Development of Restaurant Accounting Systems
Now the Automation System for the work of a restaurant, bar and cafe is a necessary requirement for the competitiveness of the entire business. Without special programs, it is extremely difficult to organize control over the work of personnel, push up sales, and costs will constantly escalate. All processes that take place in the facility shall be monitored. It is important to combine the activities of the kitchen, hall, warehouse and cash register in one software, as well as take into account the possibility of conducting accounting there. Installing the software will make life easier for the employees and the management.
What Tasks are Solved by the Restaurant Business Automation Systems
Such software allows employees to manage sales, make changes related to customers:
● accept the order;
● settle up;
● issue a receipt for the service received.
If the bar is also automated, then the process of making a drink will be placed in the program. Using the software, you can control:
● marketing – to make a discount on a meal solution or a check, conduct promotions;
● logistics – order products, track their location;
● accounting – it is convenient to keep all the necessary records when the staff constantly punch checks and specifies when certain products have ended.
Simple software significantly increases operational efficiency and quality with which employees serve visitors. And also makes it available to control everything that happens on the territory of the facility.
What Tasks does Automation Affect
It is realistic to optimize every stage that a client goes through within the walls of a cafe or other catering facility.
Hall
The goal of the staff here is to accept the order and add it to the database. There is a terminal at the bar counter for this purpose but where a sufficient budget is available, business owners can distribute palmtop computers or tablets. This is a profitable solution, since the percentage of errors is minimized and the data transfer rate will increase.
Everything that the waiter has entered into the card and saved, goes to the kitchen or to the bar, depending on the content of the order. The computer-assisted restaurant management system speeds up the process, eliminates mistakes and the human factor.
Kitchen
The chef and his assistants receive an order and start to cook it. The ordered item will either be backlighted on a special display, or it will be printed and placed in a prominent location. This eliminates the problem when the waiter handed over the entire list of dishes that the visitor wants, but they forgot to cook one of them.
If the list hangs until the end of cooking, then the staff will not miss anything. Once the tray has been removed, it is possible to remove the paper or order on the display using the keyboard. It should be closed by the person who was engaged in the cooking because he is confident that the task has been finished.
Bar
Everything happens on the analogy with the kitchen. The bartender’s task is to make what is required as quickly as possible and hand it over to the waiter. In order to prevent theft and fraud at the counter, it is necessary to introduce automation – the system will significantly reduce the risks. You can introduce the filling controller, which will not allow to pour less than is intended.
Cashdesk
When the visitor has eaten and drunk all the items, an estimate is brought. This is a paper on which a detailed list of ordered items is recorded specifying the volume and amount for each item. It is provided for informational purposes – to clarify how much he shall pay. Then the client chooses a convenient payment method and deposits money. Then he is given a fiscal check, drawn up right all rights.
Warehouse
Restaurant accounting automation necessarily affects everything in the store. Incoming products and raw materials are registered in the system, as well as all their movements within the cafe. They are driven into the program at the time of acceptance using the terminal for data collection. From it, the information goes to the general database.
When a cook needs cabbage, red fish or other product, they will be transferred to the kitchen. After closing the check, the ingredients are deducted from the balance in the amount that will be indicated in the calculation card. This indicator depends on the standard number of components with the possibility of adjustment.
Accounting Department
What is happening within the walls of the facility is transferred to the back office; it looks like reporting that needs to be analyzed. Based on the data received, the accountant runs payroll calculations. He will also send reports to the tax office and perform other employment duties.
Management
Management is necessary to analyze the activities of the enterprise. It allows you to track the effectiveness of any employee, control the benefits that the company receives from his or her work. You can also check the overall performance of the firm.
Customer Service
A previously thought-out idea of rewarding cafe guests. With its help, it becomes possible to make discounts for regular visitors, reserve a favorite place in advance, deliver finished products around the city and suburbs. It’s important to calculate the chain so that people want to come back.
Interaction with other Systems
Most of the equipment intended to optimize the operation of the business integrates successfully with other applications and software. You can customize the program for an individual facility, if necessary.
What is Required for the Successful Functioning of the Restaurant System
● Tablet/ handheld computer for each employee – it is better to have several spare ones, this will help to avoid paralyzing the employee’s work in case the device falls and becomes faulty.
● Terminal – in small businesses there are two of them, one for the waiters, the other for the bar.
● Thermal printer – you will need it to print an estimate, bring the list of items for cooking to the kitchen.
● Terminal for data collection – it accelerates acceptance, instantly makes changes to the database in case of rejection of balances or completion of the recalculation operation.
● The server where the information will be stored.
● Computers for accounting, management and manager.
● Display for kitchen, keyboard.
● Cash drawer.
What are the Benefits of Developing a Customized Accounting System
Firms often acquire the best-known program that fits into the budget. They do this because they do not understand what they need, and the manufacturing company sounds familiar. As a result, they overpay for a product that does not suit them – necessary tabs, buttons are not available, the menu is just poorly adapted for use or there are no important parts at all.
Our company offers the development of Individual Systems, ideally suited to a specific customer. Before starting the development, serious preparatory work is carried out including a detailed study of the customer’s needs, the development of technical specifications and the coordination of all important details of the future product. Upon completion of the development, the customer receives a unique software tool for managing his catering facility, which can be further modernized.
Cost and Terms of Individual Development
As with the development of any other software product, the cost and timing are highly dependent on the functions being implemented and their complexity. On average, it takes about 3 months to develop a restaurant system. The cost of the system will range from 10.000 to 50.000 USD. In some cases, when developing systems for large catering businesses with complex functionality, the development time can increase up to 6-8 months, and the cost can rise to 100.000 – 180.000 USD.