When choosing the best restaurant software for your business, there are a lot of great options to consider. We’ve created this list to help you find the perfect solution for your business.
Do you really want to start using the best accounting software for restaurants? Then you should check out our top 10 restaurant accounting software that comes in the form of a free download. We have done the research and picked them from over a hundred different products. You will definitely find what you need here. Good luck!
Restaurant365: Best All-in-One Accounting Solution
If you’re looking for cloud-based, all-in-one restaurant accounting software, you can’t go wrong with Restaurant365 (R365). This software handles your inventory, catering, accounting, budgeting, forecasting, and scheduling, all within one cloud-based platform. This means you don’t have to switch back and forth between multiple software programs to get the information you need to make effective business decisions. You can even use R365 to budget and track data on different franchise locations or branches of your restaurant.
Because this software specific to the restaurant industry, R365’s reports feature already includes many of the reports that matter most to you. You won’t have to spend hours customizing reports designed to work with any industry. With an attractive dashboard and auto-scheduled reports, you can make sure anyone on your team has the information they need right at their fingertips. Since R365 is specifically designed for restaurants, it can pull even more granular data than QuickBooks or other general industry software.
Restaurant365 is an all-in-one solution for your accounting needs, but you’ll need to hook up your point of sale and payroll systems with it. Fortunately, R365 integrates with dozens of POS systems and payroll services. Even more exciting, many of your major food vendors integrate with R365, meaning you can automatically update food costs and import your invoices, saving hours of data-entry time.
If you don’t want to do your own accounting or hire an in-house bookkeeper to do it for you, R365 can connect you with an accountant who specializes in restaurant accounting and supports your software. This partnership program with accountants who specialize in the restaurant industry makes R365 more powerful than competitors in the all-in-one solution space. Since R365 is cloud-based, you don’t have to worry about trading files or being locked out of your software while your accountant is working, either.
Restaurant365 Pricing
With prices starting at $159/month per location, R365 is not the least expensive option available. For inventory management and scheduling functionality, you’ll have to upgrade to a costlier plan or pay a per location fee. Although R365 is costly, what you gain in terms of business insight could make the investment well worth the price.
The restaurant business is tough. Having a specialized, all-in-one accounting software geared toward your specific needs and working with an accountant who understands your industry can be the difference between profitability and barely scraping by. This makes R365 a very attractive option for your restaurant business.
QuickBooks Online: Best Integrated Solution
If you’re already working with an accountant or bookkeeper and don’t want to switch to a different provider, then an all-in-one, specialty accounting software like Restaurant365 might not be the best solution for you. Most accountants and bookkeepers don’t want to work with more than a couple of software solutions, and you will benefit most from using a provider that knows your software well.
If this is your situation, your best bet for an accounting software for your restaurant is QuickBooks Online. Not only is QuickBooks Online (QBO) supported by hundreds of accountants and bookkeepers—meaning there is a very good possibility your accountant or bookkeeper supports it—but there is also tons of training available if you decide you want to do your own bookkeeping or hire an in-house bookkeeper.
Although QuickBooks Online won’t be able to handle your entire back-end operations like R365 can, QuickBooks does integrate with dozens of restaurant-specific tools and POS apps that specialize in restaurant operations. This gives restaurateurs flexibility to design the perfect technology stack for their needs. And, as with an all-in-one solution, you won’t have to switch back and forth between multiple programs to get the information you need to run your restaurant.
Much like R365, QBO boasts a dashboard and auto-scheduled reports, meaning you can access the information you need in seconds. And, since QBO is cloud-based, everyone on your management or financial team can access your software simultaneously. Resources abound on using QBO for every industry, and so you can easily find guidance online to create the exact reports you need to run your restaurant business profitably. QBO also offers built-in time tracking and payroll solutions, so you track staff time and spot inefficiencies.
QuickBooks Online Pricing
QBO for small business pricing starts at $25/month, though you might need to go with the middle-tier $50/month option to get all the features you want your restaurant accounting software to have. Only the more expensive plans come with time tracking and bill pay. Although this is considerably less than R365’s monthly investment, don’t forget to factor in the costs for all your integrated software subscriptions before making a decision based on price.Buy QuickBooks Now for 50% Off
FreshBooks: Best Budget Option
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.
TouchBistro
TouchBistro is an iPad-based POS system built by restaurant owners for restaurant owners. The company’s primary goals are to make managing your restaurant easier, make more money, and deliver a positive experience to your customers. It was founded in 2010 and is used in over 100 countries. New and experienced restaurant owners can use it, whether they’re beginners or experts at accounting and bookkeeping. It can also be integrated with payroll companies or QuickBooks for those who need more thorough accounting services.
We chose TouchBistro as the best option for food truck owners because it’s an iPad system that’s portable and can be operated easily on a truck’s wifi. It’s also easy to set up, can be integrated with different systems, and offers robust features specific to food truck owners. However, if you need in-depth accounting services, you will need to integrate with QuickBooks or choose another restaurant accounting software.
Specifically, TouchBistro offers the following features:
- Restaurant inventory management
- Calculate ingredient-level food costs
- Determine profit margins of menu items
- Payment processing options
- Tableside ordering
- Floor plan and table management
- Staff management and scheduling
- Menu and promotion management
- Manage customer accounts
- Basic accounting data
TouchBistro offers multiple monthly plans, with pricing that starts at $50 per month and goes up to $229 per month. There aren’t any long-term contracts, and you can contact TouchBistro directly to find out which plan is right for you.
MarginEdge
Best Restaurant Integration for QuickBooks
PROS
- Integrates with QuickBooks Desktop, QuickBooks Online, Sage Intacct, and Xero for general bookkeeping
- Uses the latest invoice prices to recalculate the cost of recipes automatically
- Compares actual ingredient usage to what should have been used given the dishes sold
- Integrates with 6 of 8 Best Restaurant POS Systems
- Straightforward pricing
CONS
- Must pay for bookkeeping software, such as QuickBooks Online, in addition to MarginEdge
- Employee scheduling is not available
- Cannot forecast sales and food usage based on prior data
Overall Score4OUT OF5
| RATING CRITERIA | PRICING | 4.12 | OUT OF | 5 |
| EASE OF USE | 4.81 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| GENERAL FEATURES | 5.00 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| RESTAURANT FEATURES | 3.00 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| EXPERT SCORE | 5.00 | OUT OF | 5 |
*The score is for MarginEdge integrated with QuickBooks Online Plus.
Our Expert Opinion
MarginEdge provides many popular restaurant features as an add-on to QuickBooks or other bookkeeping software. Startup restaurants may choose to begin with QuickBooks Online and then add MarginEdge when they’ve grown enough to utilize some of its more advanced features. The primary advantage of adding MarginEdge to your QuickBooks is the detailed tracking of your food cost and the impact of changes on recipe costs. There’s no employee scheduling included with MarginEdge, which is a feature larger restaurants will likely miss.
Pricing
MarginEdge costs $300 per month, per location, and includes all of its features at no additional charge. Since MarginEdge isn’t a standalone bookkeeping system, you’ll also need to purchase QuickBooks Online or similar bookkeeping software. QuickBooks Online Plus is $80 per month for unlimited locations.
Conclusion
Love to run a restaurant? The Top 10 Restaurant Accounting Software can help you run your restaurant business efficiently and with ease.