A Daily Business Report (DBR) is a one-page summary of how your hotel performed yesterday: how many rooms sold, at what average rate, how much revenue came in, and how much is still unpaid. Managers read it every morning because it shows problems while there is still time to fix them, not at month-end.
What is in a DBR
Most DBRs show each number three ways: Day, MTD (month to date) and YTD (year to date). The day figure tells you what happened; MTD and YTD tell you whether it is a trend.
| Section | What it tells you |
|---|---|
| Rooms sold, occupancy | How full the hotel was |
| ADR, RevPAR | Price achieved, and revenue per room you could sell |
| Revenue by department | Rooms, food and beverage, other (laundry, transport, extras) |
| Arrivals, departures, in-house | Guest movement for the day |
| No-shows, cancellations | Rooms you planned to sell but did not |
| Cashier collection | Cash, UPI, card and other payments received |
| Outstanding dues | Money still to be collected |
The three formulas
- Occupancy = rooms sold ÷ available rooms
- ADR (average daily rate) = room revenue ÷ rooms sold
- RevPAR (revenue per available room) = room revenue ÷ available rooms, which is the same as ADR × occupancy
Available rooms exclude out-of-order rooms, which is the industry standard. A room under repair is not something you could have sold.
Example (made-up round numbers): a 20-room hotel has 2 rooms out of order, so 18 rooms are available. It sells 12 rooms and earns ₹36,000 in room revenue.
- Occupancy = 12 ÷ 18 = 66.7%
- ADR = ₹36,000 ÷ 12 = ₹3,000
- RevPAR = ₹36,000 ÷ 18 = ₹2,000 (check: ₹3,000 × 66.7% = ₹2,000)
ADR alone can mislead. A hotel can raise ADR by selling fewer rooms. RevPAR shows whether the trade-off actually paid.
How to read it: five practical checks
- Pickup against last year. Compare rooms booked for the coming dates with the same point last year. If you are behind, act on rates, offers or channels now.
- OTA against direct mix. If online travel agent bookings keep growing while direct bookings stay flat, you are paying more commission for the same revenue. Push your website, repeat guests and WhatsApp enquiries.
- No-show and cancellation pattern. Look for a source, a weekday or a rate plan that repeats. That is where deposits or stricter terms help.
- Dues ageing. Split outstanding dues into today, 1 to 7 days and older. Old dues rarely get collected, so chase the new ones first.
- Cashier collection against revenue. Collection will not match revenue every day, but a gap that keeps growing means open folios or leakage. See revenue leaks.
Take 10 minutes, ideally with the front desk lead. Write down one action from each morning's report.
Common mistakes when reading a DBR
- Judging a single day. A slow Tuesday means little. Check MTD and the same weekday last year before reacting.
- Mixing room revenue with total revenue. ADR and RevPAR use room revenue only. Adding food or extras makes the numbers look better than they are and breaks comparisons.
- Counting complimentary or house-use rooms as sold. Decide a rule once, apply it every day, and note it on the report.
- Ignoring taxes. Compare revenue on the same basis every time, either with or without GST, so trends stay honest.
- Reading it alone. Share it with the owner, front desk and accounts. When three people see the same figures, disputes shrink.
DBR and night audit
A DBR is only as good as the day it reads from. The night audit closes the business date so figures stop changing; the DBR then reports that closed day. If audits are skipped, the DBR will not match what the cashier or the OTAs show.
How it works in BitLegacy
The Reports Centre in BitLegacy brings these numbers together without spreadsheets:
- Day, MTD and YTD Daily Business Report
- ADR and RevPAR, with occupancy
- Source mix, including OTA and direct
- Pickup and a 30-day forecast
- Date filters for any period
- CSV and PDF export for owners, accountants and partners
See the Hotel Reports page for details and Pricing to see which plan includes it. You can also start a free trial and run your own numbers.
Summary
Read the DBR every morning, compare it with last year, and fix one thing a day. Use available rooms (excluding out-of-order rooms) in your formulas, and pair the report with a daily night audit so the numbers can be trusted.
Frequently asked questions
What is a Daily Business Report (DBR) in a hotel?
A DBR is a one-page summary of yesterday's hotel performance: rooms sold, occupancy, ADR, RevPAR, revenue by department, guest movement and cash collected, shown for the day, month to date (MTD) and year to date (YTD).
What is the difference between ADR and RevPAR?
ADR is room revenue divided by rooms sold, so it shows the average price you achieved. RevPAR is room revenue divided by available rooms, so it also reflects empty rooms. RevPAR equals ADR multiplied by occupancy.
Should out-of-order rooms count as available rooms?
By the usual industry convention, rooms that are out of order are removed from available rooms, so occupancy and RevPAR are not pulled down by rooms you could not sell. Keep a note of how many rooms were blocked.
What does MTD mean in a hotel report?
MTD means month to date: the total from the first day of the current month up to the report date. YTD is the same idea from the start of the year. They show whether a good or bad day is part of a trend.
Can a small hotel use a DBR without a revenue manager?
Yes. A DBR needs no special skill. Read the same five or six numbers every morning, compare them with the same period last year, and act on anything that moves sharply.
About the author
Managing Director, BitLegacy Solutions LLP
Captainjeet Kaur leads BitLegacy Solutions LLP, the team behind BitLegacy Hotels — hotel management software for independent Indian hotels — and writes about running and growing hotels with simple, practical technology.
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