Storage and Issuing Process in Hotels
After items are received and verified, they should be immediately moved to locked storage. The hotel employees should move the items. If the receiving personnel are not available to move the items, the appropriate storage room supervisor should move the materials into storage.
The supplier’s delivery person should not be allowed to enter the property’s storage areas. A copy of the receiving document should be given to the storeroom staff for further verification before the items are stored.
Storerooms may contain several thousand dollars’ worth of a property’s assets. They must be secured. There are several security procedures that, when implemented, help protect stored assets.
For example the locking system for storage areas should be different from that for the guestrooms and public areas. This keeps employees who use master or section master keys in their normal duties (for example, room attendants) from having access to storerooms that they are not authorized to enter.
A policy of limited access allows only authorized personnel to enter storage areas, which should be locked when not in use. An important element in storeroom control is the use of effective inventory procedures.
Perpetual inventoryPerpetual inventory is a method of inventory control where a continuous record is maintained for eac... (which involves writing down all items as they are received for storage and issued from storage) could be kept for high-value items.
Physical inventoryPhysical inventory is the actual counting; recording; and pricing of assets. (which involves counting the items in a storage area) should be conducted from time to time. The perpetual inventory will reveal what should be in the storeroom. The physical inventory will reveal what is in the storeroom. Discrepancies may indicate a security problem.
In addition to departmental inventories, the accounting department should also conduct inventories at a frequency determined by management. Such inventories may vary from a weekly inventory of floor supplies and room set-ups in housekeeping to an annual inventory of furniture and equipment. These inventories should be conducted by a team of personnel from accounting or a department other than the one being inventoried.
Nothing should be issued from storage without a requisition bearing an authorized signature. After-hour entrance to a storeroom should require a manager, supervisor, or security officer to accompany the employee needing to enter the locked storage facility. The key should be obtained from the front desk and should be logged.