The global recession not so long ago had shaken the very foundations of trade and commerce around the world and brought the economies of many countries to their knees. Since then every industry has tried to adapt to business operations that can optimize sales, profitability, and growth.
Nowhere is this more relevant than in the restaurant industry because of its unique characteristics. It is one of the very few sectors that are driven by customer satisfaction first and customer satisfaction last. Every decision, every plan, every approach is solely focused on this aspect and every policy decision taken is aimed at enhancing this facet. This is the core competency of the restaurant industry. Ambience, food, and hospitality form an integral part of its functioning.
Now add to it, the latest trends brought about by Internet-driven business environment and the magnitude of tasks in the hands of restaurant management can well be imagined. The fad today is table bookings from smart-phones, online ordering of food and browsing menu cards at home before arriving for lunch or dinner. This segment is growing exponentially and has to be catered to, adding to the already onerous responsibilities of the owners.
With all these factors overwhelming the restaurant business, it is but natural that a new mindset has come into play and that is the need to outsource services that are important props, yet do not have a direct impact on its core objectives. It is for this reason that most managements around the world have opted for professional Restaurant Bookkeeping Services. There is a saving in time and you can focus more on running your business well and devising strategies to be ahead of the competition. All your accounting heads are kept balanced and updated at all times and you can get real-time reports of the state of your finances and the operation of your business.
Once you decide to outsource your accounting functions, which software services should you opt for. There is a large number of accounting software that can be considered, but not all will give optimum results. However, after carefully weighing the pros and cons, three can be said to be at the top of the pile.
1. QuickBooks – One of the unique features of QuickBooks is that it is a very versatile software and can take care of a host of accounting functions. It can handle real-time tracking of income and expenditure and this is very important as restaurants operate on wafer-thin margins. Again, vendor payments are very critical as supplies are the lifeblood of this industry. QuickBooks Accounting Services can ease this process by pre-setting invoices of regular vendors. This means that they are automatically billed on a particular date.
This takes the pressure of keeping track and monitoring payments of you. Moreover, Restaurant Accounting Services monitor each invoice throughout its life cycle so that there is never a case of a missed payment. This is also true for receivables, enabling you to always be aware of your financial standing. A unique trait of this software that is important for the restaurant business is generating reports on a real-time basis with customized fields. Thus, you can compare performance levels over two accounting periods, say year-on-year or month-on-month. This will help you to know if there is an improvement in your business operations.
2. Netsuite – Netsuite accounting software has made quite a mark in the restaurant business. This is because accounting services using Netsuite can seamlessly integrate data, reports, receivables and payables and inventory management into your system. You can access real time records anytime and take crucial business decisions.
Hence, you’ll never have to bother about excess or low inventory levels that might adversely affect cash flow and operations of your restaurant. Netsuite Restaurant Accounting Software offers you a dashboard that gives a clear picture of the working of your restaurant under all accounting heads. All data generated by your business has to be uploaded to the outsourcing agency that will process it and update your system. This will be a definite advantage for you as you have a thorough control over the finances of your restaurant.
Another area that is well handled by Netsuite accounting software is payroll management, which is very complex for restaurants. You’ll have people working different shifts with often extended working hours that have to be accounted for. Do not take this onerous responsibility on yourself – upload all employee data to the outsourced agency for processing and report generation for pay disbursements including tax computation.
3. Quicken – In today’s business settings, you either take decisions at the speed of light or rue missed opportunities later on. This is why Quicken is so important. It is available in Windows and Mac versions. Keeps all your restaurant business finances at your fingertips on your laptop. Access your accounts even from remote locations and always be updated on the go. It has 128 or 256-bit encryption so security is never a concern for you.
A very useful feature for you in Quicken is that you can link bills to the software and automatically monitor its details and make payments without accessing multiple accounts.You can even export data to other software and make tax calculations.
Further, there are options to download bank transactions so reconciliation is never an issue.
Many features of different software given here are interlinked with each other, but there is one common denominator – all of them are ideal tools for Restaurant Accounting Solutions.
If you need superior accounting services for restaurants, get in touch with us at info@cogneesol.com. We at Cogneesol assure top of the line restaurant accounting services at all times with a special offer of 14 days free trial.
