Keeping track of finances is a struggle for many small businesses, but the hustle and bustle of a busy café or restaurant can be even more overwhelming for managers and owners. Constant challenges of juggling staff and their shifts and rosters, suppliers, cashflow and produce requires great time and task management not to mention the fine art of multi-tasking. Often items are taken care of in the spur of the moment, based on what is critical at that moment; a supplier who won’t supply any more products, an employee who needs to change availability and so it goes on….. While bookkeeping for cafes may take a bit more attention, that doesn’t mean it has to be harder!
Let’s not forget, unfortunately businesses in hospitality have the highest percentage of failure, due to poor record keeping. Without timely information, this does not give owners valuable insights to make the right decisions. As a result, with little to no data, decisions are made on emotions.
Choosing the right software is a crucial first step to making bookkeeping for cafes and restaurants easier to handle and helps you stay on track each day. Xero ticks many of the boxes we see that owners of cafés and restaurants require. Everything from managing their daily cashflow, supplier payments to integration of key third party applications to manage shifts and rosters.
Managing of Supplier Invoices
With latest third-party integrated applications you can send or take photos of invoices and receipts which integrate directly into your accounting application. This information is digitised allowing for owners to quickly understand what they owe and when it is due. This removes the embarrassing situation when suppliers won’t supply more stock due to unpaid invoices. We all know, no stock means no sales.
Statutory reporting for cafés and restaurants can also become an issue with many supplier invoices being GST taxable, free or a combination. Introduction of key third party applications which read and interpret invoices, ensures you don’t overstate your GST obligations and remove potential duplicates. Too often we have seen owners overstate their GST due to manual capturing of information.
Paper was so 2019!
Managing Staff
Managing staff in any business can be challenging, however add the issues of shifts, rosters and awards and this adds a whole lot of complexity. Most accounting applications such as Xero provide payroll components which are suitable to manage staff, however where this does not suffice, third party applications exist which allow owners to manage rosters, capture hours worked (including time of the day) which is then subsequently compared to awards, making the paying of employees a whole lot easier.
It’s important to stay organised for the sake of your business and your employees – you don’t want to spend unnecessary money overbooking your staff or being short on hands during peak hours.
Selling to Customers
Once you have managed your supplier invoices and rostering of employees you need to remember the main objective as to why you got into business; selling to customers. Having the right tools to capture customer orders and sales is pivotal in understanding the success of a menu and customer satisfaction.
Add to this the different ways of selling a meal from client facing to delivery via Uber or Deliveroo, it is important to segment how sales are made. Point-Of-Sale (POS) applications take the hassle out of managing menus and pricing, orders and segmentation. With easy setup and user interaction it allows for business owners to understand what works, what makes money, and more importantly, what makes the customer happy.
Time is precious when running a busy business – don’t waste time by tracking all of these features manually!
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Did you know that one of the best (and most efficient) ways to increase the amount of business you do is to provide sales quotes? Sales quotes – also referred to as price quotes – often mean the difference between landing a contract and not. Many small businesses make the mistake of not preparing or sending sales quotes quick enough, and in the world of business, timing is everything!
Increasing cash flow and getting invoices paid are two of the most common areas of difficulty for small businesses. Staying on track with clients from the start – such as with the sales quote – is a good way to increase your business and get paid when the job is done. Here are a few ways to increase your business with sales quotes:
Use cloud-based software to your advantage! Software programs, such as Xero, are designed to make a positive impact on your business by organising your data and providing you access to your spreadsheets and sales quotes from start to finish. Increase your business with sales quotes and see what a difference it makes!
