Restaurant Bookkeeping: A Recipe for Success

Keeping a business running smoothly requires significant attention to detail and careful planning. This is especially true for restaurants due to their large variance in daily sales numbers and the volatility of their inventory. Variable costs of foods, seasonal availability of ingredients, and the rapid spoilage of produce make inventory maintenance and budgeting a constant source of ire for restaurant owners.

Restaurateurs have a lot on their plate when it comes to overseeing daily operations and financial planning for the weeks and months to come. Here are a few prime tips for ensuring your finances are kept in choice condition.

Essential Ingredients for Financial Wellbeing

Much of accounting is, well, counting. More specifically, good accounting practices involve generating frequent and detailed reports on all things finance-related (which is basically everything when it comes to businesses).

Sales Reports

Sales reports should be generated daily after all of the night’s tabs are paid. Daily sales reports are essential for providing restaurants with a detailed view of how they performed that day and they can later be compiled into weekly and monthly sales reports that give a broader view of how the business is faring overall. Daily, weekly, and monthly sales reports are a great way to see if any changes need to be made while allowing you to compare your performance to the same time period from years before so you can see your growth and prepare for what’s likely to arise in the near future.

Cash Flow Reports

Cash flow forecasting pulls from all available information to provide you with a detailed rundown on where your finances stand currently and how that standing will most likely change in the coming weeks. Knowing how much cash you have on hand and will have in the foreseeable future empowers you to make decisions regarding staffing, equipment purchases, and renovations. Planning for the future is essential to ensuring your business can grow when things are heating up as well as when your business cools down in preparation for any upcoming slow seasons.

Payroll

Running a restaurant is already difficult enough without trying to do it all yourself. Making sure your staff gets paid the right amount and on time will make it easier to retain your valuable and well-trained team members. Keeping track of payroll taxes, overtime, paid time off, and tips along with salary and hourly rates is a big undertaking and not one that can be safely ignored by a restaurant owner. Using a payroll service is a great way to ensure everything is handled appropriately without spreading yourself too thin.

Good food is something that is universally loved by all. The same can’t really be said about bookkeeping, but that’s where we come in! At Ignite Spot, your friendly bookkeeping company, we love the accounting industry as much as you love food. We’re always happy to add a pinch of financial knowhow in your time of need. Check us out online or give us a call today to learn more about how we can spice up your restaurant’s finances.

Additional Resources

Master the 5 Basics of Restaurant Accounting

Restaurant Accounting 101