This past Summer, the lodging industry was presented with a brand-new edition of the Uniform System of Accounts for the Lodging Industry (USALITM) — the 12th Revised Edition. This latest release has been meticulously updated with guiding principles to enhance transparency in reporting, broaden data sets to better inform decision-making, and align with contemporary practices.

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The adoption date is one year from now: January 1, 2026. Hospitality companies will spend the next year updating their financial reporting, along with the companies who develop the financial software systems that support these operations. To help you understand these changes, the following primer details what was newly implemented.
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Guest Loyalty Program Costs
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Capturing guest loyalty has become an important tactic for hotels to increase market share and sustain profitable operations. Consumers continue to show interest in their loyalty program member benefits when staying at their preferred hotels. Given the cost increase of guest loyalty programs, the 12th Revised Edition has added expense categories across multiple departments.
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Executive Lounges
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An offshoot of guest loyalty programs’ popularity is the emergence of Executive Lounges. Because of this, it’s imperative to track the associated revenues and expenses on a discrete basis. With this data, owners and operators can effectively measure the costs and benefits associated with these operations. For hotels that incur significant Executive Lounge revenues and expenses, there is a new Executive Lounge Subschedule 1-1.
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Full Time Equivalents (FTE)
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Labor is the largest expense for hotels, typically averaging 30 percent of revenues and 40 percent of expenses. Historically the USALI tracked salary, wage, and benefits expenditure data across multiple labor categories. But this didn't collect metrics that measured labor efficiency.
To help with this type of calculation, a new mandatory schedule has been added. The Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) Schedule measures employee hours in each operating and undistributed department.
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Brand and Operator Costs
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The extent of services provided by the brands and management companies has expanded over the years. Historically, most fees were recorded in a few major categories; but in recent years, the services provided by management companies and brands have expanded. To accommodate for this, an Annual Mandatory Brand and Operator Cost Schedule is included to capture these expenses in one, easily-viewable table.
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Miscellaneous Income
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Revenues are recorded as Miscellaneous Income when they occur outside the Rooms or Food and Beverage departments and are mandated to be recorded on a net basis. Recently though, hotels have grown these revenue sources with expansion of their service and amenity offerings. To record these net revenues and provide clarity of existing sources, the 12th Revised Edition has added new Miscellaneous Income categories and expanded guidance for others.
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All-Inclusive Hotels
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Consumer acceptance of all-inclusive (AI) hotels has flourished since the release of the 11th Revised Edition. Given the growth of this segment, AI owners and operators appealed to the GFC to provide guidance. Their request was heeded, and the 12th Revised Edition now has an entire section dedicated to the reporting of revenues and expenses for AI hotels.

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Energy, Water, and Waste

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The emergence of environmental and sustainability standards set by governments around the world has necessitated enhanced reporting of what were previously titled Utility Expenses within hotels. Matching current nomenclature, the former Utilities de- partment has been renamed as Energy, Waste, and Water (EWW).
While the schedule provides a view of energy, water, and waste expenditures, several new metrics have also been included to help owners and operators analyze the consumption of energy, water, and waste at a hotel.

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Sales and Marketing
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The methods and tactics used by hotels to market to guests continue to evolve. Much of this evolution has been influenced by the introduction of technology, as well as enhanced data analytics. In recognition of these methods, three new expense categories have been added: Digital – Paid Search, Digital – Display, and Digital – Social.
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USALI Revenue and Expense Dictionary
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Purchasers of the 12th Revised Edition will have access to an online Revenue and Expense Dictionary. Searches can be made via the revenue and expense category, or by departments. This online tool has been updated to reflect the additions, deletions, and changes made.
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To learn more about the USALI 12th Revised Edition, visit usali.hftp.org for details.