Restaurant owners will open their monthly P&L reports, and look at sales, then scroll down to the bottom of the report and close the report.
Do these sound like familiar to you?
If just those two numbers are examined, the report’s true value is lost.
A reliable bookkeeping system for restaurants won’t make it more dependent on the owners on accountants. It should help them feel confident in their own numbers. It’s not required to sit all night entering invoices or be aware of every accounting rule. It is important to know the way profit has fluctuated, what’s happened to the cost of food and labor, and the questions that should be addressed in the coming week.
That’s the philosophy behind Bookkeeping Chef: automate the bookkeeping work that doesn’t require an owner’s time. It also provides restaurant owners with clearer financial information they can actually utilize.
You should begin by looking at the Weekly Numbers and Not Just Month-End
Even though restaurants do not operate according to a calendar, they still need to have an P&L. This week, managers plan their labor. The chef placed an order for food today. Vendors change prices now.
Bookkeeping Chef offers weekly flash reports on costs of the day as well as monthly financial statements.
The main cost is a combination of cost of the goods and labor as well as the cost of labor. These are two areas in which a restaurant can quickly progress. The information supplied by the Bookkeeping Chef indicates that the prime cost typically accounts for 60 percent of sales at restaurants.
Let’s say sales have not changed at all however the price of prime is increasing. That percentage alone doesn’t provide the answer. This gives the person in charge an excuse to do some study.
Did hourly labor get more expensive? Did overtime occur? Costs of food changed? A vendor’s invoice was abnormally high. Did the mix of sales changed?
It is much better to know about the issue now rather as opposed to later.
Let Automation Handle the Repetitive Work
Bookkeeping for your own needs doesn’t have to mean manually transferring POS amounts into spreadsheets after the.
Modern bookkeeping automation for restaurants can handle much of the routine movement of financial data. The system integrates with systems such as POS as well as QuickBooks payroll vendor platforms and inventory management.
The aim is not to automate to achieve its own ends.
It’s to make it easier for manual data entry, and keep financial records up-to-date so that the owner can spend time reviewing data rather than making it.
This creates a new model of bookkeeping for restaurants. The technology will take care of the mechanics, while the proprietor is still involved in the financial aspects.
You can also ask more questions regarding P&L
A P&L becomes much less intimidating when you don’t treat it as an accounting exam.
Start by studying the number of sales. Begin with sales. Compare the food and beverage industry’s performance. Think about the labor. Examine labor.
Comparing periods is important.
If the sales increased, but the profit was not, something between the two lines occurred. What did happen when prices for food went up? If the labor percentage changed in the past, look at sales and staffing activity. If a number looks strange examine it instead of thinking the restaurant simply had an unlucky month.
Bookkeeping Chef provides monthly P&Ls within five working days. This lets the owners look at recent performance without waiting for financial statements, which are often received months after the end of an operational period.
For owners searching bookkeeping restaurant solutions, speed is useful but understanding is the bigger objective.
There’s no need to do everything yourself by doing it yourself
You can find a comfortable balance between hiring someone to manage your financial needs and becoming your own personal accountant.
Owners can continue to be involved in the accounting process, without needing to complete every task manually.
It could be as simple as making use of automated systems to manage information flow, reviewing the monthly P&L and weekly reports regarding prime expenses or asking questions when something unexpected occurs.
Specialized restaurant bookkeeping services can help with this by keeping the underlying books organized while helping the owner understand what the reports mean.
However, this does not mean the bookkeeper will be competent to handle all bookkeeping tasks.
An owner can take a seat with an P&L and have a stimulating conversation about the business.
The aim is financial independence not More Reports
Restaurants already produce huge quantities of data. A dashboard may not always make sense.
The true value is when an employee can look at a weekly prime-cost report and see that something has was different, then look at the P&L and know where to investigate further.
Bookkeeping Chef’s strategy incorporates automation of bookkeeping in restaurants daily reporting, monthly P&Ls, and the financial support for specific restaurants to enable this.
Automate repetitive work. Review your prime cost every week. Learn to understand the same language as your P&L.
There is no need to be an accountant professional.
You should become a restaurant owner who is aware of the financials of your own restaurant.