Richard Suarez

Briefly, my venture into accounting began in 2004 with Montage Laguna Beach as Group Billing Associate.  After a year in that role, I was asked to move to full-time General Cashier duties.  Lastly and after demonstrating competence in that role, I was recruited to take on Income Auditor duties while concurrently fulfilling my responsibilities as General Cashier.  Unfortunately, after almost 5 years of service fulfilling these diverse and progressive roles, I was part of a layoff in 2009.

In 2010, I was fortunate enough to sign on with Zislis Group in Manhattan Beach, a mid-size hotel and restaurant management company.  Initially brought on as Accounting Clerk for Shade Hotel, I was quickly escalated to Staff Accountant, taking on the full cycle accounting duties for the company’s entire portfolio of restaurant businesses (six in total, as of 2013), to include profit and loss statements, charts of account management, balance sheet reconciliation, and extremely high-volume accounts payable duties.  This dynamic and progressive company was an opportunity to learn multiple restaurant businesses from top to bottom, including construction accounting, staffing, pre-opening procedures, and ongoing monthly bookkeeping and reporting.

In September 2013, I returned to the hotel world with Canary Santa Barbara (Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants) as Accounting Manager.  My responsibilities as a manager were multiple and diverse, having a hand in most major accounting functions of the hotel and restaurant including accounts payable, accounts receivable, income audit, payroll processing, chargeback management, bank account reconciliation and month-end close.  However, after a year in this challenging role, I relocated back home to southern California to be closer to family.

Since 2015, I have been fulfilling temporary assignments to stay up-to-date with current accounting technologies within the hospitality industry, as well as keep my skills sharp.