A restaurant’s owner opens the monthly P&L and looks at the sales, then skips to the bottom line, and then closes the report.
Does this sound familiar?
The report may be perfectly accurate, but if those are the only two figures reviewed the bulk of its value is being ignored.
Good restaurant bookkeeping shouldn’t make owners more dependent on an accountant. It should give them confidence in their own numbers. You don’t need to know all accounting rules or spend nights entering invoices. It’s essential to know how the profit fluctuated and what transpired with the labor and food items and which issues require consideration next week.
Bookkeeping Chef’s ethos is to automate bookkeeping chores that don’t require the time of restaurant owners, while providing them with clearer financial data they can utilize.
Don’t stop at Month-End Numbers. Start by calculating Weekly Numbers
Restaurants don’t operate on the basis of a monthly. Managers set up their work schedules for the week. The chef has ordered food for today. Vendors change prices now.
This is why Bookkeeping Chef provides weekly prime-cost flash reports in addition to monthly financial statements.
The prime cost combines the cost of the goods and labor as well as the cost of labor. These are two areas in which an establishment can accelerate its progress. The information supplied by the Bookkeeping Chef reveals that the prime cost typically accounts for 60% of sales in restaurants.
Consider a situation where sales aren’t changing much and the costs of primary production are growing. This percentage doesn’t provide an answer. It provides the owner with a reason to do some research.
Was there an increase in the hours was worked? Did overtime happen? Changes in food costs? Was a vendor invoice unusually high? Did the mix of sales changed?
That is far more useful than finding the same problem two weeks later.
Automate repetitive tasks
DIY bookkeeping doesn’t have to require manual transfer of POS amounts into spreadsheets after service.
Modern restaurant bookkeeping automation can manage a lot of the repetitive movements of financial data. This service can be connected to POS systems including QuickBooks, QuickBooks, vendors platforms recipes and inventory management, as well as payment instruments and AP.
The aim is not to automate to achieve its own ends.
The goal is to eradicate manually entering data and to ensure that financial records are kept up-to date to allow owners to spend more time reviewing the data rather than assembling it.
It’s a totally new bookkeeping system for restaurant establishments. Technology handles the mechanics and the proprietor remains involved in the financial side.
Learn to Ask the P&L Better Questions
When you stop treating a P&L like a test, it will become less daunting.
Begin with the sales. Look at the cost required to produce those sales. Compare the results of food and beverages. Think about the labor. Take a look at the labor.
Compare periods.
If sales increase but profits don’t, there is some variation between the two. If the cost of food was up, you should ask about the changes operationally. If the labor rate changed in the past, look at sales and staffing activity. Find any data that seems strange, rather than assuming that a restaurant has had a bad week.
Bookkeeping Chef will send monthly P&Ls that are completed in five business days, giving owners the chance to examine recent performance rather than receiving financial statements long after the operating period has ended.
For owners searching bookkeeping restaurant solutions, speed is important however understanding is the greater purpose.
DIY Doesn’t Mean Doing Everything Yourself
There’s a middle-ground between handing the entire financial responsibility to another and establishing yourself as your own full-time bookkeeper.
A business owner can be engaged without having to manually complete every accounting job.
That might mean connecting to automated systems to ensure information flows, reviewing a weekly prime-cost report, analyzing the monthly P&L, and asking questions whenever something happens unexpectedly.
Bookkeeping services for restaurants that are specialized in catering can assist restaurant owners comprehend the significance of reports by organizing the books and keeping them in order.
However, this does not mean the bookkeeper will be in a position to complete all bookkeeping functions.
Owners can have a conversation with an P&L and have an intelligent discussion on the business.
The goal of financial independence isn’t just to write more reports, but rather to reach financial freedom
Restaurants already generate huge quantities of data. Another dashboard may not be beneficial.
When an operator is able review the weekly prime cost report and notice that something has changed, they may then open up their P&L to find out what is in need of more analysis.
Bookkeeping Chef’s strategy includes restaurant accounting automation, daily reports, monthly P&Ls and the provision of financial support for specific restaurants to make this feasible.
Automate repetitive tasks. Review prime cost every week. Learn to speak the language of your P&L.
There is no need to be a professional accountant.
Owners who are familiar with the financial aspect of their own establishments are able to make better decisions.