The 5 Financial Reports that every owner should look at every day!

Whether you are just about to open your new restaurant or you’ve been in business for a while, the only way to accurately know how well you are doing is to track your numbers.

You may think: “I have a bookkeeping system, so this should do the job.”  Right?  WRONG!!!!

Let’s pause for a moment. You might have QuickBooks or Simply Accounting. If you make an entry into your general journal, simultaneously, the program then makes changes to your balance sheet and income statement and check register and accounts payable ledger……and all this without you understanding how each and every transaction affects your cash flow, and cash flow is the key to business. You can get lulled into a false sense of security when you think that by having an accounting program that you have things under control.

And then to make matters worse, most business operators turn their bookkeeping duties over to a company who then gives them reports – two or three weeks too late. At this time they find out that they did not hit their projected weekly sales targets or exceeded the budget that they allocated for payroll. OUCH!

You need accurate numbers in a timely fashion. You need those numbers today; so you can react to what they are telling you.

What information do you need to know every day?

You need to know:

• What your sales were yesterday and what your month-to-date sales are.
• How much you owe to every supplier and the Government.
• What cheques you wrote and to whom.
• What your month-to-date payroll totals and percentages are.
• How much of each menu item you are selling.

If you have this information, you’ll have the important decision-making information required to move forward…day in and day out.

What 5 basic reports do you need?

1) Daily Sales Summary – This summary tracks the money coming into your business on a daily basis. It identifies what money is yours and what money is owed to the government. It also shows how clients paid – credit card, cheque, cash, or debit card.

2) Payroll – An extra 10 minutes here and 5 minutes there on your employee time sheets can add up to huge dollars in a year. With a daily report for labor, you will always stay in touch with the number of employee hours worked on a daily basis and it will give you your labor cost breakdown every day. You should never have to wait until the end of a pay period to know your labor costs.

3) Cheque Register – As an owner, you need to know where the money is going. Is it for payroll? Cost of Goods Sold?  Maintenance? Marketing? A cheque register itemizes all your payments and allocates them to the proper account.

4) Accounts Payable Journal – Using this journal will allow you to know what you owe to each and every one of your suppliers. You do not need to be surprised at the end of the month as to what you have outstanding.

5) Velocity Report – These reports are used by both your suppliers and you. A velocity report gives you the number of units that have been purchased. For the owner, you will know exactly how many bottles of a certain beer you are selling and the numbers of nachos that you are selling. This is important because if an item is really moving you might want to order more to ensure that you do not run out. For the supplier, he or she wants to keep track of what you are ordering so she ensures the warehouse has the sufficient stock on hand to meet your demand.

Every day you need accurate accounting information; so you then can make knowledgeable decisions going forward. Getting accurate accounting information from your business may not be the most glamorous part of owning a business; but, it is vital to your business’ success.

By having these financial reports at your fingertips and knowing where you stand financially in your business on a daily basis will allow you to sleep better.

Paul Morgan, Plan2Profit, 1-844-752-6776