The Uniform System of Accounts for the Lodging Industry (USALI) gives hotels a common way to lay out an operating statement, so a GM, an owner and a lender can read any property's P&L in the same order. This page explains that layout in plain terms so you can set up a USALI-style P&L template in Excel. It is a layout reference only: Hospitality Finance Tools is not affiliated with HFTP or AHLA, this is not a USALI publication, and for exact account definitions you should use the current USALI manual.
The layout, top to bottom
1. Operated departments
Each department that earns revenue gets its own schedule: rooms, food and beverage, and other operated departments such as spa, golf or parking. Each schedule shows revenue, then departmental expenses (cost of sales where relevant, labor costs and other expenses), ending in departmental profit:
departmental profit = departmental revenue − departmental expenses
The summary statement adds the departments: total operating revenue = Σ departmental revenue and total departmental profit = Σ departmental profit.
2. Undistributed operating expenses
Costs that support the whole property and aren't charged to one department: administrative and general, information and telecommunications systems, sales and marketing, property operation and maintenance, and utilities.
3. Gross operating profit
GOP = total departmental profit − total undistributed operating expenses. This is the line most KPIs build on: GOP margin and GOPPAR.
4. Management fees
Base and incentive fees under the management agreement, if the property is managed.
5. Non-operating income and expenses, and EBITDA
Items such as rent, property and other taxes, and insurance. EBITDA = GOP − management fees − non-operating income and expenses (net). Interest, depreciation, amortization and income taxes sit below EBITDA.
Why use a standard layout?
- Comparisons: month to month, against budget and against the prior year all line up.
- Clear responsibility: department heads own departmental profit; the GM owns GOP; owners look at EBITDA.
- KPIs mean the same thing in every report when the lines under them are defined once.
Worked example: Sample Resort, one 31-day month (fictional)
All figures are fictional sample data for an imaginary 150-room resort.
| Operated department | Revenue | Expenses | Departmental profit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rooms | $760,000 | $190,000 | $570,000 |
| Food & beverage | $340,000 | $255,000 | $85,000 |
| Other operated | $60,000 | $42,000 | $18,000 |
| Total | $1,160,000 | $487,000 | $673,000 |
| Undistributed operating expenses | Amount |
|---|---|
| Administrative & general | $110,000 |
| Information & telecommunications systems | $25,000 |
| Sales & marketing | $80,000 |
| Property operation & maintenance | $55,000 |
| Utilities | $45,000 |
| Total undistributed | $315,000 |
| Summary | Amount |
|---|---|
| Total departmental profit | $673,000 |
| Less undistributed operating expenses | -$315,000 |
| Gross operating profit | $358,000 |
| Management fees (fictional 3% base fee) | -$34,800 |
| Non-operating expenses (taxes, insurance) | -$90,000 |
| EBITDA | $233,200 |
GOP = $673,000 − $315,000 = $358,000, a GOP margin of $358,000 ÷ $1,160,000 = 30.9%. Rooms available: 150 × 31 = 4,650, so GOPPAR = $358,000 ÷ 4,650 = $76.99. Fee: 3% × $1,160,000 = $34,800. EBITDA = $358,000 − $34,800 − $90,000 = $233,200.
The KPI formulas that sit on these lines are in the hotel KPI template guide, and the full-year budget build is in the resort annual budget template guide.
Setting up the template in Excel
- Put each department on its own block or tab, with subtotals as formulas, never typed numbers.
- Map your chart of accounts to the layout lines once, and keep the mapping visible.
- Add a check cell that proves the summary statement ties to the department schedules.
- Show % of revenue next to each line: departmental lines as % of that department's revenue, undistributed and below as % of total revenue.
Mapping your chart of accounts
Your general ledger probably won't match the layout line for line, so the work of a USALI-style template is mostly in the mapping. List every GL account, assign it to one department and one line (revenue, cost of sales, labor or other expense), and keep that mapping table in the workbook. When a new account appears, map it before the month closes. A short list of unmapped accounts with a non-zero balance is one of the most useful checks a template can have.
Keep labor costs together inside each department rather than in one payroll line for the whole property, since departmental profit is meant to include each department's own labor. Shared costs that genuinely serve the whole property belong in the undistributed departments, not spread across operated departments by allocation, unless your owner reporting specifically asks for it.