The end of the financial year is a time for reflection and analysis. It’s a quieter period in most industries that enables you to review your bookkeeping and make investments in areas of the business that will ultimately help your business save money, increase profits and grow to your full potential. This rings especially true if you’re an operator of a hospitality venue.

From your payroll and supplier costs to unused subscriptions and utilities…

There are always going to be opportunities to cut costs and optimize your spending.

That’s why an experienced and talented bookkeeper is so necessary.

In this blog post, we share some bookkeeping hacks that can help you save time, identify new opportunities, and build your business.

Organisation Is Crucial In Effective Bookkeeping

Accounting is a crucial part of your hospitality business. You need to keep track of cash flow, payroll, marketing costs, and what bills are coming due.

If you’re not organized, it will take over your life – and burnout can happen quickly if this happens! 

Luckily there are some strategies that have been shown to help:

• Keeping receipts for everything related to the business; even items consumed on-premises so they can be deducted from income tax as operating expenses.
• Maintaining an organized calendar to help with scheduling and prioritizing.
• Measuring and acting on customer trends to identify new opportunities and make smarter decisions that will help you save money.

It’s also worth adding at least one hour per day or more dedicated to bookkeeping activities like reconciling bank statements, calculating taxes, preparing accounts payable records, and other tasks that will save you time when the bills come due.

Bookkeeping is an important part of any business, and it can become a full-time job very easily if you don’t get organized!

Audit, Audit, Audit

So, you’re organized and ready to go. You’re on top of your bookkeeping and can breathe easy knowing you’re not going to be surprised when it’s time to pay the piper…

With that, you can move on to improving your basic operations.

But where do you even start?

• Get an understanding of which areas are making money for your company, and which ones aren’t (and why); it’ll give insight into budgeting decisions that have been made in the past but may no longer make sense for your hospitality venue today given changes in customer demand/trends over time.
• Review the cost of goods sold in each menu item to see if you’re getting a good deal on ingredients or not.
• Learn how to effectively manage your costs through better stock management practices, pricing adjustments, or negotiating with suppliers for volume discounts (this can save money on everything from dishwashers to linen!)
• Determine how much overhead is being allocated to each department or person to work out where money can be saved more effectively – this will help with salaries, labor management, and payroll.
• Take a look at credit card statements to ensure there are no unnecessary subscriptions you may have forgotten about. 

Implementing Change In Your Hospitality Venue

Now that you know exactly where your money is going, and how you can get the most bang for your buck…

It’s time to implement these changes.

• If you want to save some money on your power bill, it’s a good idea to talk with the provider.
• If you’re still paying for credit card subscription services that are no longer needed, cancel those subscriptions now!
• Now is also a great time to work out which suppliers offer volume discounts and negotiate where possible – this will ensure there are enough savings in place for when wholesale prices increase again (which they inevitably do).
• Taking control of your costs can be as simple as reviewing food budgets or ordering more efficiently so that leftovers don’t go bad.

When you or your bookkeeper have begun implementing these money-saving tips, then it’s time to sit back and wait until the next financial year begins…then do it all over again!

Effective bookkeeping is one of the most impactful tools in any hospitality venue operator’s arsenal. It’s a vital practice that will help your business save time, stay organized, and increase your profits. 

Now, who doesn’t want that?