The best front-desk routine is short enough to happen every day. It should reveal today's risks before the first guest asks about them.

Minutes 1–5: departures and rooms

  • Confirm today's departures and expected checkout times.
  • Flag unpaid balances, extras and invoice requests.
  • Tell housekeeping which rooms turn over and which have early arrivals.
  • Record maintenance issues before the room is marked ready.

Minutes 6–10: arrivals

  • Check arrival time, room assignment and guest count.
  • Confirm deposit and balance status.
  • Review dietary, accessibility, transport and bed-setup requests.
  • Identify missing guest-register information.
  • Prepare late-arrival or access instructions.

Minutes 11–13: money and documents

Review EFTs submitted for verification, balances due, refunds waiting for approval, company-account charges and invoices promised today. Give every item an owner and deadline.

Minutes 14–15: the handover

Write down exceptions, not everything that is normal. “Five arrivals” is a report. “Room 2 needs a cot; Room 6 arrives after 21:00; Room 4's EFT is not verified” is a handover.

Close the loop before leaving

At the end of the day, record late arrivals, payments, room moves, damage or maintenance notes, tomorrow's early departures and cash/card/EFT differences. Do not rely on the night staff finding the WhatsApp thread.

A checklist works when it creates decisions. If it becomes a long form that staff complete without looking, shorten it.

InnDesk's Today view is built around arrivals, departures, balances, room status and the next operational action.

Keep the checklist visible

Place the checklist beside the Today view or make it the first digital screen of the shift. Use initials only where accountability helps. If a task is repeatedly skipped, ask whether it is unclear, badly timed or no longer useful before adding another signature box.

Weekly, not daily

Move supplier balances, deep maintenance, rate reviews, marketing results and staff scheduling to a weekly operations meeting. The daily check should stay focused on guests, rooms, money and immediate exceptions.