Let’s be honest here. If you run a small restaurant business, then there isn’t a great deal of money to be spent on expensive software for record keeping and management. It sure would be nice to have a time machine just so that I can jump into the future and wring my hands wring them while holding a couple of shekels, but alas! That can’t happen either. Fortunately, however, there are the best accounting software for restaurants at no cost to you whatsoever.
Do you manage a restaurant? Are you confused about the right software to use for you restaurant business? Well, there are numerous options on the market that can help. Here is our detailed overview on certain best accounting software for restaurants that will help you choose the right one for your business.
Restaurant365
Released in 2012, Restaurant365 is a cloud-based software solution designed specifically for restaurant owners. It offers a comprehensive platform to meet the needs of restaurants of all sizes, as well as owners ranging from beginners to experienced bookkeepers.
We chose Restaurant365 as our best overall accounting software for restaurants because of its robust features, ease of use, and full integration with other systems. It’s made specifically for the restaurant industry and has specific features beneficial to restaurant owners.
Restaurant365 is an accounting software program that combines bookkeeping with restaurant management tools like invoicing, ordering, and staff scheduling. It doesn’t offer payroll services but can be integrated with the payroll company ADP. It is also easily integrated with vendors, POS systems, and financial institutions for automated banking reconciliation.
Some features of Restaurant365 include:
- Accounts receivable and automated accounts payable
- Budgeting and sales forecasting
- Invoice capture
- Franchisee billing and payment collection
- Streamline ordering and fulfillment
- Recipe and catering management
- Inventory management
- Employee scheduling
- Manager log book with sales data and document storage
- POS, bank, vendor, and payroll integration
Pricing for Restaurant365 is broken down into tiers and starts at $249 per location per month and goes up to $459 per location per month. Both the Core Operations Plan and the Core Accounting Plan are $249 per month and are primarily focused on operating or accounting aspects of the business.
The Essential Plan costs $369 per location per month and includes accounting, scheduling, and inventory tracking features. The Professional Plan is the top-tier option and costs $459 per location per month. It includes scheduling, inventory, and accounting features, as well as labor, analytics, and custom financial reports.
If you want to see which plan best suits your needs, you can contact Restaurant365 directly via live chat, email, or phone.
QuickBooks Online
In 2001, Intuit launched QuickBooks Online as a packaged software. The program is constantly updated and improved and is ideal for restaurant owners with little to no accounting or bookkeeping experience who want to manage their own books. It is easy to use, integrated with your financial institution, and compatible with most major POS systems. However, since it’s not specific to the restaurant industry, it may take a little longer to set it up and customize it to your specific restaurant’s needs.
We chose QuickBooks Online as our runner-up because, while it isn’t designed specifically for restaurants, it offers an impressive lineup of features, including add-on payroll services. It’s also extremely easy to use for owners with no accounting or bookkeeping experience.
QuickBooks Online offers the following features:
- Miles, income, and expense tracking
- Invoice creation and accepting payments
- Maximum tax deductions
- Enhanced reports
- Receipt organization
- Sales tax tracking
- Manage bills and employees
- Inventory tracking
- Online training
- Automated workflow
- Payroll as an add-on feature
Pricing for QuickBooks Online starts at $25 per month and goes up to $180 per month with a 50% discount for the first three months. It offers plans for all types of operations, including sole proprietors, LLCs, partnerships, corporations, and nonprofits.
A Self-Employed plan includes tracking for miles, income, and expenses, capturing and organizing receipts, estimating quarterly taxes, invoicing clients, accepting payments, and running basic reports. However, QuickBooks has a variety of plans that offer different features depending on your business structure. You can contact them via phone or through their site to discuss your business needs and budget.
FreshBooks
FreshBooks is another accounting software that, like QuickBooks Online, is designed to work with all industries. However, the functionality that you get for the cost makes it an especially great choice for restaurant owners who want to run a lean operation. Although not as comprehensive as R365, FreshBooks is loaded with helpful features that can help you run your restaurant more efficiently.
It’s easy to categorize and track expenses and revenue on FreshBooks, and you can store receipts in the app simply by taking a picture. Since FreshBooks categorizes the expenses, it is easy to see your restaurant’s smallest and largest areas of spending. If you connect your bank account or credit card to FreshBooks, your account will always have an up-to-date picture of your expenses in real-time.
Financial analysis and tax filing is easy with FreshBooks because the software has already categorized your expenses and revenues. Using the stored financials, you can create a balance sheet, income statement, and profit and loss statement, and run dozens of reports. You can view various revenue streams to see which menu items are most popular with your clientele.
When FreshBooks launched in 2004, their initial goal was to help businesses manage their invoices more easily. Even today, that remains a core part of their cloud-based software. You can create and send custom invoices by email, a helpful feature if you provide wholesale ingredients to other restaurants.
You don’t get shift scheduling with FreshBooks, as you do with R365, but you can track your staff’s hours worked and see how they’re spending their time.
FreshBooks Pricing
FreshBooks pricing starts at $15/month for up to five billable clients. This is less expensive than QuickBooks and significantly less expensive than R365. FreshBook’s entry-level plan should work for most restaurants since most restaurants are on the buying end, purchasing raw goods from suppliers. You can get a 10% discount off this price if you pay annually. Plus, for a limited time, FreshBooks is offering 60% off for 6 months on Lite, Plus, and Premium plans when new users skip the 30-day free trial period and opt to buy now.
ZipBooks
ZipBooks is a simple yet powerful accounting software that provides relevant tools and intelligence to take your restaurant to the next level. Sending professional invoices, automating your billing, and collecting payments effortlessly will all major credits cards, moreover, efficiently tracking your business expenses and maintaining up-to-date, color-coded records that allow you to understand what’s going on with your finances at a flick.
ZipBooks is a cloud-based software that allows restaurants to get smarter and streamline their financial operations with ease. The solution delivered by ZipBooks not only helps the management of a restaurant to take better decisions but also helps provide a detailed insight of business financial position in the market.
Touch Bistro
Touch Bistro, Inc. develops iPad point of sale solutions for restaurants, cafes, bars, food trucks, and other food and drinks venues. They have hundreds of years of experience in the restaurant industry and by using that experience, they have designed a unique POS system that helps restaurateurs make more money, deliver a great customer experience and take the guesswork out of making business decisions.
It offers the restaurants a point of sale system for billing and payments; Food Truck POS for food trucks; Food Chain POS for order taking and payments; Bars POS that enables users to manage open tabs by seat or customer name; and Coffee Shop POS for speeding taking and payments.
It was founded in 2010 with one goal in mind – to bring cutting-edge technology to the table to help restaurateurs run successful businesses.
Conclusion:
If you are new to restaurant business, you might be thinking about your business accounting needs. Although some restaurants rely on pen & paper for their day-to-day bookkeeping , if your restaurant grows it won’t be long before you would need some professional help. Restaurant accounting can be really complicated if you are not planning for it. Finding the right software is one of the most essential things for any growing business. You may be considering switching to cloud based or online accounting software company, which involves different set of pros and cons.