The restaurant’s owner examines the sales and then at the bottom line, before closing the report.
Do these sound like familiar?
If only these two numbers are scrutinized, the report’s true value is diminished.
The proper bookkeeping of a restaurant shouldn’t force proprietors more dependent on an accountant. It should give them confidence in their own financials. You don’t have to know every accounting rule and have to spend hours completing invoices. You must be aware of how profit moved and what happened to the costs of food and labour and which issues require the attention of next week.
Bookkeeping Chef is a computer program that helps automate bookkeeping so owners can concentrate in other activities while receiving more precise financial reports.
You must begin looking at the Weekly Numbers and not just month-end numbers.
Restaurants aren’t operating on an annual basis. Managers set up their work schedules for the week. The chef orders food today. Vendors change prices now.
This is the reason Bookkeeping Chef provides weekly prime-cost flash reports along with monthly financial statements.
Prime cost is the sum of cost of goods sold and labor. These are two main areas that can be swiftly moved in restaurants. The information provided by the Bookkeeping Chef shows that prime costs generally account for 60 percent of sales in restaurants.
Take a look at a scenario where sales are not changing at all however, the cost of prime services are growing. The percent by itself does not provide the answer. It gives the owner the reason to conduct an investigation.
Did the hourly rate increase? Was there extra work? Changes in food costs? A vendor’s invoice was unusually high. Did the sales mix change?
This is far more beneficial than locating the same issue several weeks later.
Automate the repetitive work
DIY bookkeeping doesn’t have require manual transfer of POS amounts into spreadsheets after service.
Automating the restaurant’s bookkeeping process can reduce routine data movement. The service connects POS systems including QuickBooks, QuickBooks, vendors platforms, recipe and inventory management, AP/payment instruments.
Automatization is not the aim.
This helps to cut down on the amount of manually entering data. It also keeps current financial records so that owners are able to focus on reviewing information, rather than collecting it.
This creates a brand new method of bookkeeping for restaurants. The technology will take care of the mechanical aspects, but the owner is still tasked with the financial implications.
Learn to ask the P&L More Questions
A P&L will be much more manageable when you stop thinking of it as an accounting test.
Start with the sales. Examine the costs needed to make the sales. Compare the effectiveness of food and beverages. Take a look at the labor. Move down through operating expenses and then look at what’s left.
And, most importantly, compare times.
Something between these two lines has changed if sales have increased, but profit has not. What changed when the cost of food went up? Examine sales and staffing levels to see if labor percent has changed. Find out if a figure seems strange, instead of assuming that the restaurant went through poor performance.
Bookkeeping Chef offers monthly P&Ls that are completed in five business days, giving owners the chance to examine the performance of their business, rather than getting financial statements for a long time after the operating time has passed.
For owners searching bookkeeping restaurant solutions, speed is useful but understanding is the bigger objective.
DIY Doesn’t Need to Mean Doing Everything Yourself
There is a middle ground between delegating all financial functions to someone else and having your own full-time bookkeeper.
You are able to be an owner of a business without having to perform all accounting tasks manually.
The process could be as easy as utilizing automated system connections to keep the information flowing. But it could also be as complex and involved review of the monthly P&L or a look at the weekly Prime-cost Report.
Specialized bookkeeping for restaurants can help with this approach by maintaining the books in order and assisting the proprietor to be aware of what they represent.
It is very unlikely that you’ll find an accountant that can do all the duties.
Owners can have a conversation with a P&L and engage in a thoughtful discussion about the company.
The Goal Is Financial Independence and not More Reports
Restaurants already generate huge amounts of data. Another dashboard may not be helpful.
The true value is when an operator can look at a weekly prime-cost report and recognize that something was different, then look at the P&L and know where to investigate further.
Bookkeeping Chef’s plan incorporates automation of bookkeeping in restaurants weekly reporting monthly P&Ls, as well as restaurant-specific financial support to make that possible.
Automate the repetitive work. Review the prime cost each week. Learn the language used in your P&L.
You don’t have to be an accountant professional.
You should become an owner who understands the financial story of your restaurant.
