March 2, 2021 (Austin, Texas) — Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals (HFTP®) has introduced a new professional course from its HFTP Academy: the Hospitality Benchmarking Certificate, which demonstrates expertise in financial analysis and benchmarking. The course is a collaboration with the hotel benchmarking firm HotStats and will be supported by Ascend, a hospitality talent development company. The certificate is delivered as a comprehensive course available to all, with no previous experience required.
"HFTP continually strives to provide its members and the industry the tools to demonstrate expertise and progress professionally. Now with the addition of the new Benchmarking certificate, our catalog grows with another important financial skill set," said HFTP Deputy CEO Thomas Atzenhofer, CPA. "Developing and offering the certificates are a definitive way for hospitality professionals to prove to their employers their ease with important managerial skills to help navigate a company’s financial strategy."
The course emphasis will be to connect how benchmarking is essential for any profitability tool chest. The program is organized to explain the concepts and provide practical application to incorporate them into daily, weekly or monthly analysis. A special feature is that HotStats, a well-known hospitality data provider, is collaborating with HFTP and Ascend to add some real-world examples of applications. Using fictional hotels, but actual data, reporting examples will be incorporated to allow for immediate application of new skills within your organization.
“Ascend’s focus is to provide quality professional development with an immediate ROI to the learner and their organizations,” said Ascend co-principals Arlene Ramirez, CHAE, CHE, CHIA, CAHTA and Agnes DeFranco Ed.D. CHAE, CHE, CHIA, CAHTA. “We are honored to once again partner with HFTP and now HotStats, an industry leader in the benchmarking space, on this new hospitality certificate.”
“Operational benchmarking plays a prominent role within a hotel’s overall financial analysis toolkit, particularly amid these precarious times,” said Pablo Alonso, CEO of HotStats. “It allows hoteliers to measure asset performance across an array of key performance indicators covering revenue, expense and profit, allowing them to identify areas of underperformance and outperformance. HotStats is thrilled to be partnering with the HFTP and Ascend to develop and deliver a benchmarking course that will not only aid hotels in the recovery but have a lasting presence in the everlasting pursuit of driving bottom-line growth.”
Participants receive 24/7 access and have three months to complete the course. Once all modules are completed, the participant will be required to take a 30-question assessment that needs to be passed with 100 percent accuracy. Participants will have unlimited attempts to achieve this perfect score. Upon successful completion of the entire certificate course, registrants will receive a digital badge and certificate recognizing their achievement and new knowledge base.
In addition to the Benchmarking certificate, the HFTP Academy also offers two USALI-11 certificates. First is the USALI-11 Theory certificate, which covers the layout and content of the financial statements for each operating department and undistributed departments. In addition, the course reviews the Non-Operating Income and Expense section, Net vs Gross Revenue reporting, and the ratios provided in the 11th edition. The other is the USALI-11 Practice — Analysis and Compliance Certificate, which takes the knowledge base from the theory course and applies numbers to provide insight on how best to analyze and interpret the information in the financial statements. Emphasis is placed on vertical, horizontal and ratio analyses.
With the launch of the new Benchmarking certificate, the HFTP Academy is offering a discounted price for all certificates through May 31, 2021. The offer prices one course for $375 USD; two courses for $700 USD; and three courses for $1,000 USD (best value). On June 1, 2021, the certificates will return to the regular cost of $1,000 USD per course.
For more information, visit the HFTP Academy or contact HFTP Certification Manager Robin Bogdon at certification@hftp.org.
