In this article we'll share six ways that restaurant management software, also commonly referred to as restaurant accounting software, can make a difference in your business.
1. Customer Support from Restaurant Professionals
I don't think anyone would underestimate the power of customer support. And having the support of a professional who not only knows about your software but they're also knowledgeable in your industry can go a longways.
In many cases when you're dealing with a software that's dedicated to your industry, you're likely to find more people on the customer service side with actual experience in your industry.
Although companies like Quickbooks can provide 24-hour support, it would be an extremely difficult task for them to cater to every industry they service since their software isn't really industry specific.
Working with a company that has professionals who have experience in your industry can oftentimes make all the difference in the world.
2. Managing Your Inventory, specifically Food and Alcohol.
Managing inventory in a restaurant is far more complicated than your typical retail establishment. Having restaurant inventory management features is crucial to the success of any restaurant which makes it one of the features that helps distinguish restaurant accounting from basic accounting.
Here are some inventory features that your restaurant accounting software should have:
costing out your menu items and recipes
tracking the +/- change in cost of inventory items
tracking waste and spills
tracking of inventory items and setting par levels
counting inventory in partial amounts and various units of measure
inventory reports that track all of the above including usage vs purchase
3. Managing Restaurant Labor Cost and Budget
For most restaurants, labor cost is another costly area which you restaurants must control in order to remain profitable. For most restaurants, their labor cost ranges from 25-35%.
Because your restaurant accounting software is packed with restaurant knowledge, it should also help with labor budgeting, industry averages, scheduling, tracking cost and financial reporting.
4. Integrating with Other Restaurant Specific Systems and Vendors
For a truly seamless experience that helps improve insight and efficiency, your accounting software should also work with your point-of-sales system and in some cases, it should also work with your vendors as well.
This type of integration can be extremely helpful when it comes to instant actionable insight because it puts everything together and interprets the data into your financial reporting.
5. Improved Efficiency
The typical restaurant management system will typically have multiple people working in the same secure platform. For example, your bar manager would have access to bar inventory features, kitchen manager would have access to kitchen inventory features, general manager would have access to inventory plus scheduling and your accounting team would have access to accounting features.
All key employees working in the same software with the same goal which is to drive higher profits!
6. Restaurant Specific Analytics
Far too often does the use of analytics go overlooked. For the typical restaurant, analytics can play a key role in how you run your entire operation. Things like table turns and customer demographics are just two of the more common data points that you can retrieve from most POS or reservation systems however, analysis from accounting can provide an entirely new data subset.
Modern accounting solutions offer insights into your restaurant's financial health. With this capability, monitoring key performance indicators (KPIs)—like food cost percentage and sales per labor budget -vs- schedule -vs- actual—becomes more straightforward.
For example, if you see that your food cost percentage is increasing above your breakeven budget, you can take immediate action such as analyzing portion sizes, renegotiating with suppliers or re-evaluating your menu all together. Accounting data enables owners to respond to fluctuations which helps improve decision-making.
Start Transforming Your Restaurant's Financial Future
In a challenging industry, empowering yourself with the right resources is vital for clarity and informed decision-making. Don’t let outdated practices hinder your restaurant’s potential. Embrace change and unlock pathways to increased profitability!
Do Accounting Better. Make More Money!
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