The Tip Share

The SBA is set to award an added $180 million in unspent funds allocated for the Restaurant Revitalization Fund (RRF) back in 2021. This is not an infusion of funds into the RRF currently; in fact, a new law was introduced and passed by the House of Representatives to replenish the RRF with more than $40 billion, but it did not pass the Senate (See June 2022 update below). It is not clear how, whe...

Getting a restaurant up and running is a challenge. Keeping a single establishment or franchise profitable over months and years is even more so. What separates the restaurants that quickly fail from those that have been established for an extended period? You could argue – and we’d certainly agree – that taking advantage of a restaurant accounting software and service is the most significant sing...

Do you know everything about your restaurant assets? Not just what they are, but how your restaurant's assets interact with other critical elements of that indispensable, indisputably important financial report, the balance sheet? Throughout this episode, we’ll dive into our all-in-one resource on restaurant assets – we'll cover: How  assets of a restaurant  are defined Difference betwee...

Many operators don’t fully understand how to read a restaurant's Profit and Loss Statement (P&L). In fact, many don’t even have a basic understanding of where the data is coming from. Furthermore, how to interpret the data into actionable insights.   It’s critical for the financial health of all restaurants that those who are making scheduling decisions, buying decisions, etc. fully compr...

Restaurant Cost Of Goods (or to some, Cost Of Sales) take up a significant amount of a restaurant’s overall expense. Unfortunately, many owners/operators fail to see how COGS for restaurants can significantly negatively impact profitability and cash flow if mismanaged or handled inconsistently. Point-blank: It’s critical to the health and survival of all restaurants that you understand your COGS a...

Learn about the details of restaurant manufacturer rebates and how they can positively affect your restaurant's bottom line! Read the full Blog Post: https://rasiusa.com/blog/what-are-restaurant-manufacturer-rebates Watch the Quick Snippet Video: https://youtu.be/TWNwezzEUBU Social Handles: RASI Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rasinc__/ RASI Twitter: https://twitter.com/RASInc_RASI...

Successfully closing out a period starts the domino effect for proactively operating a restaurant versus missed opportunities in the following periods. The Period End Financial Close purpose is accuracy verification to highlight where your money is going. This enables you to make quicker, more educated business decisions.   To close out a period, begin with a review of the financial statement...

Your restaurant may have a great menu, loyal customers, and an unbeatable location, but without effective restaurant budgeting, none of those factors matter. A strategic and accurate restaurant budget plan is your establishment's roadmap to success; In other words, it's the most trustworthy guide to your profit.    Too often, managers and entrepreneurs don't know how to budget for a rest...

Colorado Retailer Retention of Sales Tax, bill HB22-1406, applies to Colorado sales taxes collected in July, August, and September of 2022. This bill allows a temporary deduction from state net taxable sales for restaurants, bars, and other eating places (food trucks), or catering services in the state. The temporary deduction from state taxable sales for qualifying retailers is equal to the lesse...

The Healthy Workplaces Act of 2021 takes effect on July 1, 2022. This law requires all private employers in New Mexico to allow employees to accrue and use earned sick leave. Employees may use this leave for several reasons listed in the Act; for example, taking care of a qualifying family member or recovering from an illness themselves. Check out this episode to learn everything you should k...

Effective July 1, 2022, the state of Colorado will impose a retail delivery fee on all deliveries by motor vehicle to a location in Colorado, even if the delivery originates in a different state. Here's what you should know. Read the full Blog Post: https://rasiusa.com/blog/everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-colorado-retail-delivery-fee  Watch the Quick Snippet Video: https://you...

A franchise is all about authorization. For entrepreneurs and small business owners, owning a franchise offers them the ability and support to carry out the larger corporation’s core company offerings and commercial activities. During this quick snippet, we'll review some core principles and applications of franchise accounting basics, franchise accounting system benefits, and other insights surro...

