As a restaurant owner, you may not need to involve at a task level in accounting (some owners do). But it helps a lot to have a higher-order view of restaurant accounting in addition to best restaurant accounting practices and principles. This not only helps you understand the numbers game but also gives you an insight into what works and what does not in restaurant accounting.
We understand that accounting can be a bland topic to sharpen your knife. Fortunately, you do not have to deep dive into restaurant accounting and waste your time. With the help of our restaurant accounting experts at Back Office Accountants, we have created a simple list of key principles that will improve your financial health in the longer run. Read on to know:
6 Restaurant Accounting Tips That Will Help You Keep Your Finances in Check:
Understand the accounting language: Accounting is the subject of names for the most part. Understanding the names, conventions and definitions simplifies accounting for an individual. As a restaurant owner, your journey into restaurant accounting must ideally start with understanding the terminology of accounting.
Familiarize yourself with revenue, prime cost, profit-and-loss, red, black, payable, receivable and other terms that are key for restaurant accounting and bookkeeping. This de-clutters accounting for you and help you work better with your accounting or bookkeeping resource at hand.
Hire an accounting resource: Being adept at accounting procedures is key for ensuring the financial health of your restaurant business. We advise restaurant owners to take their accounting education a step ahead by working with an accountant-in-action. Hiring an accountant experienced in restaurant accounting will help you understand the bookkeeping and accounting terminology that is difficult to get your head around.
While hiring a full-time accountant is the popular choice, you can also consider hiring restaurant accounting services offered by remote accounting firms if you are only starting. But do make your requirements clear before your hire either of them.
Accurate bookkeeping: There is a train of thought that almost all financial problems originate from inaccurate and inconsistent bookkeeping. And, as a remote booking firm, we agree. As a restaurant owner you must ensure daily and accurate bookkeeping which entails recording precise amounts of recording every transaction.
“This accurate bookkeeping provides a complete overview of restaurant expenses and day-to-day earnings. Even better, it provides a key insight into trends in consumption, traffic and preference w.r.t seasonality”, says our restaurant accounting expert at BackOffice Accountants. These insights and revelations uncover new opportunities and enable you to optimize your restaurant business. So we suggest you hire a dedicated bookkeeper or outsource your bookkeeping services to a remote accounting firm specializing in restaurant accounting services.
Track restaurant sales & expenses: Track sales regularly to identify the consumption patterns and close out the credit card transactions. While this is quite common in the restaurant business, most businesses tend to stay lax on tracking restaurant expenses which eventually add up to become a mountain at the end of the month. Setting aside at least half an hour for expense tracking can potentially save tens of hours at the end of the month.
Anticipate inventory requirements & regularly update P/L statements
As the inventory grows by volume it can become difficult to manually anticipate the inventory requirements to reduce wastage. There are specialized financial programs, table management systems, and online reservation systems that can help businesses anticipate the demand and make the right forecasting regarding inventory – use them.
Similarly updating P/L statements once a month doesn’t help businesses leverage their utility. We suggest updating P/L every week to know the financial position and optimize accordingly.
Leverage financial accounting software: Financial accounting software dedicated to restaurant businesses can be a powerful weapon that can make everything above possible. This pre-packaged software comes with all the right features and customized tools that can streamline restaurant accounting when leveraged perfectly. However, if you are only starting and are still yet to figure out the best practices for your business and find it difficult to pick the right restaurant accounting software, it is advisable to work with a remote accounting firm specializing in restaurant accounting services.
Back Office Accountants – Best Remote Accounting Firm for Restaurant Accounting Services:
As a remote accounting firm specializing in restaurant accounting and accounts payable services, we have been offering complete assistance to reputed restaurant businesses in the USA. Our team of help you craft an effective restaurant accounting framework customized for your businesses and execute it perfectly in line with your goals and requirements. If needed we can also provide specialized restaurant accounts payable services to enhance your AP performance. For more information on our restaurant accounting and restaurant accounts payable services, you can contact us here: https://www.backofficeaccountants.com/
