ABOUT ME
Hi, my name is Paula Peterson, and Heartrock is my accounting services company.​
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The Early Years
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Before founding Heartrock, I worked for various hotel management companies. I spent six years with the Mariner Management Company (now Remington Hospitality) in the 1980s. I worked at five properties and in the corporate office during this time. I was transferred to a new location each year, with each transfer being a promotion. As a young, single professional, I thoroughly enjoyed the learning experience and the fast track they put me on. The last property I worked at involved a hotel opening, a prestigious achievement for any hotelier's resume; I was the Director of Finance for this opening. I must have done an all-right job since the first-year external audit had only one adjusting journal entry to do with travel agent commissions.
In the 1990s, I joined The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, beginning my tenure as Director of Finance at the Kansas City property. After a year and a half in this role, I transitioned to The Ritz-Carlton, Aspen, as the new hotel was under construction. The experience of opening a new luxury property in Aspen (!) was enriching. One often overlooked aspect of one's work history is the lasting friendships and collaborations formed while working closely with the executive team. From the opening of The Ritz-Carlton, Aspen, I have built friendships that have lasted for decades.
Following five successful years at The Ritz-Carlton, Aspen, a management agreement dispute involving four hotels led to my transfer to The Ritz-Carlton, Buckhead, in Atlanta, the company's flagship property. While working for The Ritz-Carlton, I was often called upon to assist with opening new properties, including locations such as Tysons Corner and Hong Kong. Additionally, all executives contributed to the company's achievement of earning an unprecedented two Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Awards.
After expressing my desire to return to the Southwest, a vacant position at the Laguna Beach hotel opened up. I interviewed for the role, was offered a house-hunting trip and the job and was excited about the prospect of moving. Unfortunately, the Director of Finance decided not to resign, and the position was no longer available. This prompted me to take the giant leap to leave The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, move to Arizona, and start my own business.
Working with the renowned Horst Schulze, the President and COO of The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company was an honor and a pleasure.
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The Heartrock Years
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Since its inception in 1999, Heartrock has been thriving in the hospitality and small business sectors, consistently delivering exceptional results to clients and building a successful track record.
Some people may see hotel accounting as quite distinct from small business accounting, but they are not so different. Each hotel operates like a collection of small businesses.
The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company became my first client. I worked with them on and off for six years across various locations, including Phoenix, Philadelphia, Boston, New York, Montego Bay, San Francisco, Grand Cayman, and others. I was filling in for the Director of Finance at most of these hotels. This partnership was seamless due to our mutual familiarity; I understood their systems, and they knew they could rely on me.
During the down times with The Ritz-Carlton, I was called to assist at Bacara in Santa Barbara (then an independent hotel, now a Ritz-Carlton). The Managing Director, whom I had previously worked with, requested my support to stabilize the newly opened hotel's accounting department. My responsibilities included restating financials from the opening date, training staff, and establishing standard operating procedures (SOPs).
After Marriott acquired the remaining 50% of The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, Horst Schulze and his executive team formed the West Paces Hotel Group (now Capella and Solis). They lacked a Vice President of Finance to establish hotel accounting systems, so they enlisted my help. I assisted in developing their financial reports, setting up their back-office system, and creating their Chart of Accounts (COA). As they expanded to 13 hotels, I transitioned each property to a new back-office and payroll system, working closely with and training the hotel staff on these newly implemented systems. While with them, I was able to help open a hotel in Germany! I worked with WPHG as needed up to 2018.
In 2012, Benchmark Hotels and Resorts needed some assistance. Their VP of Hotel Accounting and I had worked together at Ritz-Carlton at many of the hotels in the NE (Boston, NY, Philadelphia). So off to Florida to assist them in a takeover while the hotel was in receivership. After several months and a new management agreement, we brought them out of receivership, instituted new SOPs, and hired a Director of Finance for the property. That hotel is now a Ritz-Carlton.
In 2014, Benchmark had a property in its collection that the owner was trying to sell. They did not have a Director of Finance at this Seattle hotel, so I went to help them through the sale and perform due diligence. I stayed with them until the new owners and management company took over. Unfortunately for Benchmark, they had another hotel that the owners wanted to sell, Bardessono, in Napa Valley. Here, I worked with the owners and the buyers, performed due diligence and prepared the property for the sale. The owners of this hotel hired me to stay with them remotely after the buyers bought the hotel so that I could close out the LLC. As a side note, this hotel sold for more ‘per key’ than any in history in California at $1,370,000 per key for a 62-room hotel ($85M).
Also, during this time, I was contacted by a medical lab that was doing all its accounting manually and wanted someone to help them transition to QuickBooks. I made them a COA and got them up and running on QB.
Confidentiality is crucial in my work. While I can't disclose the identities of some clients, I can discuss the projects. For instance, I helped a company with three properties that hadn't completed balance sheet reconciliations for three years. In addition, a hotel in the Caribbean needed bank reconciliations for two bank accounts, one in USD and one in EUR, going back two years.
In 2018, I held a leadership role in helping to create a new management company. An executive team at a WPHG hotel decided to start their own management company, Ithaka Hospitality Partners, and obtain the management agreement for the hotel they were working at. I formulated a Critical Path for them (generally used for opening a hotel) by division and task and helped them with that and the management agreement.
2019 brought me to West Hollywood to assist with a hotel takeover from one owner and management company to another. Essentially, I was a long-term member of the opening task force.
The projects or assignments I have been working on vary significantly – anywhere from two weeks to a year.
In January 2020, a client engaged me to fill their Director of Finance vacancy. Unfortunately, due to COVID-19, the project ended after just over a month.
In late 2020, a membership club contacted me seeking assistance with their budgeting and month-end closing processes. I have been working with them monthly since then. In spring 2023, the project scope expanded to include forensic work, during which I served as Interim Director of Finance and helped hire a new Director of Finance.
The new management company I helped form, IHP, has engaged me in various capacities, including restaurant openings, a hotel opening, month-end reconciliations, and an upcoming hotel opening.