Free up time
In an ideal world, all staff in a hospitality business would be spending time on activities which enhanced profit all the time. But it’s not an ideal world, and there are often jobs which staff members can’t do because they are busy with other tasks. You might want to run a Google advertising campaign, for example, but find that all administration staff are too busy manually processing refunds or special offers. If a piece of finance or accountancy kit could do those operational tasks instead, staff could focus on those more profit-heavy activities.
Chase late payments
One of the challenges facing leaders in the hospitality industry in particular is that the typical cash flow is perhaps one of the most difficult of any industry. Items often have to be paid for early, and the revenue doesn’t come until much later. For example, leases on hotel or restaurant buildings have to be taken out well before the first paying guests come in.
Using debt to fund this sort of upfront payment can go some of the way towards managing the issue. But it also requires on-time payments from clients. By using finance software to remind finance team members when invoices become overdue or when a client’s payment method has bounced, you’ll be able to ensure that your profits aren’t affected by unpaid or late invoices.
Avoiding fines
For most firms, the risk of fines eating into profits isn’t a big one. This is especially for hospitality businesses, which – with the possible exception of food safety – don’t face many pressing compliance challenges. But with 2019 heralding a lot of regulatory changes, it’s more important than ever to be sure that you’re operating legally no matter what sector you’re in. The main change this year is the introduction of Making Tax Digital, which means that any hospitality – or other – firm which is VAT-paying will need to submit their VAT return via a software package which integrates with HMRC’s APIs and transmits information without error. If you don’t have a cutting edge finance software package, then, now’s the time to get one.
Increasing profits is a key goal for any business, and hospitality businesses are no exception. Finance software is essential in this regard. Whether it’s finding an easier way to chase payments or making sure that avoidable fines don’t eat into your profits, finance software can be a godsend for businesses operating in what can often be a very tough sector.
Worried about how your profit margins are looking? Find out here how a hospitality business can turn its fortunes around by using The Access Group’s software.