Chances are you’ve done a lot of reading about how to turn your restaurant into a thriving business.
But the books which may be the most vital to your operations can’t be checked out of the library; QuickBooks™ Online.
QuickBooks Online is a great tool for restaurants and you should be using it before you even open your doors for business. In fact, keeping accurate books as soon as you start moving forward with your restaurant plans is absolutely essential.
The truth is that accounting for your finances is as important as your food and service, if not more so. As a restaurant owner, if you don’t stay on top of this end of your business, things can get very messy, very quickly. Unknowingly, for instance, you could end up paying too much or too little in taxes, not complying with laws or be clueless about how much money you really have for operations. Right from the start, you need accurate financial statements to see where you can change things to improve your bottom line.
And this is where QuickBooks Online can help, allowing you to:
- See your financial data in real time, and you won’t need to install upgrades or back up your work as it’s all in the cloud.
- Set up templates for recurring transactions, such as entering your daily sales data into your accounting system from your POS.
- See the activity log to determine when your books were last accessed, by whom, and what actions they took.
- Effortlessly manage accounts payable.
- Use class and location tracking to track, for instance, to-go versus dine-in customers and by location.
- Attach documents from within the program and do away with much of your paper records.
- Automatically download bank and credit card information to the face of QuickBooks Online for easy reviewing, which cuts down on data entry time.
You can access QuickBooks Online for your restaurant from anywhere, and it is easy to use if it is set up correctly, and you or your bookkeeper are instructed how to use it. Without proper training, however, it is just as easy to hit the wrong button and end up with inaccurate financial statements. For this reason, it is very important that you retain the services of a restaurant consultant who can help you:
- Set up the chart of accounts.
- Set up recurring templates and journal entries.
- Get that good cash balance via the bank record.
- Get the credit card activity reconciled with the credit card statement.
- Enter non-Intuit payroll data into the books.
- Make sure you know what to do going forward.
One big advantage to hiring a restaurant consultant to help you with your initial accounting set up is that they can help you with startup outlays and how to handle them correctly for financial statement and income tax purposes. It is also much more difficult and costly in terms of professional fees to fix messes than it is to prevent them by setting up processes correctly in the first place. If you do get in a predicament due to faulty accounting, don’t delay seeking professional help; things will only get worse if you ignore them.
As a restaurateur, you may recognize the value of hiring a traditional restaurant consultant for concept or physical setup during the planning stage. It is equally important to seek out assistance in setting up the accounting and other back of house systems of your business. With QuickBooks Online and the guidance of a knowledgeable restaurant consultant, you can learn to effortlessly access and properly delineate:
- Daily sales from your POS.
- Bank account balances.
- Accounting for tips.
- Loan payments.
- Prepaid expenses.
- Taxable sales.
- Credit card deposits.
- Payroll information.
Commercials would have us all believe that it is easy to do-it-yourself when it comes to setting up your books, but don’t believe it. Those who try oftentimes realize their mistake only after being in business a while, when they are exhausted from the demands of a new restaurant. This just adds another layer of stress to an already stressful endeavor. Plus, you can work 24 hours a day believing it will lead to a profit, but if your record keeping is shoddy, your restaurant’s very future may be at stake. You must keep accurate records pre day 1 or it is difficult to stay in business.
A restaurant consultant can help you sleep better at night in those early days of your new restaurant or when your accounting system has gotten out of hand. Contact me today and let’s get started.