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Whether you’re a small business owner or the leader of a non-profit, your bookkeeping goals are important no matter where you work. Non-profits have a unique challenge of needing to be diligent with spending and need to keep focus on providing an adequate amount of funding to a cause! In many respects, non-profits run just like businesses, so it makes perfect sense that non-profits would use the same effective record-keeping software and tools. Since you want to ensure you make the best financial decisions, here are some bookkeeping tips for non-profits you can easily implement into any process:
Start with Bookkeeping – This first step is also one of the most important. In order to understand how to track your business expenses and monitor money or donations, you need to create a system for bookkeeping. Unlike a traditional business, non-profits are generally run on donations or private funding, in addition to using volunteers to run a good portion of the non-profit. Cloud-based bookkeeping software makes tracking cash donations, invoices and cheques easy to monitor no matter where you are.
Prepare for the Annual Audit – Every year, it’s the same stressful story, looking for last minute documents, receipts and financial statements. Using cloud-based bookkeeping software means you can quickly and simply upload images of any documents into the software for future reference. This makes it easy for you to go back and look at invoices or receipts throughout the year and makes the annual audit relatively stress-free. All you need to do is provide an auditor log-in access on read-only files and it’s more efficient for everyone.
Streamline the Process – Through non-profits, volunteers come and go on a frequent basis. Creating a streamlined bookkeeping process makes it easy for people to learn as soon as they come in and keeps the machine well-oiled and running smoothly. Create a guide for new volunteers to follow and be sure to review documents twice a year to ensure the bookkeeping is clear and concise.
These bookkeeping tips for non-profits are crucial in making sure the finances are in order at all times. Staying organised and simplifying the process are just two important components in the success of any non-profit.
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In any situation dealing with finances, budgeting is very important. It keeps spending in control and helps business owners allot a certain amount of money for necessities and expanding the business through hiring, services or supplies. Budgeting with Xero – or any number of accounting software programs – will help you stay on track and organized when it comes to your sales, spending and profits.
Budgets don’t have to be overly complicated, either. They can be as simple as you need them to be – such as managing income, cost of sales or goods and gross profit. Xero is a powerful tool when it comes to budgeting and can provide business owners with various tools and reports that keep the entire team aware of financial standing. Xero, for example, makes budgeting even easier. Business owners can choose to input financial information into Xero directly or choose to export Xero reports onto an alternative template, such as through Google Docs or Excel. This http://findviagra.com/generic-viagra-advantages/ versatility allows business owners to create and manage budgets on any platform that makes them feel most comfortable.
There are also advanced settings to utilize when budgeting with Xero. Options allow you to create a range of budget scenarios so you can see how your budget is affected should you decide to be a bit tighter with spending or want to see where your budget will be in an optimistic setting. Creating different style budgets will help you see business performances easier and allow you to make adjustments accordingly.
A business can’t survive without some type of budget in place – whether you do it the old fashioned way on a piece of paper or look toward a quality accounting software program like Xero. Budgeting with Xero brings all the information to your fingertips so you can see exactly where your money is going!
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There are plenty of things to consider when getting a business off and running – bookkeeping being one of the most important, and often neglected, aspects of any startup. Creating a business takes so many components it can be difficult to keep records of spending, invoices and other financial considerations. These bookkeeping tips for startups will help you create effective and useful habits from the start!
Keep personal banking separate from business – During the early days of a business, it’s easy to get caught up in spending personal money for business-related expenses and supplies. Before getting started, open up a banking account to manage these expenditures! Whether you do bookkeeping yourself or hire a professional, separating the two accounts early on will keep things organized and easy to manage.
Devote time to reconciling your books – As a startup, you need to know where every bit of money is coming and going. Create efficient habits by devoting a specific time of day or week to managing invoices, paying debits or monitoring cash flow and spending. Getting into this habit from the start will help you stay sane when the business – and bookkeeping – becomes more in depth. Of course, you can always turn to a professional bookkeeper to take the hassle away!
Look for accounting software – One of the most effective bookkeeping tips for startups is to look for accounting software to help you easily keep track of your finances. Cloud-based accounting software, such as Xero, makes a number of bookkeeping aspects easy to manage no matter how experienced you are at accounting or finance. Accounting software easily allows you to send and receive invoices, create reports and a plethora of other valuable services for any startup.
