Restaurant owners will open their monthly P&L reports, look at sales, then go down to the bottom of the report and close the report.

Do you recognize the sound?

If just those two numbers are scrutinized, the report’s true value is diminished.

This shouldn’t force them to be more dependent on an accounting firm. It should help them feel confident in their own financials. It’s not required to sit in the dark putting together invoices or master every accounting rule. It is important to know the reason why profits moved from the costs of food and labour and what issues need the attention of next week.

This is the concept behind Bookkeeping Chef: automate the bookkeeping work that doesn’t need an owner’s time. It also provides restaurant owners with better financial information that they can actually utilize.

Start with the Weekly Numbers, Not Just Month-End

Restaurants don’t operate on per month. The managers schedule the labor for the week. The chef placed an order for food today. Vendors change prices now.

Bookkeeping Chef offers weekly flash reports on prime costs along with monthly financial statements.

Prime cost includes cost of goods sold and labor two major areas that can be swiftly moved in a restaurant. According to the data offered by Bookkeeping chef, prime costs represent approximately 60% of sales in restaurants.

Suppose sales have barely changed however, the cost of prime increases. This percentage alone isn’t enough to provide the answer. It provides the person with the reason to conduct an investigation.

Did you notice an increase in hours working? Did overtime occur? Costs of food changed? Did vendor invoices seem uncharacteristically high? Did sales mix changes?

This is much better than finding the same problem after a few weeks.

Automate repetitive tasks

The DIY bookkeeping process doesn’t have to be limited to manually transposing POS figures into spreadsheets.

Automating restaurant bookkeeping can help in the repetitive movement of financial data. It integrates various systems such as POS Payroll, QuickBooks, vendor platforms and inventory management.

Automating for the sake automation is not the goal.

It’s to cut down on manual data entry and keep the accounting records up to date so that the owners are able to spend their time looking through information rather than making 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

Stop taking your P&L as something that could be an accounting test.

Begin with sales. Next, look at the cost of production. Compare food and beverage performance. Examine labor. Examine labor.

Comparing periods is important.

If profit increased but sales rose, was not, something between the two lines has changed. What was the result when food prices rose? Examine sales and staffing levels to see if the labor percent has changed. Find out if a figure seems unusual, rather than believing that the restaurant went through a bad period.

Bookkeeping Chef offers monthly P&Ls that are finalized within five days. Owners are able to review the performance of their company without waiting for months before receiving financial statements.

Speed is crucial, but the objective is to learn.

You don’t need to take on everything by yourself when you DIY

There’s a compromise between delegating all accounting function to a third party and being your own full-time bookkeeper.

Owners can still be involved in the accounting process without needing to complete every task by hand.

The process could be as easy as using automated system connections to keep the data flowing. Or it could be as intricate and complicated a study of the month’s P&L or a look at the weekly Prime-cost Report.

Restaurant bookkeeping services that specialize in catering can assist restaurant owners comprehend the significance of reports by organizing the books and ensuring they are organized.

It is very unlikely that you will find an accountant that can do all of the tasks.

An owner can sit down with an P&L and engage in a thoughtful discussion about the company.

Financial freedom is not to generate more reports, but rather to reach financial freedom

Restaurants already generate enormous amounts of data. A different dashboard won’t be as effective.

If an operator can take a look at their weekly report on prime costs and realize that something has changed, they may then look into their P&L to look into what’s required for more investigation.

Bookkeeping Chef’s method incorporates automation of bookkeeping in restaurants daily reporting along with monthly P&Ls and specific financial assistance for restaurants to help you achieve this.

Automate repetitive work. Examine your prime cost each week. Study the language of your P&L.

You don’t need to be a professional accountant.

Restaurant owners who are aware of the financial aspect of their own establishments will be able make better decisions.