The Benefits of Outsourced Accounting for Restaurants and Franchises

At a glance:

• The main takeaway: By partnering with an outsourced accounting provider, restaurant and franchise owner/operators can reduce overhead costs and better track restaurant-specific KPIs, allowing them to plan for future growth and profitability.
• Impact on your business: From managing sales tax compliance to third-party delivery complexities, owner/operators can delegate financial reporting and other operational duties to their outsourced provider so they can focus on running their business.
• Next steps: Aprio’s Restaurant, Franchise & Hospitality team provides the industry-specific outsourced accounting solutions and capabilities owner/operators need to increase efficiencies and drive long-term success.

To run a successful restaurant or franchise business, you need to provide more than great food and customer service; you also need to implement solid financial reporting systems. But when you’re already managing the daily ins and outs of your business, it can be hard to make room for more tasks, especially functions as complex as accounting, compliance, and reporting.

Fortunately, there’s a solution. Over the past decade, multi-location restaurant and franchise owners have increasingly turned to outsourced accounting as a strategic solution to their back-office challenges. Here are a few ways outsourcing your accounting function can benefit your restaurant or franchise business.

Does outsourced accounting make sense for restaurants and franchises?

The short answer is yes, but the reasons and benefits are exhaustive. The top benefit? There are outsourced accounting solutions for every type of owner/operator — whether you are experienced or a first-time owner learning the ropes. Once you have determined the size and scope of the solution you need, you’ll want to make sure your outsourced accounting provider can deliver a range of results, including:

Cost efficiency and continuity

By outsourcing your accounting function, you won’t have to invest dollars and hours into recruiting full-time accounting staff members, especially if you are a first-time owner with limited funds for making back-office hires. What’s more, you can rest assured that necessary accounting and financial reporting work won’t stop if a staff member leaves your business or takes vacation. With an outsourced accounting partner, your critical financial processes will continue seamlessly, leaving you with less headaches and more time to think about running your business.

Industry-specific knowledge and experience

Accounting and reporting rules and processes aren’t one-size-fits all; they differ across industries. Restaurant and franchise accounting can be exceedingly complex, even for the most season owner/operators. From tip reporting to prime cost analysis, you need a professional restaurant CPA who understands the key performance indicators (KPIs) and benchmarks that matter most to your business, particularly if you are part of a corporate franchise group with its own set of rules and reporting guidelines. Outsourced accounting providers with a restaurant- and franchise-specific focus can provide the breadth of knowledge, technical acumen, and experience you need to comply with reporting requirements while growing your business.

Stronger financial controls

Internal controls can go a long way toward protecting your business from risk. Like many busy restaurants, your team is likely juggling overlapping responsibilities — which may be necessary to grow your business but can foster an environment ripe for errors. By outsourcing your accounting function to a trusted third party, you can help ensure separation of duties, create secure audit trails, and implement safeguards against fraud or mismanagement.

How outsourced accounting supports growth and scalability

When choosing an outsourced accounting provider to handle your back office, it’s important to set your sights on firms that can do more than close your books. As you plan for the future of your restaurant or franchise, you should have a professional team that can serve as a true business advisor, and can help you spot and seize growth opportunities.

The right outsourced accounting provider can help you evaluate potential acquisitions, scout new locations, analyze ROI, review debt capacity, and plan for long-term profitability. As your business expands, it’s also essential for your back-office system to scale to meet your evolving needs.

Maintain compliance in a complex environment

Like most restaurant or franchise owners, regulatory compliance is likely one of your top concerns. From multi-state sales tax filings to navigating taxation with third-party delivery platforms, both federal and state tax rules are constantly changing, and it’s important for your business to keep pace. Outsourced accounting providers not only have the resources to keep up with those complexities, but they can also help you track fees, maintain accurate financial reports across sales channels, reduce chargebacks, and reconcile transactions from a variety of different sources — including drive-thru, in-store, apps, and third-party delivery services like DoorDash and Uber Eats.

With your compliance requirements managed and under control, you can gain peace of mind in knowing an outsourced accounting provider has your back office covered. By trusting a professional team to handle your operations, you can focus more intently on leading your team and serving your customers.

Discover Aprio’s Outsourced Accounting Solutions for restaurants and franchises

Whether you’re a franchise owner or you run a family-owned restaurant, Aprio can provide the outsourced accounting, financial reporting, and back-office services you need under one roof. Our restaurant CPAs and business advisors bring together tax planning, compliance, transaction support, and advisory solutions to provide you with a seamless experience.

 Schedule a consultation with our Restaurant, Franchise, and Hospitality team to learn more.