The Best Methods for Controlling the Cash Flow in Your Restaurant
As you plan your food service business, you will face tasks such as designing the layout, stocking the kitchen and planning a menu. All of this is vital to the success of your restaurant. What you may not think of during this time is the financial aspect that goes beyond income and expenses. Many new restaurants encounter problems with money because they have do not have plans for controlling the cash flow. This is the money that will come in, and go out, throughout the day. It is imperative that you establish a method for controlling the cash flow in your restaurant in order to be successful.
Establish Cash Handling Policies
The first thing you need to do is establish your cash handling policies
. You want to be clear and concise with how the cash and credit card transactions are going to be handled by your employees. This should include any transaction your employee is likely to encounter including refunds, pay outs to vendors, taking payment and even mistakes that are made. The stricter you are with your policies, the easier it will be when your employees face an unexpected transaction.
Accountability Forms
As a part of your policies, you want to provide proper accountability forms for your employees to fill out and sign with each different transaction. There should be a form that is filled out when you have to give a refund to a customer and one that is completed whenever there is a mistake made handling cash or credit cards. There should also be a form for when cash must be paid out to vendors when they make a delivery. At the beginning and end of each shift, the manager should go over the money that is in the drawer with each employee and complete a form that the employee will sign. The proper forms will play a vital role in helping you control your cash flow.
Keep Logs
Logging the money is also integral to controlling the cash flow of your business. You will want to log the cash and credit that comes into your business each day. It is also important to keep a log of any money that goes out of your business each day. Knowing what you are earning and what you are spending will help you keep track of how much you should be depositing in the bank.
Set up Procedures
One way to control the cash and prevent problems is to set up regular procedures for how you will handle your money each day. There should be at least one deposit being placed into the safe during each shift to prevent the drawers from holding too much money. At the end of each day, the manager should record the amounts and make a deposit to the bank with all of the cash made that day. The amounts in the drawer must match the POS system records and if not there should be valid reasons for any discrepancies. The manager should follow up on each deposit with the bank to ensure that it was credited properly and is in the account as planned.
Avoid Theft
Many food service business owners find themselves the victims of theft, whether it be from an outside source or from an employee. The best way to prevent this from happening is to establish a method to control the cash flow to make sure that each employee adheres strictly to your restaurant's policies.
Having adequate and precise methods of controlling the cash flow in your restaurant can save you a lot of money overall and make your restaurant a successful business. If you know how much is coming in and how much is going out and where it's going to, you will have a better chance at success. Remember running a successful restaurant requires that you have your hands into everything that takes place in your restaurant, not only the pots and pans.