Fairmont Raffles Hotels International

Sage 300 ERP Enjoys Long-Term Stay Around the Globe at Fairmont Raffles Hotels International

Fairmont Raffles Hotels International (FRHI) is a leading global hotel company with more than 100 hotels under the Fairmont, Raffles, and Swissôtel brands. With its corporate headquarters in Toronto and offices in Zurich and Singapore, it operates in 27 countries and boasts a portfolio of hotels that includes The Savoy in London, The Fairmont Banff Springs in Alberta, The Fairmont Peace Hotel in Shanghai, the Raffles Hotel in Singapore, and the Swissôtel Kolkata India. FRHI remains on a growth track, with plans to open another 50 hotels over the next five years. The company’s business model centers around the design, development, and management of hotels for the properties’ owners. FRHI sought a reliable, flexible, and cost- effective solution that could be deployed globally and serve as the financial backbone of each individual hotel and the centralized database for its corporate offices. That solution is Sage 300 ERP* and the powerful Sage 300 ERP Insight and Intelligence modules.

Checking into Sage 300 ERP
FRHI is a world leader in the hotel business, and Sage 300 ERP, a solution of choice for small and midsized companies, has proven to be vital in enabling worldwide operational excellence. “Each hotel is run like a small or midsized business, and Sage 300 ERP easily adapts to a 1,000-room resort or a 150-room hotel,” explains David Beeby, director of financial systems for FRHI. “It is easy to use and has all of the functionality our properties need. And thanks to its multiple language overlays and multicurrency features, it works in every country in which we operate.”

Reliable and affordable
“We use Sage 300 ERP in our corporate office, and each of our properties runs Sage 300 ERP as well,” says Beeby. “As new properties are introduced, we literally ship them a computer server with the software installed and configured.”

By installing Sage 300 ERP on a server housed at each hotel, FRHI has ensured that there is no single point of failure. Should there be power or Internet disruption at the corporate offices, the hotels can continue operations uninterrupted.

“The total cost of ownership of Sage 300 ERP is very attractive, both to us and our property owners,” notes Beeby. “The software is reasonably priced, and the annual maintenance fees are very competitive. Using Sage 300 ERP, we are able to deliver a financial and accounting solution to our property owners that no other company can compete with—at any price.”

Challenge
The hotel management company sought an ERP solution deployable in locations around the world—one that would deliver powerful financial and accounting tools to each hotel and to the corporate offices.

Solution
Sage 300 ERP is the world-class solution selected by FRHI. Sage 300 ERP Insight and Sage 300 ERP Intelligence provide comprehensive business management information.

Results
Low total cost of ownership maximizes value to the property owners. Multicurrency and multiple language templates support international operations.

Flexible deployment
Part of what makes Sage 300 ERP such a good fit for FRHI is its flexible, open database that lends itself to integration with other applications. “We have developed an automated Income Journal that posts daily from our property management system directly to the hotels’ general ledger,” explains Beeby. “This is just one example of how we have leveraged the product to give our hotel managers the information they need to maintain and improve the operational efficiency of their properties.”

At a corporate level, Sage 300 ERP is configured to support the various companies’ legal entities. Once per month, the hotels upload full financial details to FRHI’s Oracle Hyperion system database, where consolidated financial statements are produced.

The property owners appreciate that they can run their own trial balance and other financial reports directly from within Sage 300 ERP at any time throughout the month, without waiting for the company’s corporate team to produce financial statements.

Comprehensive management information tools
Sage 300 ERP Insight is an ideal budget planning and management tool, delivering enterprisewide access. Each hotel has access to the application to enter and revise forecasts and budgets. “Insight provides standardized input forms that are locked to prevent mistakes and formula errors that can occur in spreadsheets,” explains Beeby. “Hotel owners see actual data, current as of the last business day, and can even perform daily budgeting. It is an incredibly powerful tool.”

Over the coming year, FRHI will roll out dashboard tools developed using Sage 300 ERP Intelligence to each of the properties. “The dashboards will turn the hotel’s accounting data into useful business intelligence. The owners will see occupancy levels, daily sales, forecasts, and history,” says Beeby. “This information is of vital importance to our property owners—and because the data rolls up to our corporate database, it will be of tremendous benefit to the corporate leadership team as well.”

A world-class solution
“Sage 300 ERP is truly a world-class solution,” concludes Beeby. “It’s a product that meets out global needs, passes every audit it has been subjected to, and it is SOX Section 101 compliant. We have confidence in our decision to use Sage 300 ERP.”