'We had a good summer, I think'
Your bank manager, your accountant or a buyer interested in the business asks a simple question: how full were you each month last year? You know summer was busy and February was quiet. But when you try to answer properly, you realise the bookings are in your booking system, some older ones in the paper diary, a few on Airbnb that never got copied across, and some phone bookings in an email.
You also want to know for yourself. Was this September better than last? Should you close in January or open with a special offer? Is raising prices in June losing you bookings, or not? Without figures, every decision is a feeling.
Why a small B&B rarely knows its figures
Hotels have property management systems that produce occupancy and average rate reports every day. A B&B's booking system may have reports, but they only see bookings that were entered there, and working them out across channels and years is a job nobody has time for.
- Bookings are spread across the booking system, OTAs, a diary and emails.
- Some bookings were never entered in the booking system.
- Closed months and rooms out of use change what 'available' means.
- Prices vary by channel, season, single occupancy and discount.
- Last year's figures are in a different system, or none.
What not knowing costs you
Decisions made on a hunch: prices set by what feels right, opening and closing dates chosen by habit, money spent on marketing without knowing whether it was needed. Conversations with the bank, your accountant or a potential buyer that are harder than they should be, because you cannot show your numbers clearly.
It also stops you seeing how well you are doing. Many owners are more successful than they realise, and some are working far harder than their numbers justify. Either is worth knowing.
It makes planning harder too. Deciding whether to employ a helper for the summer, whether to add a room, or whether to stop taking one-night bookings on Saturdays all depend on knowing how busy you really were and when. Without figures, these decisions get put off, or made on the strength of one memorable week.
How we build monthly figures for your B&B
- Bookings are gathered from your booking system and, where needed, from OTA reports and a one-off entry of older bookings from your diary.
- Your rooms and the dates you were open are recorded, so occupancy is worked out against nights you could actually sell.
- For each month, the figures show rooms sold, occupancy, average price per room night, revenue per available room, and bookings by channel.
- Months and years are shown side by side, so this September can be compared with last September.
- The figures update each month on their own from your booking system, with a short email summary if you want one.
- A simple printable version is available for your bank, your accountant or anyone else who asks.
| Figure | What it tells you |
|---|---|
| Occupancy | How many of the nights you were open had a guest in each room |
| Average price per room night | What a typical night actually sold for, after discounts |
| Revenue per available room | Occupancy and price together, for comparing months |
| Bookings by channel | Where guests came from each month |
The figures are for running the business. Your accountant still prepares your accounts, and they may define some things differently.
The next time someone asks
Your accountant asks how the year went. You open the figures: month by month, with last year alongside. You can see that spring was stronger than last year, that September was quieter, and that raising June prices did not reduce bookings. You print a copy and send it.
More importantly, you start using them yourself. Before setting next year's prices, you look at which months filled early and which did not. Before deciding when to close, you look at what January actually earned.
Do you know your own figures?
- You cannot say how full you were in a given month.
- Bookings are spread across several places.
- You set prices and opening dates by feel.
- Your bank or accountant has asked for figures you could not easily give.
- You have no way to compare this year with last.