{"id":4856,"date":"2016-05-31T07:30:40","date_gmt":"2016-05-31T07:30:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/?p=4856"},"modified":"2021-02-24T16:18:07","modified_gmt":"2021-02-24T21:18:07","slug":"restaurant-financial-health","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/restaurant-financial-health\/","title":{"rendered":"Start Diagnosing Your Restaurant&#8217;s Financial Health"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Assessing the financial health of your business is an essential part of being a restaurant owner.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/restaurant-financial-health.jpg\"><img class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-4872\" src=\"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/restaurant-financial-health.jpg\" alt=\"restaurant financial health\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>These common accounting mistakes can undermine the success of your restaurant and prevent you from moving forward with your plans for growth.<\/p>\n<h2>Messy Books<\/h2>\n<p>Keeping an organized accounting system is the only way to have a clear idea of how cash is flowing through your business.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/restaurant-bookeeping.jpg\"><img class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-4933\" src=\"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/restaurant-bookeeping.jpg\" alt=\"restaurant bookkeeping\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>It doesn\u2019t matter whether you use an old-fashioned ledger or the latest software; you need some kind of system in place where transaction information is recorded on a daily basis.<\/p>\n<h2>Not Tracking Inventory Use<\/h2>\n<p>The amount of inventory you purchase doesn\u2019t automatically equate to the amount you use. Failure to keep track of how much inventory you go through on a monthly basis means that you have no idea what your actual food and beverage expenses are.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/restaurant-kitchen.jpg\"><img class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-4935\" src=\"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/restaurant-kitchen.jpg\" alt=\"restaurant kitchen\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Relying on sales data doesn\u2019t account for loss from mistakes or accidents, and replenishing without accurate numbers has the potential to lead to overstock and food waste.<\/p>\n<h2>Ignorance of Menu Costs<\/h2>\n<p>When you designed your menu, the process should have included an assessment of the ingredients involved in every dish and the total cost for each based on the actual amounts of food used.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/restaurant-food.jpg\"><img class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-4937\" src=\"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/restaurant-food.jpg\" alt=\"restaurant food\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>This can be a tedious process, but there\u2019s no other way to effectively understand how much to charge for menu items. This ties closely with inventory tracking in that it can show you which dishes are the most profitable and which are leaving you with leftover food more often than not.<\/p>\n<h2>Ignoring Seasonal Changes<\/h2>\n<p>The restaurant business is subject to seasonal fluctuations that you should be familiar with. If you don\u2019t have predictions of how cash flow changes from month to month, you\u2019ll never be able to budget for slow times or get ready to handle a sudden influx of patrons.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/seasonal-restaurant.jpg\"><img class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-4938\" src=\"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/seasonal-restaurant.jpg\" alt=\"seasonal restaurant\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>If this is an issue for you, consider applying for a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/loan-products\/bridge-loans\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Bridge Loan<\/a> to help bridge the gap between your slow and busy seasons.<\/p>\n<h2>Lack of Financial Reporting<\/h2>\n<p>Simply recording income and expense information isn\u2019t enough to show you how well your restaurant is doing.<\/p>\n<p>You need to regularly give yourself a visual of financial health markers by taking advantage of the reporting tools available through the many software applications made specifically for small business finance management.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/financial-reporting-restaurants.jpg\"><img class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-4939\" src=\"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/financial-reporting-restaurants.jpg\" alt=\"restaurant reporting\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Interpreting data this way makes it easier to see where money is going and where you might need to make changes to support continued financial health.<\/p>\n<p>Since cash flow and sales are always fluctuating, you need to continually pay attention to and reassess the financial state of your restaurant.<\/p>\n<p>Establish a set schedule for all of your financial duties, and ensure that you stay on top of it to maintain an up-to-date picture of how well your business is operating.<\/p>\n<p><font style=\"color:#ff6600;\">If you would like to talk to your local loan consultant about obtaining a bridge loan or business line of credit, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/contact\/\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"color:#00659e;\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">click here<\/a> to fill out our free, online quote form and we&#8217;ll contact you to discuss your options!<\/font><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Assessing the financial health of your business is an essential&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[111,128,690],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-4856","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-business-financing","7":"category-day-to-day-business-operations","8":"category-restaurant-financing"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.9 - 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