Restaurant Services

       As a small business owner myself, I know the stress of working on your business at the same times as trying to manage working in it.  Restaurants have long hours and the lines between work/life balance are gray, especially for owners and operators.  I personally have over 30 years of restaurant accounting experience, and have numerous family members engaged in the trade, so I am intimately familiar with the trials and tribulations. The pain points are real and challenging and I believe our firm has the skill set that would add value to your organization, its operations, and its bottom line.

Common pain points in the biz can usually be broken down into one of these categories:

• Cash Flow Issues
• Inventory Management
• Vendor Alignment
• Payroll and HR struggles
• Funding and Credit Card processing

For each of these, I have created unique tools and strategies that can help any restaurant owner improve their operations, and their bottom line!

The following areas of service that I offer are specifically designed for small restaurant owners:

Cash Flow Management- With the unpredictable nature of revenue (especially in the last year due to COVID) the management of cash is an all-important task. Utilizing a matrix of sorts, I have created forecasts as well as budgets that can be adjusted on a rolling basis to help predict and respond to the ever-changing environment. This can make the difference in how a restaurant can survive a down-turn and ramp up in a boom. 

Inventory Review- Closely related to cash management is inventory management. Having good practices in place for proper food handling, waste reduction and menu planning is another key element of efficient operations. Workflows that support the inventory counts, ordering and pricing of menu items helps the overall profit margin in a most direct way.

Accounts Payable (AP) Scrub- Often, the vendors that a restaurant uses have their own methodology for payment of invoices, billing and receiving. Reviewing bills received, matching to purchase orders, checking shipping and delivery costs is all parts of doing the due diligence to make sure you are being billed correct for what you have received. Reconciling vendor accounts, confirming vendor credits and managing expenses are another key area that contributes to the financial health of the business.

Payroll and Human Relations Review- As every restaurant owner knows, labor costs are the flip side of the coin to food/liquor costs. You cannot run a restaurant without the people. Managing the payroll reporting, tips allocations and time tracking is equally important. Having a good payroll service provider that can automate these tasks and make it easier to predict your labor costs and respond appropriately.

Bank and Credit card processing evaluation- Last but not least in this list, having the proper debt and capital structure in place can make all the difference in whether a restaurant succeeds or not. Negotiating with banks is a time-consuming and tedious process, so having a strategic partner that can work with banks and credit card processors to give you the best rates and access to capital is so beneficial. 

Let me and my team help you grow and prosper!

I look forward to talking to you soon!

Liz