A restaurant owner opens the monthly P&L and looks at the sales, then skips to the bottom line and then closes the report.

Does this sound familiar?

If only those two numbers are scrutinized the true value of the report is lost.

The proper bookkeeping of a restaurant shouldn’t force owners more dependent on an accountant. It should provide them with confidence in their own numbers. You don’t have to be an expert in accounting, or to spend your entire night completing invoices. You must be aware of the reason why profits moved from costs for food and labor and what issues need focus next week.

Bookkeeping Chef is an application which automatizes bookkeeping, so users can focus in other activities while receiving better financial reports.

Don’t stop at Month-End Numbers. Start by calculating Weekly Numbers

Restaurants don’t run on per month. Managers are able to schedule work this week. The chef has ordered food for today. Vendors change prices now.

Bookkeeping Chef offers weekly flash reports on the top costs, together with monthly financial reports.

The primary cost is comprised of the cost of the goods and labor both of which are areas where the restaurant could achieve rapid growth. The data provided by the Bookkeeping Chef indicates that the prime cost typically accounts for 60 percent of sales at restaurants.

Imagine that sales barely grew, yet the cost of production increased. This number does not give an answer. It gives the owner a reason to investigate.

Did hourly work increase? Was there overtime? Did food costs change? A vendor invoice seemed unusually large? Did you notice any changes in your sales mix?

This is a lot more helpful than discovering the same issue two weeks later.

Automate the repetitive Work

DIY bookkeeping doesn’t need to involve manually transferring POS (point of sale) amounts onto spreadsheets.

Modern bookkeeping automation for restaurants can take care of a large portion of the repetitive movements of financial data. The service connects POS systems including QuickBooks, QuickBooks, vendors platforms as well as recipe management and inventory management, payment instruments and AP.

Automating for the sake automating is not the main goal.

This helps to cut down on the time spent on manually entering data. Also, it keeps accounts of financial transactions up to date so that the owners can focus on looking over information instead of gathering it.

It is a totally different accounting model for restaurant establishments. Technology handles the mechanics and the restaurant owner remains engaged with the financial aspects.

Learn to Ask the P&L Better Questions

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

Start by looking at sales. Begin with sales. Compare the effectiveness of drinks and food. Examine labor. Reduce your operating expenses.

Comparing periods is important.

Somewhere between these two lines has changed if sales have increased, but profit has not. What changed when the cost of food increased? If the labor percentage changed, compare staffing and sales activity. Investigate if a number seems odd, rather than assuming that the restaurant went through poor performance.

Bookkeeping Chef delivers monthly P&Ls within five working days. This lets owners review the latest performance without waiting for financial statements which are often received months after the close of an operational period.

Understanding is more important than speed for those who are looking for solutions to bookkeeping in restaurants.

It’s not necessary to be a pro when you DIY

There is a middle ground between delegating all financial functions to someone else and having your own full-time bookkeeper.

You could be a part of the business owner, but not have to do all accounting duties by hand.

This may mean automatizing systems to ensure the flow of information, examining a monthly P&L and weekly reports on primary expenses and asking questions in the event that something unexpected occurs.

Specialized bookkeeping for restaurants can help in this way by keeping the books in order as well as helping the owner know what they are.

It’s not an owner who is able to do every bookkeeping function.

Owners who are able to have a conversation about their business to the P&L will be more successful.

The objective of financial freedom is not to generate additional reports, but to be able to live a life of financial freedom.

Restaurants already generate huge amounts of data. Another dashboard isn’t automatically useful.

The real value is when an operator can look at a weekly prime-cost report and realize that something has occurred, then open the P&L and know where to investigate further.

Bookkeeping Chef’s approach combines restaurant bookkeeping automation, weekly reporting, monthly P&Ls, and restaurant-specific financial support to make that possible.

Automate repetitive tasks. Review prime cost every week. Learn to speak the same language as your P&L.

You do not need to be an accountant to be an.

You must become an owner who understands the financial story of your own restaurant.