These bookkeeping tips for startups are some of the simplest options to implement into any business – start with good habits early on and build upon them to stay efficient and organized as the business grows!
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The Christmas season often passes by in a blur, but bookkeeping doesn’t stop! For some industries, the holiday season is a time to slow down and catch up before the New Year rolls around; however, some bookkeepers experience long hours and an extensive workload. Don’t let the extra work increase stress – these Christmas bookkeeping tips will keep you sane and on top of things.
Work in advance – Now is the time to create a to-do list and start working on it. The more you get done before the holiday rush, the more time you have to spend on the in-depth projects. Set up staff pays before leaving the office so you don’t have to worry about it during the rush of the holiday season. Scheduling payments in advance is convenient and the staff will be happy to receive payments on time – though it’s important to make sure none of the scheduled payments fall on a public holiday.
Stay focused – One of the best Christmas bookkeeping tips is to reconcile all of the accounts before you leave the office for the holiday. No one likes to come back to work and wade through a pile of invoices or payments on the first day back – additionally, reconciling accounts as you get them prior to Christmas means the transactions are fresh in your mind and create less room for error.
Set up invoicing – Just because you’re out of the office doesn’t mean invoices should remain unpaid by clients or customers. Send out invoices prior to Christmas so you continue to get paid even when you’ve closed up for the holiday. It’s never good when you forget to invoice a client, and since the Christmas season is busy, there’s always the chance that it could happen. Setting invoices up before the holiday rush keeps things running smoothly.
These Christmas bookkeeping tips are important, but there’s still one more thing to do – relax. Enjoy the holiday season with friends and family, a most joyous time of year!
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Just like finding the right employees for your business makes a difference in how you operate, choosing an accountant has an effect on the financial aspect of your business from the beginning. When you’re ready to start hiring employees, you typically go through a selective process – checking recommendations, browsing past experiences and going through an interview process. So why wouldn’t you put the same effort into choosing an accountant? Here are three tips that will help you find the best fit for your financial needs:
Choosing an accountant takes some time and research, but it’s well worth it in the end. Running a successful business means getting the best you can afford on your team – your accountant is no exception! If you are after a referral to great accountant, don’t hesitate to ask.
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Bringing money into a business and having a cash flow are two different things – do you have a positive cash flow or is your money tied up in the business?
It doesn’t matter how much money you bring in each year if you can’t take out what you need to pay for the essentials. A positive cash flow is one sign of a healthy business, but it’s also important to be consistently smart with the cash you do get to – whether it’s because you sold off some personal property at a profit or you obtained a business loan. Here are some important tips for maintaining a positive cash flow:
Starting a business is exciting, but simple mistakes early on could end up costing you financially. Selective spending and ensuring you get the right value for your products or services are essential in maintaining a positive cash flow for the long-term.
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As a small business start-up or entrepreneur, it might be first nature to want to have a hand in every aspect of the business and whatever you don’t know will be learned along the way. While that may be true of some areas in a business, accounting is something that even the most ambitious business owners have a hard time managing. As a manager, spending time running a business is essential, but frankly, overseeing operations of the company and figuring out everything you need to know about how your financial standing is often overwhelming. There are plenty of reasons to illustrate why you need to hire a bookkeeper, but here are the three most common:
These are just some reasons you need to hire a bookkeeper – and while it’s understandable that you want to have a hand in every aspect of your business, some things are best delegated to the experts. The time and money you save will be even more valuable than you imagine!
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I’ll do it later — is this your feeling when it comes to bookkeeping? While you might have good intentions on catching up with records and reconciling accounts, the truth is bookkeeping often gets pushed further and further down the to-do list, and before you know it, you have weeks of receipts and invoices to wade through and get organised. Don’t add to your stress by getting behind with your bookkeeping – get on top of your books with these simple steps:
It will take some time and effort, but it’s important to get on top of your books to save yourself plenty of time and money later. With a few simple tips and through the help of your software accounting program, getting organised is easier than you think.
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