Reasons Why Some Restaurant Fail Due To Bookkeeping

As a restaurant owner, you are responsible for keeping track of several sources of income and even more expenses. And of course, the cost of goods sold all the while controlling for food spoilage, taxes and costs. Bookkeeping is one of the most important tasks that you can take on as a restaurant owner and you have to be your own bookkeeper; especially in the early going. You must take control of your numbers before the numbers overwhelm you. The restaurant business, as any other business, is based on numbers. Revenue, average spend, labor costs, food costs, everything is about numbers. You have to track them daily and if you are going to be a good restaurant owner, you have to be an even better bookkeeper.

Somewhere further down the road, you can hire somebody but you’ll still have to be involved with the numbers. You will be so immersed with your business and numbers that even if you see something wrong, you may not be able to recognize it right off the top. For these reasons, it is crucial that you take the time to understand your point-of-sale system in addition to your cashflow statement. These encompass everything from Income Statements and Balance Sheets to sales forecasts.

Being a bookkeeper involves endless discipline. You have to complete cash outs daily at the start or end of every day. You have to sit down and review what happened the previous day. You have to put down what revenue was earned and into what category, would it be food or beverage. You will also have to separate out the goods and service taxes. They are very important because you are tax collector for the government. You have to be able to separate your credit card settlements, debit card settlements, and cash pay outs. In short, everything that transpires has to be recorded on a daily basis.

Apart from that, you have to track all the labor costs daily. You must know what the labour costs are on a specific day to operate your business. Similarly, you have to process all invoices that come into your restaurant everyday and record whether they were paid for by cash or on credit.

Once you’ve gotten things set up and you understand the menus and products you require, you now have to select suppliers who are going to deliver those products to you. Do not select suppliers solely on the basis of lower prices, as it is generally said that having something at the right price coming at the wrong time is a killer. So, you need to have people who are going to deliver your products and make sure that they follow the schedule that you need. Before you select a supplier, get a reference. You are a customer in this case, so you want to find out if that company is a good company to work with.

Bookkeeping and Accounting services are crucial elements in the success and growth of your restaurant. Whether you take it upon yourself or hire external help, organized accounting is one ingredient your restaurant cannot go without. If you can’t do it yourself, hire a accounting firm in Singapore to do the job for you.