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

Do these sound like familiar to you?

The report could be completely accurate, but if those are the only two figures to be reviewed the bulk of its value is ignored.

It shouldn’t make them more dependent on an accounting company. They should be more confident of their financials. It’s not required to sit long hours completing invoices, or know every accounting rule. It’s crucial to understand the reason for the fluctuation in profits in relation to food and labor and what questions require attention next week.

Bookkeeping Chef’s goal is to automate the bookkeeping process which don’t take the time of restaurant owners while also providing users with better financial information that they can make use of.

Don’t stop at month-end Numbers. Start with Weekly Numbers

Although restaurants do not operate within a calendar month they still need to have a P&L. Managers plan their labor for this week. The chef orders food today. Vendors change prices now.

Bookkeeping Chef offers weekly flash reports on prime costs together with monthly financial reports.

The primary cost is comprised of the cost of labor and the purchase of goods as well as the cost of labor. These are two areas in which the restaurant could make rapid progress. The information supplied by the Bookkeeping Chef reveals that prime costs usually represent 60 percent of sales at restaurants.

If sales haven’t changed much and the prime cost has increased. This percentage isn’t an answer. It gives the person in charge a reason to conduct an investigation.

Did hourly work increase? Did overtime occur? Was the cost of food fluctuating? A vendor’s invoice appeared to be unusually big? Has the mix of sales changed?

This is much more valuable than finding the same problem several weeks later.

Let Automation Handle the Repetitive Work

DIY bookkeeping does not have to be difficult. It can simply involve manually transfer POS (point of sale) amounts onto spreadsheets.

Automating bookkeeping for restaurants can assist with the frequent movement of financial information. The service is connected to POS systems, QuickBooks, vendors platforms recipes and inventory management, AP/payment instruments.

Automating for the sake automation is not the objective.

This is done to reduce the amount of manual data entry. Also, it keeps current financial records so that owners are able to focus on looking over information instead of collecting it.

It is a totally different accounting model for restaurant establishments. Technology takes care of the mechanical aspects while the proprietor is involved in the financial aspect.

Learn to ask the P&L More Questions

A P&L will be much more manageable when you don’t treat it as an accounting test.

Start by analyzing the sales. Begin with sales. Compare the effectiveness of beverages and food. Think about the labor. Make sure you reduce your operational costs.

Check out the various periods.

Something between these two lines is changing if sales have improved but profits have not. If food cost increased, ask what happened operationally. If the percentage of labor changed, compare staffing and sales activity. If a figure appears to be odd, investigate rather than assuming the restaurant just had an unlucky month.

Bookkeeping Chef can provide monthly P&Ls, which are finished in five days. Owners are able to review the performance of their company without waiting months before receiving financial statements.

If you are a restaurant owner looking for bookkeeping solutions, speed is a must but understanding is the more important goal.

It’s not necessary to build everything.

You can find a happy middle between having someone manage your financial needs and being your own accountant full-time.

Owners can still be involved in the accounting process, without having to perform every task by hand.

That might mean connecting to automated systems to ensure information flows through, examining a weekly prime cost report, or studying the monthly P&L and posing queries in the event of an unexpected change.

Specialized restaurant bookkeeping services can support that approach by keeping the underlying books organized while helping the owner understand what the reports mean.

However, this does not mean the bookkeeper will be in a position to complete all bookkeeping tasks.

A business owner can engage in a dialogue with a P&L regarding the company.

The Objective Is Financial Independence, Not More Reports

Restaurants already generate massive quantities of data. A dashboard doesn’t always make sense.

The real value is when an employee can look at a weekly report on prime costs and see that something has occurred, then open the P&L and know the best way to look into it.

Bookkeeping Chef’s strategy integrates restaurant accounting automation with daily reports, monthly P&Ls as well as restaurant-specific financial assistance to make this possible.

Automate repetitive tasks. Examine your prime costs each week. Understand the language used within your P&L.

There is no need to be an accountant to be an.

It is best to be a successful owner who knows the financial story behind your restaurant.