Intercontinental has several hotels and resorts in the South Pacific. For one of these hotels, management expects occupancy rates to be 95% in December, January, and February; 85% in November, March, and April; and 70% the rest of the year. This hotel has 300 rooms and the average room rental is $250 per night. Of this, on average 10% is received as a deposit the month before the stay, 60% is received in the month of the stay, and 28% is collected the month after. The remaining 2% is never collected.

Most of the costs of running the hotel are fixed. The variable costs are only $30 per occupied room per night. Fixed salaries (including benefits) run $400,000 per month, depreciation is $350,000 a month, other fixed operating costs are $120,000 per month, and interest expense is $600,000 per month. Variable costs and salaries are paid in the month they are incurred, depreciation is recorded at the end of each quarter, other fixed operating costs are paid as incurred, and interest is paid semi-annually each June and December.

1. Prepare a monthly cash budget for this Intercontinental hotel for the entire year. For simplicity, assume that there are 30 days in each month.

2. How much would the hotel’s annual profit increase if occupancy rates increased by 5% during the off-season (that is, from 70% to 75% in each of the months from May–October)?