The Modern Restaurant Tech Landscape
For a long time, the restaurant industry lagged other sectors in adopting new technology. Many businesses relied on outdated legacy systems that were difficult to integrate and required costly developer intervention for even simple changes.
However, over the last decade, the landscape has rapidly evolved. Today, modern platforms and software have made it easier to integrate different systems, allowing for a more cohesive and efficient operation. This shift has unlocked the ability to connect various reporting tools that previously operated in silos. For example, syncing a Point of Sale (POS) system with payroll software is now more achievable. This integration is crucial because it allows operators to track a vital metric: spend per labor hour.
This metric is particularly valuable for complex, high-volume, or fine-dining operations where labor costs are a significant expense. By understanding exactly how much they spend on labor for every hour of service, managers can make informed decisions about staffing levels during peak and slow periods, ensuring they’re not overspending or understaffing. This ability to optimize their most expensive resource is a game-changer for protecting margins.
Automation’s Last Frontier: Restaurant Finance
While POS, inventory, and scheduling systems have embraced automation, the financial side of the business has remained a “last frontier.” This is where many of the biggest pain points and challenges for hospitality clients lie, as they often struggle to get all the different pieces of their financial reporting to fit together. Clients often come to us with questions like, “How do I get my bank reconciliations done efficiently?” or “How can I get an accurate P&L statement?”
This is why Paperchase’s approach to automation is so critical. We use powerful tools like Restaurant365 and QuickBooks, along with our own proprietary macros, to automate financial processes. This not only handles the heavy lifting of data entry and processing but also provides clients with a clear, real-time financial P&L dashboard.
Paperchase can optimize your hospitality operation with day-to-day bookkeeping and accounting service. Learn how here.
Paperchase’s P&L dashboard provides an automated, yet expert-driven approach to move your business beyond simple bookkeeping to what we call the Strategic Finance Office (SFO) concept. From here, operators are able to get a full view of their finances. Instead of just managing day-to-day transactions, the finance team can now use accurate, up-to-date data to provide strategic insights. This empowers a new level of financial management, allowing owners and chefs to focus on what they do best: running their business and enhancing the client experience.
Paperchase’s Human Touch
While automation is a powerful tool, it can’t be a “set-it-and-forget-it” solution. This is especially true for a critical process like financial reconciliation, the process of comparing internal financial records with external statements. Without reconciliation, your data can be inaccurate or inconsistent.
Automated systems can catch many errors, but they can’t replace the critical eye of an expert. A dedicated account manager can spot anomalies and catch mistakes that automation might miss, preventing costly problems like late vendor payments or overdraft fees. For a multi-location operator, this human oversight is the difference between a minor hiccup and a widespread financial problem. Most restaurants have multiple revenue streams (e.g., bar, table service, online ordering, and sometimes e-commerce). Managing these specific centers requires precise technology.
At Paperchase, our human expertise and oversight are the critical layer on top of our technology. We combine the efficiency of automation with the judgment and strategic thinking of our seasoned professionals, ensuring accuracy and empowering our clients to make smarter business decisions.
Conclusion
A thoughtful automation strategy, combined with expert human oversight, is the key to unlocking new levels of profitability in the modern hospitality industry. While technology can provide the tools, the human element is what ensures financial accuracy and empowers smarter business decisions.
