QuickBooks can be very powerful to run accounting for your business. If you run a restaurant, QuickBooks can be powerful for your business too. In this episode of MissionBusinessPodcast.com Bernard Roesch shares tips you can use to get the most value out of QuickBooks in your restaurant business.
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Unique Accounting Needs Of A Restaurant
Different businesses have different accounting needs, and a restaurant is no different. Below are a few specific things that a restaurant needs when it comes to accounting and bookkeeping.
- Point-of-Sale System to Manage Daily Activities – You need a point-of-sale system to keep track of daily activities for your restaurant. For example orders; orders by different times of day, such as lunch and dinner, etc.
- Using Point-of-Sale Data in Quickbooks – You also need to consider how to get certain data from your point-of-sale system into Quickbooks so that it can be used for various accounting and bookkeeping activities.
Choosing The Right Point-of-Sale System (POS) For A Restaurant
A restaurant has specific needs when it comes to a point-of-sale system. There are a large number of point-of-sale systems on the market, including some that are specifically designed for restaurants.
When choosing a point-of-sale system consider the following two factors;
- Make sure that it is designed well for your specific needs as a restaurant. This is the most important part.
- Find a point-of-sale system that can be integrated with Quickbooks. However, the most important part is that it works well for your restaurant.
A Quickbooks Pro Adviser can usually make any point-of-sale system transfer data into Quickbooks, either automatically or manually. If you have to choose between multiple point-of-sale systems, make sure that the restaurant-specific features are the main factor you’re considering.
Moving Data From POS To Quickbooks
The majority of your daily activities will be done in your point-of-sale system. For example, charging restaurant customers will be done in the point-of-sales system. Other bookkeeping and accounting activities might be done in Quickbooks.
- The first thing you need to consider is what data needs to be moved from the point-of-sale system into Quickbooks for later processing. For example, sales by part of the business, such as lunch or dinner meals.
- You might also input data into Quickbooks regarding how certain sales are paid, such as credit card, cash, check, etc.
- Once you’ve identified which data you want to move into Quickbooks, you need to get a simple process in place for moving the data.
- This can be done manually using a daily statement produced by your POS system that you can easily enter into Quickbooks.
A Quickbooks Pro Adviser may also be able to automatically move that data from the point-of-sale system into Quickbooks.
Running Reports In Quickbooks
Once you have data in Quickbooks, you can run reports to understand the profitability and other financial metrics of your restaurant.
- Certain reports will be available in your point-of-sale system, but more advanced reporting is usually easier to do within Quickbooks.
- For example, you can run reports over different time periods, you can compare different time periods, and you can also segment those reports by certain areas of the business, such as lunch or dinner sales over time.
Using QuickBooks In Your Restaurant Business
If you are starting a restaurant business or are already operating a restaurant business, consider using Quickbooks for the accounting and bookkeeping part of running a restaurant. Contact Bernard for more information on how to use Quickbooks effectively in our restaurant business.
You can also visit MissionBusinessPodcast.com for more insights that Bernard has been sharing with us in the previous episodes.
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