We have a lot of clients in the hospitality industry – restaurants, cafes and bars. We understand the thrill of opening up your own place and welcoming in your customers. But we also find that many hospitality owners just don’t get numbers. They often struggle to keep on top of their finances and it is the numbers that make or break a hospitality business – and we aren’t just talking about the number of clients through the door.
Working with so many hospitality clients, we see many similar themes. It is these themes that have prompted us to write this article. Here are our 5 top tips that we think that you should follow:
Do bookkeeping more regularly, and follow a system
You need to make time in your schedule for bookkeeping so you don’t fall behind. Firstly it will give you a better understanding of how your business is tracking but it will also be easy for your ATO reporting. It will allow you to identify red flags earlier and fix problems before they become too big of an issue.
Make sure your bookkeeping software is set up properly and integrated
You need to make sure that your software is set up correctly for a hospitality business. This makes it easier to keep track of everything for the ATO but also understand your numbers. Make sure you pick software that integrates with your bank and also with your Point of Sale software as well. Keeping everything streamlined and integrated will save you time and effort when it comes to reconciling everything.
Understand how much everything costs
In the hospitality game, where inventory prices can change regularly, it is absolutely vital that you are monitoring these fluctuations regularly. Many things can impact inventory prices but noting these changes and their impact on your bottom line is important. If you notice changes, these can allow you to make vital business decisions. You may decide to look for a new supplier, or you may need to make changes to your menu to reduce your inventory costs.
Hire an expert if you need to
All hospitality businesses need to get themselves a bookkeeping expert in the hospitality business. You may decide that you want to do all your own data entry and have an expert check over your figures, or you may want to be more hands off and get a hospitality expert that can do all your data entry and reporting as well. With a trusted expert ensuring that you have all your data input correctly, you can be confident when making business decisions moving forward. This can help you with business planning and decision making.
If you want the confidence to grow your hospitality business without having to worry about your bookkeeping and administration, get in touch with us at CBKBS Business Services. We will help you set up and implement a bookkeeping system for your business that gives you confidence making decisions moving forward and ensures that you will meet all of your ATO requirements. Please get in touch today.
