgeting
  • 11. Cash Budget & Forecasting
  • 12. Capital Investment Analysis
  • 13. Hospitality Case Studies
  • 14. Group Project Presentations

Institutional Competencies Learning Outcomes

Analytical Thinking

The ability to reason, interpret, analyze, and solve problems from a wide array of authentic contexts.


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