One of the most important tools in restaurant accounting to effectively manage food cost is a Declining Budget. When used properly, a Declining Budget can be one of the best tools for stabilizing your costs as well as increasing your cash flow. Learn more about how this particular budget will support management in monitoring variable spending and fluctuating sales (revenue). Watch the full Video:...

You’d like to know how to start a restaurant business but are not exactly sure where to begin. You want to start a restaurant and you create the ideal concept in your head. That concept begins with the idea at its inception. However, for your idea to survive, or even better to thrive, it must operate on a consistently executed financial plan and a sound restaurant business proposal. 50% of the res...

The restaurant industry has, by and large, low-profit margins constrained by high capital, labor, and operational expenses. Yet there is a wide range of profitability within the industry, from white tablecloth establishments with low single digits profits to quick-service restaurants clearing over ten percent (if they’re really on top of their game). Despite this variability, restaurant...

Quick service restaurants (QSR) have complex accounting and payroll needs. Traditionally, expensive salaried employees have fulfilled these needs, but in the last 5+ years, technological advancements have opened the door to more cost-effective alternatives that increase operational efficiencies! Today, the QSR industry can benefit from software-based outsourced accounting teams, which offer all in...

When restaurant staff receives tips, both employee and employer incur legal obligations to the IRS to correctly record the tip amounts, comply with reporting requirements, and pay income and payroll taxes. For the restaurant operator, it’s critical to get these details correct from the start to avoid unnecessary penalties. This article will cover how to record tips in accounting and what the tax r...

Experienced restaurant operators closely manage the inflows and outflows of cash through their business. Sound management of available cash is critical to the ability to pay wages, keep the lights on, stock the walk-in, and make distributions to owners. The financial document that summarizes these transactions is known as the restaurant cash flow statement. An understanding of this document is imp...

Today, innovative restaurants are using business intelligence to drive operational efficiencies, improve profitability, and reduce managerial burdens. How do they do it?   The clearest way to understand restaurant business intelligence is to run through example metrics used by experienced operators. Note that in order to use business intelligence in your restaurant, you need to be runnin...

As a restaurant operator, you know that a modern point of sale (POS) solution generates tons of data. The question is, how do you use that data to materially improve restaurant operations? One of the best applications for POS data is as a tool to make more accurate restaurant sales forecasts. Data-based sales forecasts can give you a degree of precision that was previously out of reach, as well as...

As a restaurant operator, it’s critical that you understand your sources of revenue, your expenses, and the balance between the two. The chart of accounts is a comprehensive method of reviewing these critical performance indicators. Having a solid grasp of your chart of accounts gives you the information to make operational decisions that are fully informed by financial data. Watch here to learn t...

Think of the multitude of processes your restaurant performs on a daily or weekly basis - Payroll. Payment processing. Vendor Payments. General accounting - and those are merely the tip of the proverbial iceberg. Now, think about how seamless all these tasks would be with a streamlined, automated accounting system that integrates directly with your point of sale (POS) system. This connection would...

If you’re new to the restaurant business, you’ve probably heard about strategic vendor management but aren’t exactly sure what it entails. Well-experienced business owners in the field know it’s absolutely critical for maximizing not just ROI but also the relationships and connections that make every day in a restaurant run smoothly. What is vendor management, and which issues pose significant cha...

You may be asking, how does payroll work? That is, what should payroll look like for a restaurant? We’ll start with the basics. What is payroll? Payroll is the business process of regularly paying out all your wage, payroll tax, and benefit liabilities to employees. We’ll spell those out: wages are employee earnings, payroll taxes are the percent of earnings dedicated to taxes, particularly FICA (...

Opening a restaurant is a costly endeavor, and successfully running a restaurant requires strict attention to your restaurant expenses to control costs and increase efficiencies. Few restaurants can get by with paper, pencil, and a stack of excel sheets for manual data entry. Such restaurants miss out on the opportunity to reduce expenses and increase profits by gathering needed insights for opera...