Ascenture Hotel Group Attributes Dynamic Growth to Enterprise Accounting Software

Since its founding as a hotel management company in 2003, Ascenture Hotel Group has evolved into a full-scale development firm with 10 properties in five states and more on the horizon, including a five-star resort in the Dominican Republic. 

 

To meet investor expectations and track profitability targets, Moffa relies on Profitvue enterprise accounting and financial planning software from Aptech Computer Systems to calculate and communicate crucial business data on his assets data each day. Ascenture’s brands include Hilton, Holiday Inn, and Comfort Suites. One reason his company chose Aptech is because Profitvue accepts performance data from all brands and systems, regardless of flag, and easily creates centralized daily property reports and consolidated financials and delivers them online or by e-mail. 

 

Ascenture’s move to Profitvue also saves it money. Ascenture has only two people in its accounting office for all its assets. “Aptech creates a more efficient operation so we save about $80,000 in additional salaries,” says Joseph C. Moffa, Ascenture president.

 

Moffa’s team monitors each hotel’s operation against budget with a flexible set of metrics that show property financial health. “Our partners and investors are in business for a profit,” explains Moffa. “A hotel is a different investment with a different return than an office building.  It is a 365, 24/7 living, breathing business that never closes. We use Aptech to keep our investors and partners informed. I want them to be the smartest owners in the hotel business and understand how we manage their investments to increase value. We use Profitvue reports to show how we manage costs down to the smallest amenities.”

 

Profitvue also enables his management team to monitor property performance while they are traveling, explains Lisa Zifer Ascenture’s director of operations. “Aptech makes our company and its services portable. We access data remotely using Aptech’s Webvue internet communication platform. I travel frequently and monitor operations by having Profitvue reports emailed to me so I am always in touch with our properties. We create each property’s budget at the beginning of the year and manage it through a detailed reporting process. My CFO focuses on daily property profitability and we operate our budget to the penny. Our partners value us because they see we are not a passive management company.”

 

Aptech financial tools also deliver benefits by transforming Ascenture’s internal operations, says Moffa. “Our management team earns bonuses based on the percentage of his or her property’s net operating income above budget. Profitvue gives us the ability to manage by the numbers and our general managers have an incentive and the tools to exceed ownership expectations.”

 

Aptech’s comprehensive reporting capability changed the way Ascenture hires; “We want our managers to understand the importance of managing by the numbers, and Profitvue delivers those numbers,” says Moffa. New managers receive standardized training guides to bring them up to speed on working with Profitvue and Webvue.