Raines Co. Dramatically Improves Owner Reporting Using Business Intelligence
A year ago, 19 properties in the Raines Co. portfolio went LIVE with PVNG, a browser-based enterprise accounting tool from Aptech. Extremely pleased with the finance software and the company’s customer service, the hospitality management, development, and investment group operating both major hotel brands and boutique properties recently added Aptech’s newest version business intelligence tool, Execuvue®. The entire corporate accounting team is thrilled to have new, automated financial management tools at their fingertips, but no one is more elated than Ron Glancy, Raines Senior Vice President of Operations.
Since 2008, Glancy had been manually preparing a daily report of occupancy and average daily rate (ADR) for the company’s founder Mark Raines. With only two hotels at that time in the portfolio representing 279 rooms, the report was manageable; but at 20 hotels and 1,927 rooms today, the task had become daunting, especially with the demand for more data growing daily. Each morning without fail, Glancy spent considerable time manually preparing a spreadsheet for the company’s owners, shareholders, and general managers, whether he was in the office, at home, on vacation, or travelling out of the country. When Aptech Vice President Cam Troutman learned of Glancy’s ordeal, he presented a solution — a custom operations report driven by Execuvue to mirror Raines’ needs.
Execuvue is Aptech’s IBM Cognos-based ASP business intelligence application. The solution makes custom reporting and data gathering intuitive. It helps operators make smarter business decisions and answer questions on the fly using AI-powered analytics. Execuvue’s “Dashboard” delivers stunning images of financial and operational data to deliver actionable insights, and the drag-and-drop environment with predictive analytics creates visualizations based on data entered.
“When Cam told me that Execuvue could automate our Executive Report and tie it to founder Mark Raines’ legacy — it was Mark who initiated the report in hopes of achieving 100% occupancy daily — I jumped at the chance,” Glancy said. “What used to be a chore now takes just 10 minutes to compile, and that’s only because I take the time to manually double-check the numbers. As soon as I log in, I have immediate access to the prior day’s information. Execuvue graphically displays our finance and operations data in minutes, and it helps us all make smarter business decisions based on actionable insights. This is truly the gift that keeps on giving day after day.”
Glancy said the new Executive Report shows the number of rooms rented, average daily rate, revenue per available room, the percent of occupancy, how many rooms are out of order, and more. The system also configures the data to deliver a report by region, giving Raines a performance snapshot for the entire portfolio, as well as by region, by brand, and by property.
“The best thing about Execuvue is that it saves time and takes a lot of pressure off my shoulders,” Glancy said. “2021 was the very first Christmas morning that I didn’t have to stress about compiling the report before my day could start. Being able to provide quick views to owners and managers enables us to better react to the market and adjust as needed. It gives us information in real time about occupancy and ADR. I often think how happy Mark Raines would be if he could see how quickly we can put this critical data into the hands of 65 executives and counting each day. The efficiency is remarkable.”
Troutman said it’s opportunities like this — being able to positively impact the day-to-day operations of Aptech customers — that has made Aptech the industry standard for hospitality financial management.
“We knew PVNG was the right fit for Raines, but from the moment I heard Ron’s story, I knew that Execuvue would rock his world — and it did in a BIG way,” Troutman said. “I learned how passionate Mark was about scrutinizing the numbers, and he vowed to continue delivering the data and expanding on the report long after Mark’s passing to all who need it. It was truly rewarding to customize Execuvue to meet Ron’s reporting needs and honor company standards. Like Aptech, Raines is a family-owned business with a family-oriented culture. Also like us, they believe in building relationships, whether it’s with their valued employees, vendor partners, shareholders, and community members. It’s expanding on relationships with companies like Raines that makes my job so rewarding. I wish them continued success in 2022 and look forward to growing our partnership in the future.”
For more information on Execuvue by Aptech, visit http://www.aptech-inc.com.