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USALI method

From chart of accounts to report

The USALI scheme starts from departmental revenue and ends at operating profit, so two different properties can be compared under the same rules.

The USALI ladder

Tap a step to see what it contains. The chart shows how revenue cascades down to GOP and EBITDA.

Departmental revenueRooms, F&B, other

Revenue split by operated department: rooms (or pitches and units), food and beverage, spa, other services. The first step shows where the turnover comes from.

Departmental expensesDepartmental profit

Direct costs of each department: departmental staff, cost of sales, commissions, linen, supplies. Deducted from revenue, they give each department's profit.

Undistributed expensesA&G, sales, maintenance, energy

Overheads that do not belong to a single department: administrative and general (A&G), information systems, sales and marketing, maintenance, energy, water and waste.

Gross Operating Profit (GOP)Operating result

The gross operating result: what the hotel operation produces before fees, rent and ownership costs. It is the reference figure for comparing different properties.

Fees, rent, property taxesEBITDAR / EBITDA

Management fees, rent, insurance and property taxes. EBITDAR is the result before rent, EBITDA after it: both measure profitability for the owner.

The same income statement, read two ways
Departmental revenue2,400
Departmental expenses−820
Departmental profit1,580
Undistributed expenses−610
GOP · 40.4%970
Fees, rent, property taxes−250
EBITDA720

USALI format: revenue and costs by department. You see how much each department earns and how much overheads weigh before GOP.

Illustrative example · € thousands

Up to date with the current edition

The 12th Revised Edition of USALI, published by HFTP, has been in effect since 1 January 2026. Among the changes: the “Utilities” department becomes “Energy, Water and Waste”, and new schedules cover loyalty programme costs, brand and management fees and full-time-equivalent (FTE) headcount. The departmental structure stays the same.

The method in four steps

The set-up work is done once; after that, the data flows into the same scheme every month.

  1. Step 1

    Analysis and mapping

    I read the chart of accounts and map each account to the right USALI line, once and for all.

  2. Step 2

    Allocation of shared costs

    Payroll, inventory and utilities are split across properties using agreed drivers: hours, revenue, rooms or analytical accounting.

  3. Step 3

    KPIs and comparisons

    Accounting data is combined with statistics from the booking system.

  4. Step 4

    Review and action

    A monthly meeting to understand what the numbers say and what to do about it.

I work on the data exported from your software

No need to change systems: I start from the exports of the programs your property already uses (trial balance, ledgers, occupancy and revenue statistics) and rework them into the USALI scheme.

Software names are trademarks of their respective owners and are mentioned only to indicate data compatibility.

Accounting and ERP

  • Zucchetti
  • Mago
  • Dylog
  • TeamSystem
  • eSOLVER
  • and many more

Hospitality software

  • Ericsoft
  • Maxer
  • and the other main hotel management systems

Contact

Let's talk about your numbers

Tell me about your property or group: I'll explain how I can help and where it makes sense to start. The first meeting is free and without obligation: at your premises for properties in Lombardy, online via Microsoft Teams for other regions.

Write to me +39 348 2448625

or controller.fm@outlook.com · Vertemate (CO)