How to do Bookkeeping for a Restaurant Blog

Overhead is the monthly fixed rates that it costs to run your business. To calculate overhead rates, the total fixed costs are divided by total operating hours. A restaurant owner should constantly monitor cash flow, which is the money coming in and going out of your restaurant. This includes making sure there is always an emergency fund set aside for unexpected expenses like equipment breaking and needing to be replaced. It’s a process with stepping stones that ultimately lead to federal and state obligations. It’s important to track payroll so you don’t miss out on important reporting deadlines and payroll tax obligations.

• Your balance sheet also shows your equity, so your net worth; it’s what’s left over at the end of the day when assets are subtracted from liabilities.
• For these restaurateurs, outsourcing bookkeeping to a professional can save their business.
• Restaurants need to take inventory regularly to see what they’re selling and to make sure nothing is going bad, or even worse, that nothing is being stolen.
• Social media, at least, is free — and you’ll have direct access to the customer marketplace you want to serve.
• If you go it alone, you can find sample accounts online from industry sources such as the National Restaurant Association, and most accounting programs offer sample accounts for restaurants.

We offer CFO advisory and bookkeeping services to help business owners get their books in order, get more time back, and get the peace of mind they need that their numbers are handled. Keeping track of your revenue is equally important to restaurant bookkeeping as knowing 8 Best Accounting Software for the Self-Employed in 2023 your expenses. Have accounting records on hand to show how much you earn from food sales, merchandise sales, or catering jobs. One of the first places to start when handling your restaurant’s accounting is to ask other chefs how they handle their own accounting records.

Best Accounting Software for Restaurants

As a business owner, you won’t have time to keep up with these changes. You must record precise amounts of money for every expense and all revenue. Rounding up or down by a few cents or dollars can add up over the course of a week or month and begin to affect your bottom line.

The end-of-day sales report gives you your sales by day by category, for food, beverages, sales tax. Working with a remote bookkeeping service will still provide you with all the value you could get from an in-office bookkeeper but at a fraction of the cost. I have even seen some restaurants make Payroll a subaccount of COGS. Just make sure you keep a Payroll parent with the subaccount breakdown. You might also want to check with your CPA to make sure they are ok with this change.

Sales Forecasting

Accounting for a small restaurant business can be complex, but it doesn’t have to be overwhelming. Some POS accepts credit and debit payments and does a lot of the bookkeeping and accounting tasks, from tracking inventory to analyzing sales data. A restaurant bookkeeper oversees the financial reports of the restaurant.

• While this may not be the simplest, many restaurants prefer this method because it gives them a more accurate picture of their income and expenses.
• Both XtraChef and MarginEdge allow you deeper COGS and financial insights and controls directly in your POS system.
• Restaurant bookkeeping plays a crucial role in effectively managing your restaurant’s finances.
• This historical data is then used to develop sales projections and budgets for costs and expenses.

Paying your bills on time will ensure that you are avoiding any possible late fees, which is just an additional and unnecessary expense for your restaurant. In fact, sometimes you can get a discount for making a payment early. It takes more than a passion for food to run a successful restaurant. https://kelleysbookkeeping.com/bookkeeping-payroll-services-at-a-fixed-price/ Being a great bookkeeper takes an efficient bookkeeping system to keep track of your restaurant’s financial health. It’s important to understand the principles behind the food and beverage industry so that you know which bookkeeping method is most tailored to this particular industry.