The verdict in three sentences
For a group of 4 hotels and 320 rooms across Dakar, Saly and Saint-Louis, rewriting a full PMS is not the right move: reservations, room planning and check-in are better served by an off-the-shelf SaaS PMS at 5 to 12 EUR per room per month. The value lies in the custom modules plugged around it: revenue management tuned to Senegalese seasonality, corporate and NGO accounts billed monthly, and an interface with SYSCOHADA accounting. Realistic 2026 budget: 8 to 20 million FCFA excl. tax (about 12,200 to 30,500 EUR) for modules, delivered in 3 to 5 months, on top of the PMS subscription.
What an off-the-shelf PMS costs for 320 rooms
International PMS vendors (Mews, Cloudbeds, Opera Cloud, Protel) and a few regional players charge per room. For a multi-site group, the yearly cost quickly exceeds the price of targeted development, but it covers the core business and the updates.
| Item | Low assumption | High assumption |
|---|---|---|
| PMS subscription (320 rooms) | 5 EUR / room / month | 12 EUR / room / month |
| Monthly group cost | 1,050,000 FCFA | 2,520,000 FCFA |
| Yearly group cost | 12,600,000 FCFA | 30,200,000 FCFA |
| Channel manager (Booking, Expedia, Airbnb) | included or 80 EUR / hotel / month | 200 EUR / hotel / month |
| Setup and initial training | 1,500,000 FCFA | 4,000,000 FCFA |
| Native SYSCOHADA accounting interface | rarely available | rarely available |
| Wave / Orange Money payment at the desk | not standard | not standard |
2026 order of magnitude: the PMS alone costs 1 to 2.5 million FCFA per month for 320 rooms. Functional gaps almost always involve local accounting, mobile payments and corporate clients.
The custom modules that actually pay off
A Senegalese hotel group lives on three flows poorly covered by standard PMS: corporate accounts (NGOs, ministries, mining companies) booking in volume and paying at 30 or 60 days, strong seasonality (Magal, Tabaski, tourist high season from November to April, international conferences at CICAD) and accounting exports to a firm working under SYSCOHADA.
| Custom module | Function | 2026 budget excl. tax | Timeline |
|---|---|---|---|
| Local revenue management | Dynamic rates by event, occupancy and competition | 3,000,000 to 6,000,000 FCFA | 6 to 8 weeks |
| Corporate accounts | Rate contracts, credit limits, grouped monthly billing, reminders | 2,000,000 to 4,500,000 FCFA | 4 to 6 weeks |
| SYSCOHADA interface | Daily entries, 18 % VAT, tourist tax, reconciliation | 1,500,000 to 3,500,000 FCFA | 3 to 5 weeks |
| Room service and F&B | In-room orders via QR code, posted to the folio | 1,000,000 to 3,000,000 FCFA | 3 to 4 weeks |
| Wave and Orange Money payment | Deposit and balance collection, webhook to the PMS | 800,000 to 2,000,000 FCFA | 2 to 3 weeks |
| Group dashboard | RevPAR, ADR, occupancy per hotel, monthly comparison | 1,000,000 to 2,500,000 FCFA | 3 to 4 weeks |
A full scope lands around 12 to 16 million FCFA excl. tax. A minimal scope (corporate accounts + SYSCOHADA + mobile payment) stays under 8 million FCFA excl. tax.
Off-the-shelf, fully custom or hybrid?
| Criterion | SaaS PMS only | 100 % custom PMS | Hybrid (PMS + modules) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Initial investment | 1.5 to 4 M FCFA | 45 to 90 M FCFA | 10 to 24 M FCFA |
| Yearly recurring cost | 12 to 30 M FCFA | 4 to 9 M FCFA maintenance | 14 to 34 M FCFA |
| Time to go live | 4 to 8 weeks | 9 to 14 months | 3 to 5 months |
| SYSCOHADA fit | low | full | full |
| Project risk | low | high | moderate |
| OTA and security updates | handled by vendor | your responsibility | handled by vendor |
Fully custom only makes sense for a group above 1,000 rooms or a highly unusual model. For 320 rooms, hybrid offers the best risk / value ratio.
Mini case study
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Moussa, operations director of a 4-hotel group (320 rooms) between Dakar and Saly, sees two leaks. Corporate accounts generate 1,800 room nights a month billed by hand, with on average 6 % omissions or errors, roughly 1,800 × 45,000 FCFA × 6 % = 4.9 million FCFA per month of unbilled or disputed revenue. His fixed rates during major events also leave an estimated 8 % margin on the table over 4 months of high season.
He picks the hybrid route: SaaS PMS at 8 EUR per room (about 1.68 million FCFA per month) and 12 million FCFA excl. tax of modules (corporate accounts, revenue management, SYSCOHADA, Wave). By bringing billing errors down to 1 %, he recovers about 4 million FCFA per month. Payback on the modules comes within 3 to 4 months of operation, before even counting the revenue management gain.
FAQ
Can we keep our current PMS and only add modules?
Yes, if the vendor exposes an API (Mews, Cloudbeds and Opera Cloud do). Modules then plug in within 3 to 5 months for 8 to 20 million FCFA excl. tax, with no reservation migration.
How much does custom module maintenance cost?
Plan for 15 to 20 % of the initial budget per year, so 1.8 to 3 million FCFA for a 12 million FCFA scope. This covers fixes, hosting and minor improvements.
Does the SYSCOHADA interface handle the tourist tax?
Yes, it generates 18 % VAT and tourist tax entries per hotel and per night. The accounting firm receives a daily or monthly export file, cutting data entry by 2 to 3 days a month.
Can Wave be used for booking deposits?
Yes, a Wave or Orange Money payment link is sent by WhatsApp or email and the webhook confirms the deposit in the PMS within 10 seconds. Wave Business fees stay around 1 % per transaction.
Do we need a server in each hotel?
No, everything runs in the cloud with an offline fallback mode for the front desk. A backup 4G connection at 25,000 FCFA per month per hotel is enough to secure check-in.
Let's scope your project. We scope your PMS modules (corporate accounts, revenue management, SYSCOHADA, mobile payment) with an indicative budget of 8 to 20 million FCFA excl. tax and a 3 to 5 month plan. Detailed quote within 48 h. WhatsApp +221 77 596 93 33.
Mohamed Bah
Fondateur, Kolonell
Passionate about digital and entrepreneurship in Africa, Mohamed has been helping Sénégalese businesses with their digital transformation since 2020. Founder of Kolonell, he believes every SME deserves a professional and accessible online présence.
