Upgrading your Restaurant Accounting System from a Basic Program to an All-In-One Management System can be a Restaurant Game-Changer. Time to Go Beyond Basic!
- Anthony Ball
- Apr 9
- 3 min read
You review your restaurant's financials monthly, focusing on profitability by examining key metrics like revenue, cost of goods sold, labor expenses, and net profit margins. If these align with your expectations, you feel confident about your financial health.
However, despite your thorough review, deep down you may also feel a little frustrated when cash flow is tighter than expected or unexpected expenses arise, contradicting your seemingly healthy financials. This dissonance can create uncertainty about your restaurant's sustainability.
If you've faced this issue, maybe it's time to consider upgrading to an all-in-one, restaurant-focused management system.
Here are three reasons to have your accountant switch from your generic accounting software to a more comprehensive management system:
Control and Reduce Critical Operating Costs
Considering that inventory and labor costs can account for as much as 60% to 80% of a restaurant's operating expenses, your typical restaurant management system should encompass features for inventory management, accounting, labor and business intelligence, each offering distinct benefits that can help boost profits while minimizing waste.
Accounting
Similar to your basic accounting software, your management software will also include features for accounting such as paying bills, managing your banking, financial reporting, budgeting, and more.
Inventory
Unlike your basic accounting software, your management software will include features for managing inventory and controlling costs. These features should include recipe costing, vendor management, menu management, online ordering, waste tracking, tracking on-hand inventory, counting inventory, setting pars, budgeting, and multiple reports all focused on inventory management.
Labor
Although your generic accounting software will typically include payroll processing, your management software should focus on controlling labor cost. This could include features for HR, budgeting and identifying areas where labor cost exceeds labor budget, overtime analysis and more.
The integration of these features into a single platform allows for a holistic approach to managing operating costs, ultimately enhancing your bottom line.
Improve Efficiency and Collaboration
With fewer technological components to manage, overseeing and controlling your data should become significantly easier. This advantage is further enhanced when your management software can seamlessly integrate with your existing systems, such as your Point of Sale (POS) system.
POS Integration
This integration allows for seamless data sharing, reducing the risk of errors and ensuring that your financial records are always up to date.
Accounting and Management Working Together
Management software can unify your team within a single platform, facilitating better communication and collaboration among kitchen managers, bar managers, general managers, accountants, and owners. This contrasts sharply with generic accounting systems which would require the use of various other programs, multiple access points all resulting into inefficiencies, and higher costs.
By centralizing your operations, you can foster a more cohesive work environment where information flows freely, allowing your team to make quicker, more informed decisions.
Improve Decision Making
By consolidating multiple data points into one centralized location, your ability to gain valuable insights can increase significantly compared to dealing with disparate data points that are not integrated. These benefits include:
generate comprehensive reports that highlight trends
pinpoint areas for improvement
identify opportunities for growth.
This holistic view of your restaurant's performance allows you to make more strategic decisions based on fresh, consolidated data rather than relying on outdated, fragmented or incomplete information.
Conclusion
In conclusion, upgrading to a restaurant-focused management system can transform your financial oversight from a generic monthly task into a streamlined, insightful process that enhances your operational efficiency, reduces costs, and ultimately leads to improved profitability.
By embracing this technology, you can alleviate the frustrations of managing your restaurant's finances and position your business for sustained growth and success.
Software Options
The restaurant industry has unique characteristics, which may require specialized solutions. Currently, we recommend CooksTime and Restaurant365 as the most comprehensive management systems available.
CooksTime is a newer option that restaurants can grow with. We recommend CooksTime for restaurant operators with 1 or 2 accountants managing between 1 to 10 locations. For larger enterprises, and restaurants with multiple accountants on staff, we recommend Restaurant365, with its robust features and customizability.