There are many factors to consider when selecting a property management software system. Additionally, many options to choose from can be overwhelming, especially when you have limited resources. Continue reading to learn how to meet the key requirements of the Hotel Tech Report. Then, download the Buyers Guide to get additional guidance and useful tools to help find the right PMS for your property.

The purpose of a Property Management Software

A property management system allows lodging providers to coordinate and manage their operations from one central platform. A PMS simplifies the daily operations of lodging providers, including checking in guests and making changes to their reservations, managing inventory and rates, scheduling housekeeping, and running performance reports. This will result in a better guest experience as well as more revenue.

The PMS connects all departments of a hotel.

• Enhance workflow. PMS automates manual administrative tasks by integrating data, improving productivity and reducing time-consuming and costly errors.
• Increase revenue. Flexible rate management tools, channel management integrations, and real-time performance reports allow you to quickly adjust rates across all channels to maximize revenue and bookings.
• Enhance the guest experience. PMS streamlines the business operations and allows you to spend more time with your guests. You can create guest profiles to recognize returning customers and keep track of their preferences. Automated guest emails make communication easier.

Important PMS Features

The market demands, technology, and guest expectations all influence hotel operations. It is important to find a system that can adapt to your business. These are the key features to look for in a reliable, innovative solution:

An easy-to-use interface 

The purpose of property management software is to manage your business more efficient and profitable. It is important to have a user-friendly interface to quickly train staff and reduce costly errors. The user interface is modern and intuitive. It can manage reservations, inventory or rates, check guests in, schedule housekeeping or generate reports. While you are working, an online user manual and video tutorials can be accessed from within the system. Our system is easy to use, and users feel comfortable with it. We offer product support and training for no cost.

Centralized dashboard

The dashboard gives you a quick overview of key metrics and allows you to see what’s going on in your hotel quickly. The dashboard displays a visual snapshot of the business’s current day when you log into. You can see a quick overview of your business’ performance by looking at the week’s RevPAR, ADR, and Occupancy data. Check-ins and check-outs for each day also give you an easy way to assess the current day. You can access the dashboard from any location via the shortcut menu or main navigation.

Compliance by the government

Make sure your new PMS is compliant with local tax reporting requirements. It is particularly important to verify that the software is not used in other areas. 

Reporting Suite

For improving business operations, production and financial reports are crucial. A PMS should be able to support all aspects of your business’s reporting requirements, including booking and occupancy reports and financial KPIs. Using different filters such as date ranges, room types, and source codes, you can drill down. The system allows you to export reports and send them directly by email.

Modifications to reservations

Modifying or moving bookings should not be difficult. This will allow you to keep track and reduce the chances of overbooking. A pop-up will appear, allowing you to select whether to recalculate your rate if a reservation has been moved to another room type. You can also modify your reservation directly from the reservation folio, such as room moves, dates changes, guest information and price adjustments.

Taxes and fees personalized

It is important that you can customize taxes, fees and cancellation policies to suit your business. Flexible software lets you apply specific taxes to packages, incidental products, services, and tax exemptions to rates or reservations. You can also create multiple cancellation/guarantee policies applied to different room types and rates.

Communications to guests

Automated pre-and post-stay communications are crucial to improving the guest experience. They are even more important in light of COVID. 

Channel availability

Your ability to seamlessly sync availability across multiple channels in real-time is key to staying competitive and increasing revenue. Your PMS can integrate your GDS and OTA channels. This allows you to manage inventory and rates across all channels through your PMS.