Scheduled audit
How Estatell runs the night audit by itself, when it starts, and what stops it.
Estatell can run the night audit for you. It starts after the Night audit time, on the day after the business date, and it posts the night, closes the date and opens the next one. Staff do not need to be at the desk.
A scheduled run does the same work as a run by staff. See Run the night audit. The difference is who starts it, and that a scheduled run never forces. See Force close.
Before you start
- Permission to change the settings: Manage property settings. Owners and managers have it by default.
- Settings: Night audit time and Run night audit automatically. Set them on the Operations tab. See Operations. This page does not repeat them.
- The property must be live. A property that has not gone live has no business date, so nothing runs.
When it starts
Estatell checks every five minutes. It starts the audit for a property when all of these are true:
- Run night audit automatically is on.
- The business date is Open. A date that is Auditing is not picked up.
- The clock at the property has reached the Night audit time on the day after the business date.
It uses the property's own time zone, so each hotel runs at its own local time.
The day after the business date is the key rule. The audit never starts on the business date itself, whatever the time. An audit time of 23:00 runs at 23:00 on the next day, not at 23:00 on the business date. An early time such as 02:00 runs in the first hours after the day ends.
Because Estatell checks every five minutes, the run can start up to five minutes after the audit time.
| Business date | Night audit time | The automatic audit starts |
|---|---|---|
| Wed 14 Oct | 02:00 | Thu 15 Oct, 02:00 |
| Wed 14 Oct | 06:00 | Thu 15 Oct, 06:00 |
| Wed 14 Oct | 23:00 | Thu 15 Oct, 23:00 |
| Thu 15 Oct (the audit above ran) | 02:00 | Fri 16 Oct, 02:00 |
Until the audit runs, the sidebar says Night audit pending. See Business date.
What stops it
| What happens | What Estatell does | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| A Fix before running item is open, such as No room or bed tonight | The run is refused and nothing is written. Estatell tries again five minutes later, and keeps trying until you fix it. The dashboard shows "Night audit for 14 Oct is waiting: 1 item needs a fix before it can run." | Open the audit, fix the item. See Readiness checks. |
| Only Needs a look items are open | They do not stop the run. The audit goes ahead. | Review them in the morning. See The morning report. |
| The audit fails at a step | The date stays Auditing, so Estatell does not start it again by itself. Finished steps are kept. | Open the audit and select Resume audit. See Run the night audit. |
| Run night audit automatically is off | Nothing runs. | Run it by hand each night. |
| The audit time has not come yet | Nothing runs. | Nothing. |
A scheduled run does not force. If a blocker stays open, the date does not close, even after days. The sidebar then turns red, "Business date is 2 days behind", and the dashboard shows an alert. See Business date.
When a scheduled run ends, Estatell sends the morning report. See The morning report.
Special cases
| Situation | What happens | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Staff run the audit by hand after midnight, before the audit time | The date closes and the next one opens. The scheduled run then waits for the next day. | Nothing. |
| Staff and the schedule start the audit together | The audit runs once. Running twice never posts twice. | Nothing. |
| You change Night audit time | The next five-minute check uses the new time. | Nothing. |
| You want a run right after the day ends | An audit time of 23:00 does not do it: it runs a day later. | Pick an early-morning time. |
| A blocker is open all night | No audit. The business date stays put. | Fix it in the morning, then run the audit by hand or wait for the next check. |
| A scheduled run fails | Managers and owners get a Failed message. | See The morning report. |