How to choose hospitality accounting software

What is hospitality accounting software?

Put simply, hospitality accounting software is used to run all the various finance elements of a hospitality business. It includes a range of powerful tools and processes that enable better financial management on a day-to-day basis from purchasing and invoicing to outgoings and payroll. A good hospitality accounting software package also supports next level managerial requirements such as accessing real-time data to support decision-making, identifying opportunities to optimise revenue and exercising cost control.

Obviously hospitality is a sector that covers everything from food outlets and restaurants to bars, hotels and pubs – and some hospitality businesses also operate across multiple locations too. The good news is that modern hospitality accounting software is designed to support the finance operations of all of these types of businesses.

Why you need hospitality accounting software

Although it is possible for hospitality businesses to manage using manual and paper-based processes, the fact is that without a more robust financial system in place, it’s easy for mistakes to be made and profitable opportunities missed. It is also more time consuming working manually, plus it only gives siloed views of your information.

What hospitality accounting software does is enable you to improve the efficiency of your finance operations so that you and your staff can spend more time focusing on customers. Hospitality accounting software also helps to run your business more professionally by supporting management decision-making, improving accuracy, introducing automation of key administrative tasks, and helping to manage cashflow and profitability more effectively. You could also connect your finance software to other hospitality systems such as point of sale or purchase to pay and get even more of joined up picture instantly.

The benefits of restaurant and hotel accounting software

It’s no secret that the hospitality sector is having to navigate business uncertainty – and that is especially true for restaurants and hotels – so anything that helps you to be more productive and cost-effective is definitely a positive. There are a number of benefits if you opt for a new restaurant and hotel accounting software solution, all of which can support you from day one. And if you choose accounting software for hospitality that’s available as a cloud-based solution, you’ll save money on IT costs over the longer term too.

Improved profit margins

This can be achieved in multiple ways including (for example) using hospitality accounting software to drill down into the data and see where money can be saved. It is also useful for identifying customer trends and opportunities more easily, controlling stock more tightly and spending less on staff hours used for manual administration tasks.

Improved productivity

Productivity improvements are a tangible benefit of upgrading to hospitality accounting software – and these take effect from the outset. Common processes such as accounts reconciliation, ordering and purchase ledger, and managing late payments are all streamlined. And the best systems will even automate a host of other time-consuming tasks, freeing up your staff to do more to improve the guest experience.

Better real-time reporting

With easy-to-use tools and functionality, you can create customised reports at the click of a mouse. You can also drill down into your finance data to see the underlying detail and gain better insight into how your business is performing. All of this means you’ll achieve much more clarity from a finance perspective.

Improved cash flow management

From room bookings to food and beverages, as well as corporate events or even weddings – it’s common for hotels and restaurants to have multiple revenue streams. Using hospitality accounting software instantly offers a much more detailed insight into the specifics of cash flow, which is the first crucial step towards managing all of these revenue streams better.

Time-saving automation

With the right tools in place, a lot of the traditional role of the Finance administrator can be automated. Not only does that mean fewer working hours spent on basic tasks, it also allows you to free your staff from the more mundane administrative elements of their role and refocus their efforts on to more productive or value-added duties.

The benefits of pub and bar accounting software

Pubs and bars across the hospitality sector continue to face economic challenges and making a profit can seem particularly difficult during times of uncertainty. That’s why finding ways to operate more efficiently and cost-effectively is so important – because every penny counts. Putting in place hospitality accounting software for pubs and bars can make a very real difference, and you could start reaping the benefits straight away.

Simplified management of revenue streams

Pubs and bars can benefit from more streamlined processes which save time and effort but also ensure greater accuracy and visibility of your key financial information. And if you are operating multiple sites, it’s even easier to keep control of budgets and monitor the performance of one site against another.

Improved cash flow management

When margins are tight, stock is expensive and utility bills are high, it’s even more important to keep a tight rein on your cash flow. With hospitality accounting software for bars and restaurants, it’s so much easier to track what cash is coming in and out, and find ways to cut costs, spread out payments and smooth your cash flow.

Tighter control of budgets

With fast and direct access to all the detail, it’s much easier to discover crucial cost savings just when you need them the most. The functionality and tools included in hospitality accounting software can be used to gain unprecedented insight into key areas quickly and easily. You could really delve into stock payment trends for example, or look more closely at wastage perhaps?

5 tips for choosing the right hospitality accounting software for your business

There are a number of options to choose from so making sure you are investing in the hospitality accounting software solution that best supports your business means taking these five key elements into account.

1. Size of your organisation

Consider not just the volume of financial data you need to process and the various revenue streams you have but also the number of sites. If you have multiple locations, you will need to have the facility to pull data in and integrate it into one accounting software package in order to really maximise the benefits.  

2. Cost of the software

Think about not just the up-front costs but also the longer term picture. Hospitality accounting software is available in various permutations which might reflect your current ways of working, however it’s also important to look at what new options are available rather than trying to source a more up-to-date equivalent of what you already have. One of the most common decisions is whether to have an on-site solution or one that’s based in the cloud. The latter can make a big difference to the cost.

3. Customer support

Consider how much support you might need, not only with the implementation of a new hospitality accounting solution, but also looking forwards once you are up and running. Check with the solution providers you are considering what levels of support are available at each stage – especially if you don’t have your own in-house IT resource to call on.

4. Third-party and Access product integrations

If you want your hospitality accounting software to link with other software you are already using, this will impact which solution provider you choose. Some – such as Access for example – can integrate with third party systems and also offer compatible solutions for other areas you might be interested in such as ePOS or purchase to pay for example.

5. The features you need

It’s important to spend some time up front specifying exactly what you want your new solution to do on a day-to-day basis. This is the ideal opportunity to rethink the processes you currently follow as it is likely a new solution will enable the finance function to work in a more efficient and streamlined manner. Also think about key tasks through the year such as audit and management reporting.

Investing in hospitality accounting software

Making any significant change to how your hospitality business is run is obviously a daunting prospect, but it doesn’t have to be difficult if you choose your provider wisely. It’s also appropriate to take into consideration the longer term position as you may discover other compatible software packages that might also benefit your business.

Having worked directly with hospitality businesses for decades, Access is a good example of a technology provider that has multiple solutions that have been specifically designed to bring benefits to hospitality businesses. As well as cloud-based accounting and finance software, Access also offers high-performing solutions for other key areas such as stock control, managing staff, and order management. Connected systems are a great way to really optimise the daily flow of data across different areas of your business and can further improve efficiency, productivity and customer service too.

Ready to embrace the challenge? Find out more about Access hospitality accounting software or book a demo with a hospitality software expert to see the software in action and ask any questions you have.