Let’s face it, restaurants aren’t your typical run-of-the-mill businesses. They have to serve their customers through entire sittings of several hours, manage perishable goods and ingredients, and prevent excessive staff turnover. This requirement for continuous customer service, complicated staff management, and complex inventory management make them a unique proposition.
And, because restaurants aren’t run-of-the-mill businesses, they need unique accounting solutions that understand their particular challenges. Apart from invoicing, they also need solutions to help them:
- Manage their inventory
- Schedule staff
- Manage orders
- Process payments
And more! (Including full integration.)
But with so many accounting solutions out there (from accounting software to outsourced accounting services and everything in between) – very few of which offer dedicated restaurant support – it becomes challenging to find the right solution.
To solve this problem, let’s look at some of the top accounting services for restaurants!
Outmin
Outmin offers a comprehensive accounting system for restaurants. However, unlike other accounting services for restaurants or dedicated accounting software, Outmin injects a human touch into the services it provides to its valued customers. As such, it’s the only solution available on the market that combines technology with real accountants.
It’s as simple as uploading your documents and letting Outmin’s team of experts and AI systems do the rest. This will provide your restaurant business with accurate, up-to-date accounting while, at the same time, saving you time and money. It doesn’t stop there, though. Outmin also offers dedicated finance team services as well as an outsourced CFO service for businesses with this requirement.
With Outmin’s outsourced CFO service, you’ll get a seasoned CFO who will work as part of your team and take full charge of your business’s finances. This allows you to skip the steep costs of hiring for a full-time role while tapping into the strategic guidance you need to take your business to new heights. The fractional CFO will take duties key to your restaurant’s success, such as:
- Annual and monthly budgeting and forecasts
- Funding strategy and support
- Profitability analysis
And more!
No matter what solution you choose, since restaurants are Outmin’s key customers, they have adjusted their system to accommodate all the vital features you may need to run a successful restaurant.
Key Features
- Full-service bookkeeping and accounting.
- Invoicing, payroll, management accounts, and financial reporting.
- Valuable insights into a restaurant’s finances and business key performance indicators dashboards.
- Dedicated support by a team of experts.
Pricing
Outmin’s pricing starts at €199 per month for the Startup plan, which includes 30 transactions. Pricing goes up to €299 per month for the Scale-up plan. We also have custom pricing plans to create the best plan for your restaurant! With this pricing, restaurants won’t only save a lot of time, but money as well. For instance, Outmin’s service is 50% cheaper than an accountant, a lot more affordable than hiring a full-time accountant, and even cheaper than restaurant owners doing their business’s accounting themselves.
Restaurant365
Restaurant365 is an all-in-one, cloud-based accounting and management solution for restaurants. As such, it promises to provide all the accounting tools any restaurant might need, regardless of size. In addition, it also provides tools to help owners manage their restaurants, including order management and scheduling. As a bonus, the system is also easy to use.
It’s not all good news, however. The system relies on a restaurant’s point-of-sale solution to capture financial data. This means that, to make sense of what’s going on under the hood, users should have some accounting experience. Therefore, we wouldn’t recommend it to business owners who don’t have time or knowledge to be on top of their accounting.
Key Features
- Full range of accounting features, including invoicing, accounts receivable, inventory management, budgeting and forecasting, and more.
- Full integration with other systems, vendors, POS platforms, and banks and financial institutions.
Pricing
Pricing for Restaurant365 starts at $435 per month for the Essential plan and goes up to $635 per month for the Professional plan. Restaurant365 also has a custom pricing option available for those restaurants that want an accounting solution tailored to their exact needs. Strangely, this service is more expensive compared to Outmin’s offering, despite the fact that Outmin gives restaurants the ability to work with real accountants.
Bistro Accounting
Next up is Bistro Accounting. Like Restaurant365, it’s a dedicated accounting solution for restaurants.
However, unlike the other solutions on our list, it’s not an app or software but an accounting service for restaurants that allows restaurant owners to outsource all their bookkeeping and accounting processes.
As such, Bistro offers an extensive range of services, including financial reporting, accounts payable, and more. Unfortunately, Bistro Accounting only offers its services in the United States. Apart from this limitation, while restaurants get the benefits of a traditional accountant when using Bistro Accounting, there is some lag on any insights. In other words, when using their services, restaurants won’t have the benefit of real-time dashboards and analytics to extract insights from their financial data.
Key Features
- Full-service outsourced accounting and bookkeeping specifically for restaurants.
- Accounts payable statement reconciliations.
- Vendor payments.
- Profit and loss statements.
- Balance sheet reconciliations.
Pricing
Because Bistro Accounting allows restaurant owners to outsource their accounting and bookkeeping services, pricing depends on the specific services offered to the restaurant. However, generally, outsourced accounting costs anywhere between $100 or $250 per hour. This can equate to $5,000 per month.
QuickBooks
By this time, you’ll have heard of QuickBooks. It’s one of the most popular accounting platforms available on the Internet.
It’s easy to see why when considering the platform’s range of features. These features make it easy for restaurant owners to manage their finances, regardless of their accounting experience.
But since QuickBooks is not a dedicated accounting service for restaurants, it might take some time to set up the tool, and you will need to understand quite a few accounting terms to use it properly.
Key Features
- Full range of accounting features, including invoicing, accepting payments, tax management, inventory, tracking and management, and income and expense tracking.
- Payroll management available as an extra add-on feature.
- Integrations with other platforms and systems.
Pricing
Pricing for QuickBooks starts at $30 per month for the Simple Start plan. Restaurants can also choose the Essentials plan, priced at $55 per month, the Plus plan, priced at $85 per month, or the Advanced plan, priced at $200 per month.
Xero
Xero is another popular online accounting platform and is considered one of the best alternatives to QuickBooks by some. Like QuickBooks, it features a comprehensive and robust set of accounting features that’s easy to use, irrespective of the user’s experience level.
As such, it offers everything from invoicing to budgeting and inventory management. Keep in mind, though, the same considerations applicable to QuickBooks will apply here – it’s not a dedicated restaurant accounting solution, so it might take some time to set up and configure.
Key Features
- Extensive range of accounting features, including invoicing, income and expense tracking, inventory management, financial reporting, bank reconciliation, and more.
- Integrations with over 800 other applications and services.
- Easy and intuitive to use.
Pricing
Pricing for Xero starts at $3.25 per month for the Early plan. This goes up to $9.25 per month for the Growing plan. Finally, the Established plan, with the most extensive feature set, is priced at $17.50 monthly.
Get the Right Accounting Service for Your Restaurant
Hopefully, this post helped illustrate some of the best accounting services for restaurants. The only thing left to do now is to find the one that meets your budget, needs, and accounting knowledge level.
If you’d like to focus on running your business and leaving the accounting to the experts, we recommend Outmin. It’s a dedicated solution for the hospitality industry and can, as such, provide the unique solutions the industry expects. This means it’s more effective than purely software solutions. As a bonus, it’s also a lot more affordable than traditional accounting services.
Ultimately, with the perfect combination of automation, AI, and human accounting experts, your restaurant’s finances will be in good hands—and at a very affordable price point!