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Ashraf El-Gammal, director of finance at Sheraton Jumeirah Beach Resort & Towers.

Sheraton Jumeirah Beach Resort and Towers director of finance Ashraf El-Gammal calculates what goes into a day's work.

There are many tasks that add up to a full day's work for Sheraton Jumeirah Beach Resort and Towers director of finance Ashraf El-Gammal.

El-Gammal said on a normal day he was in the office by 9am, reviewing figures and reports from the night before.

"We start by reviewing the daily revenue, in terms of what happened yesterday," he explained.

"We look at how much revenue we achieved last night, and how much we have taken in the month to date. We also look at how it is compared to the budget, and the forecast, and what we did last year [during the same period]."

After reviewing the figures from different areas of the hotel - such as rooms and F&B - El-Gammal said he makes a note of any areas that need following up with different departments before attending the daily briefing with the general manager and executive committee at 9.30am.

"We discuss the figures together [at the executive meeting] - we have the director of sales and marketing, the revenue manager, and the rooms manager - so we can talk about where we stand, how we are looking for the next week and the full month," he added. "We discuss what the challenges are, and also if we have requests from the finance department we bring them up."

After the briefing, which on average lasts between 45 minutes and an hour, El-Gammal is back in the office signing the first of many documents he must approve in his role as financial controller for the hotel.

"After that it is back to the office to the administration world, signing off each different section in finance - accounts receivable, accounts payable, the income auditor, and collections," he said.

"Everyone has certain reports related to last month's business. For example, the income auditor has to report the complementary offers made to guests last month, which have to be reviewed and approved."

Reviewing the reports and approving various items takes about three hours, El-Gammal said, unless there are meetings to attend, such as the weekly and monthly department head meetings and revenue meetings.

Although El-Gammal is regularly in touch via email and telephone with the finance directors at the other Sheraton properties in Dubai, he said financial controllers across the emirate's five-star hotels had started networking sessions which he now attends.

"We are going to meet every two months, at different hotels," he said. "We used to do the same thing in Egypt - I think it is very useful. [It] was a very good meeting to exchange ideas."

After lunch, El-Gammal said he will often look at the books of other departments, in order to give his approval.

"Most of the approval requirements specify that it needs approval from the general manager and the financial controller," he explained.

"[Other departments] send a signature book through to finance, which I will go through and approve before taking it to the general manager for approval as well. For example, if an employee needs to go the hospital, and we need to get him a taxi, then we will provide money for him to go to get help. Obviously it can't wait, so a member of the executive committee will approve it, and then I will approve it afterwards."

In addition to going through the books, El-Gammal said he would also take time each afternoon to sit down with staff members and keep on top of their operations.

"I finish between 6pm and 6.30pm, provided there are no other requirements - which happens quite often," he added.

When asked about the challenges of working in his role, El-Gammal said recruitment and finding adequate supplies were often difficult.

"Recruitment of staff is becoming a challenge, finding good candidates especially," he explained.

"If you have been working in Dubai for four years or more you can feel the difference [in candidates] now. In the past when you spoke to someone they were happy to come quickly, and it didn't take too much for them to come or not.

"There is a different attitude now, and things like inflation [are having an effect on people's desire to come to Dubai]."

El-Gammal added that it was also becoming difficult to find appropriate sources of supply.

"Everywhere in Dubai is growing very fast, but you need the infrastructure first," he said.

"There are not enough supplies to cope with the growth of hotels. Four years ago, if you wanted to source glasses, you would find four or five suppliers available. Now, because demand is too high and supply is not high enough, it will take some time - sometimes weeks or months - waiting for supplies."

But El-Gammal said the growth of Dubai, and of the hotel, was enjoyable to be a part of.

"I enjoy when I see the numbers achieve the budget - for example, making growth over our budget," El-Gammal said.

"Just looking at the trend, where we stand now compared to three or four years ago, this is great."

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