Bookkeepers: First Line of Defense for Restaurant Owners

Summer is here and patio season is in full swing, but it’s the numbers, not the ambiance that ultimately tell the success story! If you have clients who own a restaurant, remind them that they need to take time to pay attention to the numbers side of the business and make sure that staffing up with temporary summer help includes some instruction on reporting their tips to CRA.

A bookkeeper is often the primary, front-line adviser to small-restaurant owners throughout the year, and you can make it part of your role to ensure that it doesn’t get too hot in the financial kitchen, as it were, for these harried entrepreneurs. Compliance requirements are a constant; and there needs to be some decision-making about reducing costs when things slow down.

Knowledge Bureau’s bookkeeping courses and the DFA – Bookkeeping Services Specialist designation give you the skills to help your restaurant-owner clients keep an eye on the special considerations of the food service business, like cash flow, debt levels, taxes and payroll.

Not only are the basic costs steadily increasing, but business is fundamentally changing for restaurateurs large and small, as it is in many industries and professions:

• Minimum wages continue to rise to new levels across the country, driving up employment costs and cutting into already thin margins.
• The cost of Canada Pension Plan (CPP) premiums (which are matched by employers for those 18 and up), are an important factor to budget for.
• Much of the recent job growth in Canada has been in the service sector, particularly in accommodation and food service, making the competition for labour stiffer than ever. It’s becoming much harder to attract and retain employees. That could mean more overtime for the owners themselves.  More overtime means more childcare and/or other personal costs.
• That labour shortage in the industry means that many owners of small restaurants are even looking at providing health insurance benefits to staff as an added perk—another increase in the cost of doing business. 
• How is theft going to be handled, procedurally and on the books? Busy cash businesses need to factor in shortages and bed debt.  

The more complex life becomes for restaurant owners, they more they need you, their bookkeeper, to be their first line of defence on the business side of the business. Check out Knowledge Bureau’s courses in Basic Bookkeeping for Small Businesses, Advanced Bookkeeping for Multiple Businesses and the DFA – Bookkeeping Services Specialist designation for more information on how you can help to serve your customers who serve others. The Advanced Payroll course will help you advise on the perks available – both taxable and tax-free — to business owners desperate for more staff. All these courses are free to try as well.

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