With the high volume of invoices and price fluctuations, invoice processing in accounts payable tends to be the most complex accounting function that sucks in a lot of time and effort. Conversely, this is also what makes it the chief contender for outsourcing.
By outsourcing accounts, payable restaurant businesses can transform their accounting performance while saving their time and money in the process. Want to know how? Read this blog to know.
With the inputs from our account payable experts at Outsourced Bookkeeping, we dive into the most common accounts payable challenges faced by restaurants and then list out the ways a remote accounting firm can help.
Common Restaurant Accounts Payable Challenges faced by restaurants:
- Large volume of invoices: On average a restaurant receives 200+ invoices which also brings a ton of reconciliation along. But that is only the tip of the iceberg. Invoices arrive on different routes at different times without great visibility into the entire process. And these invoices grow over time further complicating every problem. It can be extremely difficult for a restaurant that is short-staffed to comfortable cater to all the accounting work. With a manual AP or limited staff and an AP process that does not scale, Restaurant AP sucks in a lot of time costing errors.
- Price fluctuations and arbitrary adjustments: While Restaurant AP in itself is a tough process that lacks visibility, the rapid fluctuation and adjustments that need to be made make it an even hectic and tedious process. The high volume of invoices also increases the risk of errors. Genuine invoice adjustments and price fluctuations will be taxing and hectic costing already the precious time of limited accounting resources.
- Reducing operating costs and expenses: Restaurants already operate with slim profit margins and they cannot afford accounting to eat away their budget. Given how tedious accounting can be, it may not be possible to reduce the cost of operations without overburdening the accounting staff or straining the accounting work.
- Choosing the right restaurant accounts payable talent: As an extension to the above point, choosing the qualified Accounts Payables staff at the right rate has always been a challenge. Especially for a small & medium restaurant business, hiring a dedicated restaurant AP staff is not practical nor is installing expensive AP automation tools.
And this is where a remote accounting firm specializing in outsourced account payable services can help.
5 Ways Outsourcing Accounts Payable Services Can Boost Your Restaurant Growth:
- Cutting-edge automated accounts payable tools & software: Even restaurant businesses that can afford the right accounting staff may not find it practical to invest in cutting-edge accounting tools. Not only do they need a bumped-up budget but they also require in-house expertise to perfectly leverage them. By hiring a restaurant account payable service provider who is already equipped with these tools, a restaurant business can simply leverage them for better AP performance.
- Simplified access to a dedicated AP team: A restaurant business can easily solve the crisis of talent by outsourcing their restaurant accounts payable services. A remote accounting firm is equipped with AP resources specializing in the restaurant business and can lend their complete support at an affordable rate. Working as an offshore arm they can get all the work done while your in-house accounting resources focus their time on more productive tasks. All this without having to hire a costly in-house resource and avoid hidden overhead costs.
- Improved efficiency and productivity: By delegating the most hectic and tedious tasks in restaurant accounts payable, restaurant businesses can solve the major pain point in restaurant accounting. This helps businesses reduce the burden on their resources and guide them toward more productive tasks for improved efficiency.
- Best ROI & affordability: While saving time increases the productivity and efficiency of your in-house team, reduced cost of operations gives you an excellent ROI on these outsourced services. On average a business can save on resources, tools, expensive salaries and overhead costs of an in-house employee – all this while improving productivity and efficiency of overall operations.
- Greater competitive advantage: By replacing the most time-consuming, error-prone and expensive part of accounting with streamlined, accurate and timely AP services, a restaurant business saves time, money and effort.
This way, working with an outsourced accounts payable provider gives a greater advantage for a restaurant business over its competition, especially in the nascent stages. However, it is important to partner with the right remote accounting firm to accrue all the above benefits. Outsourced Bookkeeping is a remote accounting firm with a remarkable track record in offering outsourced accounts payable services to restaurants of all sizes. If you are a restaurant business that is looking to outsource your restaurant accounts payable services, then you can contact our Accounts Payable experts here: https://outsourcedbookeeping.com/