Restaurant Bookkeeping and Accounting Explained

Depending on the laws in your state, you may also be required to make quarterly tax payments to the state. If you’re new to bookkeeping for a small restaurant, this overview will help you understand common financial tasks such as handling payroll and paying quarterly taxes. It will also cover the importance of restaurant insurance to your business’s bottom line. The cost of goods sold represents the costs of making and selling your products at any given time, including inventory costs.

Bookkeepers usually work for the accounting departments of their companies. Bookkeepers employ database and spreadsheet computer programs to do their record keeping. Most restaurant bookkeeping software offers an inventory management system that helps you keep track of your inventory, which how to do bookkeeping for a restaurant will help curtail food shortages and surpluses. Restaurant profit and loss statements (P&L) or income statements reflect the expenses, costs, and sales of your restaurant during a specific period of time. This statement enables you to analyze the financial progress of your restaurant.

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You can upload your invoices to these services and they will code them by item to your various COGS and expense accounts. Additionally, they allow you to approve invoices that you want to be paid. These services allow you to automate your accounts payable and get a more accurate COGS figure. While https://www.bookstime.com/accountants there are many great restaurant POS systems on the market we like Toast the best. Restaurant bookkeeping with Toast and QBO is by far our most preferred setup. Our clients love the front end of Toast and the reporting and accounting integration back end is really great for accountants.

• Accurate and timely recording of daily sales is essential for tracking revenue and identifying trends.
• Outsourcing bookkeeping services may be a sensible choice for small eateries.
• Assessing your restaurant’s financial health without good recordkeeping might be difficult.
• Keeping a watchful eye on the restaurant bookkeeping process is especially important for restaurants because of their slim profit margins.
• Analyzing financial reports such as profit and loss statements, balance sheets, and cash flow statements empowers informed decision-making.
• From the “back of the house” to the “front of the house”, improve operational efficiency with accounting software services, solutions, applications and tools tailored to your restaurant hospitality industry.

Additionally, partners and investors expect accrual accounting and financials that are close to GAAP. Restaurant Accounting helps set up connected, automated systems that help do much of this work automatically. But, we go the next step and have our experienced team do several levels of reviews to help catch anything that the automated systems might miss. Restaurant Accounting bookkeepers will help your restaurant have accurate, up-to-date financial statements that you can use to manage your business’ growth and cash flow.

Cash accounting

Bookkeepers have been preparing these financial packets for ages, but modern bookkeepers like Restaurant Accounting use automated systems. Additionally, bookkeeping aids in the decision-making process for restaurant owners. For instance, by monitoring expenses, you can see places where prices can be cut without compromising the caliber of the meal or the level of service. On the other hand, keeping track of sales can assist in identifying popular menu items and aid in your decision-making over which meals to maintain and which to drop from the menu. If you find bookkeeping overwhelming or lack financial expertise, consider seeking assistance from an accountant or bookkeeper. A professional can offer valuable insights, ensure compliance with accounting standards, and provide guidance on financial matters specific to your industry.

If you aren’t experienced with managing the books, consider buying restaurant bookkeeping software. In addition to measuring cash flow, most software packages can also keep track of inventory, manage payroll, and run sales reports. Despite the complexities involved in running a restaurant and the unique challenges posed by the industry, maintaining seamless accounting and restaurant bookkeeping processes is achievable.

Why do I need an accounting automation software?

Outsourcing payroll or using payroll software in the restaurant industry will take a load off of your shoulders. A cash flow statement is a report that records all of the incoming and outgoing cash during a specified amount of time. That way you can easily see where your money is going and where it is coming from and make sure that you have an appropriate amount flowing each way. A daily sales report is a report of all the money you took in for the day. It breaks the revenue down into different categories so you can see what is selling. It also tells you what methods of payment were used, which is helpful when reconciling your accounts.