Restaurant Cash Control: 3 Tools

Managing restaurant cash control is just as important as it can be challenging — at least, it used to be. Fortunately, technology is now a great ally in this task.

If you still need a little help, rest easy and check out our tips on three types of tools to make financial management easier do seu estabelecimento.

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What restaurant cash control is

Cash control is the record of all the money that comes in and goes out each day. Ou seja: é a prática de anotar tudo que o restaurante ganha (com venda de alimentos, bebidas e outros produtos) e tudo que gasta (com ingredientes, materiais, entre outros) em um dia.

This work is usually the responsibility of the finance or administrative department and exists so that the restaurant's management has a clear, easy-to-grasp picture of the financial health of the business.

Benefits of cash control

But why should you go to all the trouble of doing daily cash control at your restaurant? The answer is simple: to run efficiently and avoid losing money.

It's through daily cash control that an establishment discovers its main sources of revenue, what its biggest expenses are and how much budget there is to invest.

This way you can find out which is the star dish of your restaurant and which ones bring no profit. That lets you adjust the menu and improve sales results. It also becomes simpler to spot costs that can be optimized or even cut.

On top of that, this information helps you see whether your business is ending its days in the black or in the red — and, in doing so, speeds up the process of fixing problems and anticipating crises. It also lets you identify any fraud or errors in the cash flow.

3 tools for restaurant cash control

Because it's so important, restaurant cash control can't be done slowly, much less inconsistently. Possible mistakes or slip-ups, in this case, can make you lose money or miss out on earning it.

The good news is that there are several tools that can help you here. From simple spreadsheets to complete systems, there's an ideal solution for your needs.

Check out below three of the main types of tools for restaurant cash control.

Spreadsheets

The first tip is an old acquaintance of administrators and managers that, despite looking obsolete, can still be useful for restaurants running a smaller operation and/or low financial volume.

Spreadsheets can be quite useful for simple calculations and records of item sales and purchases. No entanto, um lado negativo de optar por uma planilha é a falta de facilidade de acesso e, além disso, não ter a capacidade de automatizar a entrada dos dados.

Apps for smartphones and tablets

A step up from spreadsheets are the mobile apps built specifically for cash control. There's a wide variety of them on the market, both paid and free, designed to make it easier to track a restaurant's day-to-day financial movements.

One advantage of this type of tool is its ease of access and mobility of use, since all you need is a smartphone or tablet to handle cash control. That even allows more than one person to be responsible for this task.

However, apps also come with the difficulty of integrating information from different areas of the restaurant (such as the point of sale, kitchen, inventory, etc.) and automating the calculations needed for fast, easy cash control.

Leia também: TEF and POS: learn the differences and how to choose

ERP system

ERP is an acronym for Enterprise Resource Planning, which literally means planning the company's resources. As the name itself indicates, this type of system is more complete and helps not only with cash control, but with a range of activities in a restaurant.

When it comes to financial control, it lets you integrate data from several areas of the establishment and automate the entry of data/amounts and the cash control calculation itself.

This brings more agility and also frees up more of your time to take care of other demands of your business.

Cash control through a management and business automation system

There's still a way to take the ERP one level higher: just get a management and business automation system, like EPOC.

This type of solution lets you not only use an ERP but also integrate it with a POS, controle de estoque, digital menu and even payment via the smartphones of your customers.

To see how this type of tool can bring more agility and profit to your restaurant, just click here and talk to one of our specialists!

Frequently Asked Questions

What is restaurant cash control?

Cash control is the record of all the money that comes in and goes out each day. In other words: it's the practice of writing down everything the restaurant earns (from selling food, drinks and other products) and everything it spends (on ingredients, supplies, among others) in a single day.

What are the benefits of cash control?

It's through daily cash control that an establishment finds out what its main sources of revenue are, what its biggest expenses are and how much budget there is to invest.

On top of that, this information helps you see whether your business is ending its days in the black or in the red.

Which tools should you use for cash control?

There are several tools for cash control. The three main ones are:

– Spreadsheets;
– Apps for smartphones and tablets;
– ERP system.