Restaurant owners open their monthly P&L reports, and look at the sales, and then go to the bottom and close the report.

Does this sound familiar?

The report could be completely correct, but if they are the only two numbers to be reviewed, most of its value is left unreviewed.

This shouldn’t force them to be more dependent on an accounting company. They should become more confident in their own numbers. There is no need to spend the night completing invoices or knowing every accounting principle. It is important to know how profit has changed in relation to labor and food costs, and the issues that need to be addressed next week.

Bookkeeping Chef’s goal is to automate tasks in bookkeeping that do not require the time of restaurant owners, and provide the restaurant owners with better financial data they can utilize.

Don’t stop at Month-End Numbers. Start by calculating Weekly Numbers

While restaurants don’t operate in a calendar month, they are still required to maintain an P&L. This week, managers plan their schedules. The chef placed an order for food today. Vendors change prices now.

The Bookkeeping Chef’s weekly reports on prime costs are provided alongside the monthly financial statements.

The prime cost combines the cost of the goods and labor and labor, two areas where an establishment can achieve rapid growth. The information provided by the Bookkeeping Chef reveals that prime costs typically account for 60 percent of the sales in restaurants.

Imagine that sales barely changed but the cost of production increased. This percentage isn’t an answer. It gives the owner an incentive to look into the issue.

Has the hourly wage increased? Was there overtime? Did the price of food increased? Did a vendor invoice seem unusually high? Did the mix of sales changed?

It’s better to find out about the issue sooner rather as opposed to later.

Automate repetitive tasks

DIY bookkeeping doesn’t need to involve manually transferring POS (point of sale) totals into spreadsheets.

Modern bookkeeping automation in restaurants can take care of a large portion all the repetitive movement of financial data. The service can connect POS systems including QuickBooks, QuickBooks, vendors platforms recipes and inventory management, payments instruments.

Automating solely for the sake automation is not the objective.

It’s to make it easier for manual data entry, and keep financial records up-to-date so that the owner can spend time looking over data instead of creating it.

It’s a totally new accounting model for restaurants. Technology manages the mechanics and the owner stays engaged with the financial aspects.

P&L Questions: Learn How to Ask Better Questions

Stop thinking of your P&L as if it were an accounting test.

Begin with sales. Then, take a look at costs of production. Compare the food and beverages performance. Study the cost of labor. Reduce operating expenses and look at what’s left.

Compare the different periods.

Something in between is changing if sales have increased but the profits haven’t. What happened when food prices rose? If the percentage of labor changed by a significant amount, you can compare sales and staffing activity. Investigate any numbers that seem odd, instead of assuming that the restaurant was not doing well during the week.

Bookkeeping Chef gives monthly P&Ls that can be completed in five days. Owners are able to review the performance of their business without waiting for months to receive financial statements.

For owners searching bookkeeping restaurant solutions, speed is useful but understanding is the bigger objective.

DIY Doesn’t Need to Mean Self-Employing Everything

There’s a middle-ground between outsourcing the entire financial responsibility to another and establishing yourself as your own full-time bookkeeper.

Owners are still able to participate in the accounting process, without needing to do everything manually.

The process could be as simple as using automated system connections to ensure that information flows. But it could also be as intricate and complicated studying the monthly P&L or a look at the weekly Prime Cost Report.

Specialized bookkeeping for restaurants can help with this method by keeping the books in order as well as helping the owner be aware of what they represent.

It is highly unlikely that you will get an accountant who is able to perform all of the functions.

An owner is someone who can have a conversation with a P&L regarding the company.

The goal is financial independence Not more reports

Restaurants already generate massive quantities of data. Another dashboard isn’t automatically useful.

When an operator is able to examine the weekly prime cost report and realize that something has changed, they can then access their P&L to look into what’s required for an examination.

Bookkeeping Chef’s approach includes automated bookkeeping for restaurants, weekly reporting, monthly P&Ls, and the financial support for specific restaurants to enable this.

Automate repetitive work. Examine your prime costs each week. Study the language used in your P&L.

There is no need to be a professional accountant.

It is essential to be aware of the finances of your restaurant before you become an owner.