One system, or a PMS plus accounting plus stores?
The honest trade-offs between separate PMS, POS, stores and accounting products and one hotel back office, and when each choice makes sense.
By the Tivuzo team · Updated
Separate systems (a PMS, a restaurant POS, a stores tool and accounting software) let you pick the strongest product for each job, but every hand-over between them is an export, an interface or a person typing. One system shares one database: a room night, a bar bill or a delivery is entered once and is already in the accounts. For independent properties, one system usually costs less and closes the month faster; separate best-of-breed products make more sense for large hotels with IT staff and needs no single system meets.
How each setup works
| Step | Separate systems | One system (Tivuzo) |
|---|---|---|
| Room night | PMS; revenue exported or summarised for accounting | Posted to folio and revenue by the night audit |
| Bar bill to a room | POS to PMS interface, if there is one; else a chit | Charge to room, straight onto the folio |
| Delivery | Stores tool or a book; bill typed into accounting | Received against the PO; bill matched before payment |
| Kitchen issue | Rarely recorded; food cost = purchases | Issue moves stock and posts food cost |
| Month-end | Reconcile each system with accounting | Review and reconcile bank and mobile money |
Where the cost really is
The licence prices are the easy part to compare. The hidden costs of separate systems are the interfaces (built, paid for and maintained), the exports somebody runs every night or month, the differences nobody can explain between the PMS revenue report and the ledger, and the questions the owner can't get answered: what did a room night cost us, and what did the bar really make?
- Licences or subscriptions for each product
- Interfaces or connectors, and who fixes them when they break
- Hours spent exporting, importing and re-typing
- Errors found late, and the time to trace them
- Several suppliers to call when something goes wrong
When separate systems make sense
- A large hotel or chain with an IT team and existing contracts
- A must-have feature only one specialist product has, such as a two-way channel manager or revenue management system
- Group accounting already standardised on one package across many businesses
When one system wins
- Independent hotels, lodges, camps and guest houses
- Owners who want food cost, cost per room and departmental profit without spreadsheets
- Remote properties where stores and procurement matter as much as the front desk
- Small teams who can't afford to keep four systems in step
Price, side by side
Tivuzo costs $13 per user per month for the PMS, POS, procurement, stores and accounting together; a 30-room lodge with six users pays $78 a month. To compare, add up the PMS, the POS, the stores tool, the accounting package and the interfaces for the same property, plus the hours each month spent moving numbers. See pricing and hotel back office software.
What you give up with Tivuzo
Tivuzo doesn't have a live channel manager, booking engine, door-lock integration or payroll today. If those are essential, you will need another product beside it, or a different system.
One system vs separate systems
Is it better to have one hotel system or several?
For most independent properties, one system: less re-typing, faster month-end and real cost numbers. Larger hotels with special needs may still prefer best-of-breed products linked together.
Can I keep my accounting software and use Tivuzo for the PMS?
You can, and export from Tivuzo to your accounting package. But you would lose the main benefit: stays, bar, stores and purchases posting by themselves.
What is an integrated hotel system?
One where the PMS, POS, purchasing, stores and accounting share data, so each transaction is entered once.
Last updated by the Tivuzo team.