Restaurant owners open their monthly P&L reports, and look at the sales, and then go to the bottom and close the report.
Sound familiar?
If only those two numbers are examined the true value of the report is gone.
The proper bookkeeping of a restaurant shouldn’t force proprietors more dependent on an accountant. They should be more confident with their own financials. It is not necessary to be aware of each accounting rule, or be a slave to invoices for hours. However, you must understand why profit moved, what happened to food and labor costs, and which questions deserve attention next week.
Bookkeeping Chef’s philosophy is to automate bookkeeping tasks which don’t take the time of restaurant owners while also providing them with clearer financial data that they can make use of.
Do Not Stop at the month-end Numbers. Start with the Weekly Numbers
A monthly P&L is crucial, but restaurants do not operate on a monthly basis. Managers set up their work schedules for the week. Chef orders food today. Vendors change prices now.
Bookkeeping Chef offers weekly flash reports on the top costs, along with monthly financial statements.
Prime cost combines the the cost of goods sold as well as labor two major areas that can move quickly in an establishment. Bookkeeping Chef’s supplied information notes that prime costs typically represent roughly 60% of restaurant sales.
Imagine a situation in which sales are not changing at all while the prime cost is growing. That percentage alone doesn’t provide the answer. It provides the owner with a reason to conduct an investigation.
Did hourly work get more expensive? Did you have an overtime? Did food cost move? The invoice of a vendor was unusually high. Have the sales mix changed?
It is more beneficial to find out about the problem now as opposed to later.
Automate repetitive tasks
DIY bookkeeping does not have to be done manually by transferring POS (point of sale) totals onto spreadsheets.
Automating restaurant bookkeeping can help in the repetitive movement of financial data. The service can connect POS systems and QuickBooks, vendor platforms Recipe and inventory management, as well as Payment instruments/AP.
Automating just for the sake of automation is not the objective.
It’s a way to streamline data entry and ensure that the financial records current enough that the owners are able to spend their time reviewing data rather than creating it.
That creates a different model of bookkeeping for restaurants: technology handles more of the mechanics while the owner remains engaged with the financial meaning.
Learn to ask the P&L More Questions
A P&L is less daunting when you stop thinking of it as an accounting test.
Start by analyzing the sales. Then look at the costs necessary to achieve the sales. Compare the food and beverage industry’s performance. Consider the labor. Make sure you reduce your operational expenses.
Comparing periods is important.
If the sales rise but the profits do not, there is some variation between them. What did happen when prices for food were rising? Review the staffing numbers and sales activities if the labor percentages changed. Investigate any numbers that seem odd rather than just assuming that the restaurant experienced a poor week.
Bookkeeping Chef will send monthly P&Ls on five working days. This lets the owners look at recent performance without waiting for financial reports that often arrive months later than the conclusion of an operating period.
Understanding is more crucial than speed for owners who are looking for solutions to bookkeeping in restaurants.
DIY Doesn’t Need to Mean doing everything yourself.
You don’t have to become your own bookkeeper full-time If you’d like to avoid transferring the entire bookkeeping responsibility to a different person.
You are able to be an owner of a business without having to perform every accounting task by hand.
This could mean the use of automated system connections in order to keep information flowing by reviewing a weekly prime-cost report, analyzing the monthly P&L and posing queries in the event of an unexpected change.
Specialized bookkeeping for restaurants can help in this manner by maintaining the books in order and assisting the proprietor to know what they are.
It is highly unlikely that you will end up with one who can carry out all of the functions.
A business owner can have a conversation with the P&L about the business.
The goal is Financial Independence Not More Reports
Restaurants already generate huge amounts of data. The other dashboards aren’t necessarily useful.
Real value occurs the moment an operator opens an P&L report, and see that there is a change, and then review the reports on prime costs.
Bookkeeping Chef’s strategy integrates automated bookkeeping for restaurants daily reporting along with monthly P&Ls and the financial support for specific restaurants to help you achieve this.
Automate repetitive tasks. Examine the cost of your prime each week. Study the language used in your P&L.
There is no need to be an accountant.
Owners who are knowledgeable about the financial aspect of their restaurants will be able make better decisions.
