Greenbelt, Md.-based Coakley & Williams Hotel Management Co. has converted to software company Hotel Investor Apps’ new platform in a bid to reduce hotel expenses and gain greater flexibility for its owners and property-level management.
“HIA is disruptive technology. Having all of your business programs on one platform, integrating data and eliminating many hours of wasted time every week with built-in automations is like leaping from floppy disks to the cloud,” said Charlie Fritsch, CEO of Hotel Investor Apps. “In the current economic and travel climate, hotel owners increasingly want time- and money-saving options to reduce expenses and improve profitability. Our technology provides the only true-cloud, Enterprise Resource Planning platform built specifically for hotels, as well as the only full functionality mobile app, which provides more accounting services to clients with easier access than any other software. One literally can review P&Ls and budgets and analyze real-time data for an entire hotel portfolio all from the convenience of a handheld device.”
Enterprise Resource Planning is a form of business-management software that integrates all the processes needed to run business operations onto a single system. HIA’s ERP is a suite of applications from accounting to business intelligence, employee expense, workflow, etc., that shares data for more informative reports from multiple business activities.
“It might seem counterintuitive to purchase and convert to new software during the worst hotel downturn in the last 50 years,” said Stephen Hahn, Coakley & Williams’ VP of corporate services/chief information officer. “However, this software gives our operators and owners the latest technology which allows a more efficient workflow, while giving us easier access to data. This allows us to manage revenues and expenses more accurately and rapidly. This software makes us and our hotels more competitive.”
Hotel Investor Apps is built on a global ERP with access to a marketplace of integrated add-on solutions for hotels from automated accounts payable to time-and-attendance software. As a cloud ERP, HIA can continuously release new platform enhancements and make speedy customizations, such as the new banking data integration that allows users to pull real time bank account data into dashboards. Additionally, customers can add new users without any upcharge.
Coakley & Williams now utilizes HIA’s services across its portfolio of more than 30 hotels. “HIA provides us with virtual access to a one-stop web browser that’s not clunky like their competitors,’” Hahn said. “Their reporting capabilities are top-notch, but perhaps most importantly, their customer service helps us quickly and seamlessly through any issues that may arise. I can pick up the phone, and someone will answer and help me immediately. With the hospitality industry clawing for any piece of business it can find, the ability to move quickly and assuredly through our accounting related processes is invaluable.”
“Time-saving services, such as personalized dashboards for different personnel, scheduled reports and work flow functions, allow users to react immediately to day-to-day operation results, which has a dramatic impact on improved workflow, resulting in meaningful cost savings,” said Fritsch.