HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY

PKF’s roots are deep in the hospitality industry, with its first office  located in the old Ritz-Carlton Hotel on Madison Avenue and 41st Street in New York City in 1911.  PKF is still today widely recognized as one of the leading specialists in the hospitality industry.  The annual studies, Trends in the Hotel Industry and Clubs in Town & Country, provide statistical data on the operations of hotels and clubs, and are designed as client reference and operational tools. 

PKF partners and executives serve on many industry committees, including the Hospitality Committee of the New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants (NYSSCPAs), the Finance Committee of the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AH&LA), and the Board of Directors of the Hospitality and Financial Technology Professionals of New York City (HFTP).  PKF’s long-time service with such organizations demonstrates our commitment to serving our hospitality clients and allows our partners and executives to keep up with current developments in the hospitality industry.  As testimony to PKF’s expertise in the industry is the fact that we have long-standing professional relationships with most of our hospitality clients.

William J. Forster, one of the founding partners of Harris, Kerr, Forster & Company, our ancestral firm, chaired the committee of hotel accountants that formulated the first edition of the Uniform System of Accounts for the Lodging Industry, published in 1926.  We have continuously served on each committee of the AH&LA in updating the Uniform System.  C. Everett Johnson, our Chairman until his retirement in 1981, was the founder of the AH&LA’s Industry Real Estate Financing Advisory Council (IREFAC). Each year  an award in his name is presented by IREFAC to honor an innovative industry leader.  Another of our partners also served as a reviewer for Internal Control:  A Fraud Prevention Handbook for Hotel and Restaurant Managers, published by Cornell University School of Hotel Administration and has served as an adjunct professor teaching a course in Managerial Accounting for the Hospitality Industry at New York University.

Our hospitality clients  - hotels, restaurants and private clubs - are assigned PKF professionals dedicated to the hospitality industry.  In addition to our audit services, our business advisory services include:   internal control reviews as well as assistance in establishing internal controls; consulting and assistance in purchases and sales of hotel properties; documentation relative to job descriptions and accounting manuals; and development of internal audit programs.