Why use QuickBooks?

As a restaurant owner, you wear a lot of hats. On any given day, you might have to work as a customer service rep, a food critic, a buyer, an employee manager, and even a janitor. It was probably your love of food and people that got you into the restaurant business. And so sometimes, it’s easy to forget the “business” part of that phrase. The hat that most restaurant owners have the toughest time wearing is that of Financial Manager.

Even if you are an accounting whiz, you’ll find that you won’t have the time or desire to spend your workday balancing the books. Instead, you’ll be dealing with the myriad day-to-day headaches that pop up in the restaurant business, things like: the meat wasn’t delivered, the menus were misprinted, or the hostess is out sick.

There’s a reason that so many restaurants don’t stay in business long: it’s a tough industry. There are a million ways money is going in and out of a restaurant, and it’s essential that you keep track of every penny. As the saying goes, if you can’t count it, you can’t manage it.

QuickBooks is a wonderful resource for restaurant owners who want to take control of their finances. There’s a reason that QuickBooks is so commonly used by business owners: it’s easy to use. If you’re not a finance whiz, no problem—you can manage your business simply and effectively with QuickBooks, no accounting knowledge necessary. All you need is a desire to take control of your restaurant’s finances.

Getting Started

There are many different versions of QuickBooks available. Restaurateurs seldom need to use anything other than the basic version, and if you decide down the road that you want something with more capabilities, you can always upgrade to QuickBooks Pro. When QuickBooks is installed, it configures an accounting system specific to your business. Its setup helper, called Easy Step Interview, is a great tool. However, many restaurant owners ultimately decide that QuickBooks’ pre-made restaurant tools don’t work perfectly for their business. It is possible to design a custom system for your restaurant, but it is often a better use of your time and money to contact an accounting professional well-versed in QuickBooks to do it for you.

When setting up your QuickBooks, you’ll have to select a start date. If you’re starting QuickBooks the first time you make a transaction, congratulations! Your restaurant’s finances are off to a great start. But if you’re like many business owners, you were too busy getting things running to set up an effective accounting system right away. You can retroactively enter your past financial data, which ideal but is a time-consuming and often difficult process. If you choose not to do that, it’s best to at least retroactively enter your date up to the first day of the current year, so that come tax-time, all your accounts are in the same place. If you feel overwhelmed by the prospect of re-organizing your old financial data, consider finding an accounting professional who can help you do it right the first time.

Thanks for reading about getting started with QuickBooks. Check back for future information about how to use QuickBooks to pay your restaurant bills, record your sales, and manage your payroll.