Towards a more comprehensive accounting framework for hotels in China

Purpose – This purpose of this paper is to enhance the level, scope, and detail of management information under the current accounting format in hotels in China, and suggests a preliminary research framework on development of China‐based uniform hotel accounts. Design/methodology/approach – Focus group interviews with industrial executives were carried out to give a deeper insight of the issue and to gather more information for a better understanding of the up‐to‐date situation. Findings – The preliminary findings of this paper reveal that there are nine new hotel business drivers that are currently not fully reported in the financial statements. Research limitations/implications – The limitation of the paper is that the number of accounting professionals interviewed was of smaller proportion among the interviewees. Practical implications – The findings in this paper provide informative details on the existing financial performance reporting in Mainland hotels from a managerial perspective, and point out limitations of adopting the Uniform System of Accounts for the Lodging Industry in China. Originality/value – The paper shows that identifying the current financial reporting system in Mainland hotels is important to some new expatriate managers who are unfamiliar with local business conditions. A comprehensive and meaningful accounting framework could provide enriched managerial information to managers to make decisions and reduce dispute between hotel owning company and hotel operating company arising from different views on the typical way of calculating management fee that is based on the definition of revenue stipulated in the management agreement.