Running a successful restaurant franchise has a number of challenges. The food must be consistently good in every restaurant, the service must be consistent in each location, and the business must consistently move toward maintaining profitability. But if your bookkeeping and controllership systems are not consistent it can be nearly impossible to make the kinds of management decisions needed in order for your franchise to enjoy consistent success.

It’s a Numbers Game

The restaurant business is often a numbers game. You must monitor your costs versus your sales, control your cash flow, and reconcile your accounts before they become a problem. Effectively financial management of a single restaurant is already a challenge; now multiply that responsibility by each franchise in your system. Having a single bookkeeping and controllership provider like B4R allows you to gain greater financial consistency and competence across your entire franchise system.

Restaurant Focused Expertise

Many restaurant franchise operators use bookkeeping and accounting firms that do not have restaurant industry expertise. And while many aspects of controllership are common among all business ventures, the fact is that the restaurant business is full of challenges and demands that are unique. As a result, it is important to have restaurant expertise in your back office. B4R has years of experience working with established restaurant franchisor’s and franchisees across the country.

Good Data = Good Decisions

Franchisors must have good data in order to make good business decisions. Our CFO analytics packages are individually tailored for franchise clients and present essential data and thoughtful analysis that enable you predict trends, adjust pricing and supplies, and maximize each dollar spent and earned. Best of all, our services and analytics are consistent across the entire franchise system and include various benchmarks and standards that are tailored for the restaurant business. Contact us today to learn more.

It seems like everyone is talking about cloud computing these days. As a metaphor for the Internet, “The Cloud” is a familiar cliché. But for busy restaurant owners and managers the question becomes: Is cloud computing for real, or just another phrase du jour?

The Cloud is Here to Stay

According to market analysts it looks like cloud computing is not only here to stay but also growing at a rate that is faster than previously predicted.U.S.spending on cloud services is expected to increase by 20% this year and spending worldwide is predicted to reach $109 billion by 2013. The reason for this feeding frenzy is that organizations are finding that they can save 50% or more when deploying cloud-based applications versus having to maintain the technical infrastructure in-house.

A Silver Lining for Restaurants

But cloud computing isn’t just for big businesses; many small and mid-sized organizations are using the Cloud for a number of applications. How can your restaurant business take advantage?  One way is to leverage the approach to build efficiencies and savings in your back office. Our bookkeeping and controllership service, for example, can streamline your bill payments, improve your cash flow, and process your accounts with an easy to use cloud-based system.

Cloud-based Improvements

Restaurants can reduce their information technology overhead using the Cloud since you eliminate the time and expense of hardware and software procurement, support and upgrades. Deployment speed is improved as well; cloud deployments can go from start to finish in days, rather than the lengthy deployment cycles of traditional IT implementations. And finally, you have a great deal of flexibility using cloud-based applications and this allows you to accommodate spikes in demand without over-provisioning during non-peak periods.

Stay Ahead of the Competition

Many restaurants find that moving their restaurant accounting & bookkeeping functions to the cloud helps level the playing field between large restaurant groups and smaller independents. More than that, if you fail to embrace cloud computing you may be at risk of being out-innovated and losing your edge on your competition. Are you ready to get your head in the cloud?

The success of any restaurant is dependent on many different factors. Naturally, the food must be delicious, the ambiance must be inviting, and the service must keep customers coming back for more. But while the front-of-the-house aspects often get the lion’s share of attention, the back office functions that support the business can be overlooked. And if you struggle to accurately monitor your sales, control your cash flow, or reconcile over/under balances your restaurant can quickly fall behind the financial curve.

Back Office Savings

Is it time to outsource your bookkeeping and controllership? The benefits are hard to ignore. Restaurants can find substantial cost savings by outsourcing. Cost savings upwards of 40% can be achieved. Using B4R, for instance, you get an entire financial team with years of expertise in the restaurant business for less than what you would pay for an in house bookkeeper. Plus, fixed-cost pricing makes it easy for smaller restaurants and independents to better compete with the larger franchise chains with more advanced financial infrastructure.

Team-Based Support

By outsourcing your bookkeeping and controllership you can take your business to the next level. This is because you immediately tap into a ready-made restaurant accounting department without having to build one of your own. You get a controller, a full charge bookkeeper, and a team of processing specialists versus having to recruit, interview, hire, and manage that extra personnel internally.

Restaurant Expertise

Owners and managers often struggle to find back office personnel with restaurant expertise. After all, running a restaurant, or chain of restaurants, has unique bookkeeping and financial challenges that must be understood and managed on a daily basis.  Our controllers, full charge bookkeepers and reconciliation specialists are experts in restaurant back office management. We’ve worked with some the most successful brands in the country and we bring that same industry expertise to you.

Take Things to the Next Level

If you’ve thought about outsourcing in the past, now may be the time to reconsider how it can make a difference to your bottom line. Bookkeeping4Restaurants is a complete bookkeeping and controllership service for restaurants. We streamline your bill payments, improve your cash flow, and process your accounts with an easy to use paperless system. Contact us today to learn more.