Take the Worry Out of Weekly Food Inventory by Joe Erickson Most independent restaurants calculate their food cost only once a month. Yet, virtually all the major chain restaurants calculate their food cost each week. According to industry averages, chain restaurants (before corporate expenses) are two to three times as profitable as independent restaurants. While weekly food costing isn't the entire the reason, it's part of it. . . . more >>
Spot Food Cost Problems by Knowing Your Ideal Food Cost by Joe Erickson "What should my food cost be?" - this is one of the most often asked questions by restaurant operators. Considering that food cost, along with labor cost, make up 60-70% of all restaurant expenditures, knowing what your restaurant's food cost "should be" is the first step towards controlling it . . . more >>
Tips on Tip Reporting: Are You at Risk for Back FICA Taxes? by Siobhann Kathleen Williams, CPA A recent supreme court decision has major implications on who's liable for taxes on unreported tip income. If you have tipped employees need to know how to best protect yourself. . . . more >>
DOWNLOAD: 4-Week Periods for 2013 to 2016 If you want to convert to a 4-week reporting cycle now is the time to get ready to do it. This series of Excel worksheets breaks down years 2013 to 2016 into 4-week periods beginning on the first Monday for year 2013. . . . more >>
WEBCAST: Your Path To Better Numbers - How to Use the Uniform System of Accounts for Restaurants Management of your organization requires a financial and operational reporting format that reflects the restaurant industry's unique requirements. In this webcast, RestaurantOwner.com Founder and President, Jim Laube and Vice President, Joe Erickson will highlight the recent updates in the NRA's Uniform
System of Accounts for Restaurants, a leading guide for preparing and reporting restaurant financial results for 50 years . . . more >>
DOWNLOAD: Tip Pooling Worksheet Use this form for calculating tip pooling distributions. This flexible, multi-plan tip sharing worksheet simplifies the process of calculating and distributing tips based on jobs and hours worked. . . . more >>
Accounting Methods for Discounts and Comps The practice of discounting and the use of coupons has grown substantially in recent years and some operators have expanded their use of discounts and coupons to the point that discounted sales sometimes run well in excess of 10% of gross sales.
As discount sales make up a larger portion of gross sales, how they are accounted for and reported on a restaurant's income statement can potentially affect how certain cost and margin levels are viewed and evaluated . . . more >>
DOWNLOAD: Restaurant-Specific Chart of Accounts for QuickBooks ATTENTION QUICKBOOKS USERS for 2012 - Using a restaurant industry standard chart of accounts is one of the smartest things an independent operator can do. An industry standard chart of accounts will give you financial information in a much more useful format and enable you to compare your P&L numbers with other restaurants. This specially-formatted Excel file is ready for easy import to QuickBooks using the File Import utility for QuickBooks. . . . more >>
The NEW Uniform System of Accounts for Restaurants IS HERE! JUST RELEASED! The NEWEST edition of the Uniform System of Accounts for Restaurants is here! It contains many new updates and changes. This is the restaurant industry standard for getting more value and practical use out of your financial information and reports . . . more >>
DOWNLOAD: Weekly Prime Cost Worksheets Calculating prime cost every week is one of the profitable activities any restaurant can do. If prime cost is too high it's VERY difficult for any restaurant to generate a profit. Our weekly prime cost worksheets make it easy to track and control your biggest and most volatile costs. . . . more >>
Why Prime Cost Is the Most Important Number (That Should Be) on Your P&L by Jim Laube Prime cost (food, beverage & labor) consumes in excess of 60% of sales in most restaurants. They are your largest and most volatile costs. Without good Prime Cost controls even high volume restaurants can have profitability problems. Learn what your Prime Cost should run and how to keep excess Prime Cost from choking your profit. . . . more >>
Restaurant Business Plan Resources A well-conceived, professional restaurant business plan is your greatest single
asset for turning your restaurant dreams into reality. It's the key to convincing
anyone to invest money, make a loan, lease space, essentially do business with you
prior to opening. In our Restaurant Business Plan department you'll find an assortment of business
plan resources all pertaining specifically and totally focused on creating a winning
"restaurant" business plan. That includes in-depth, how-to articles, downloadable
templates, detailed instructions, financial models, complete sample plans and more.
. . . more >>
How to Manage Your Restaurant's Critical Numbers and Avoid Financial Loose Ends by Chris Tripoli and Jim Laube Too many owner/operators are not tracking sales accurately, not posting costs by category correctly, and/or vewing a cash balance at the end of the month as profit. In this article, we discuss how to setup and interpret your financial reports to help you identify how your restaurant is really performing. . . . more >>
Prime Cost Wizard - Web-Based Financial Tracking Restaurant operators that track their prime cost weekly routinely increase their bottom-line 2% - 5% or more! Here's an easier, more efficient way to get your prime cost numbers and not have to re-enter your sales & purchases into Quickbooks or Peachtree . . . more >>
DOWNLOAD: Restaurant Accounting Checklist The more organized and efficient your period end accounting process is, the more accurate your statements will be and the quicker you'll get them. Give your bookkeeper or accountant a tool that will help them do a better job of crunching your numbers. . . . more >>
