Hi
We have had a query from a new start up restaurant who wants to know approx time for bookkeeping per month?
I've not yet this type of client so don't know how much time to estimate. Can anyone help?
Also would you just code the total takings per day as one line?
Thanks in advance
Hi Nadia I would go in with an hourly rate as each restaurant is different and its easy to get very wrong unless you do a lot of quizzing as what there plans are. There are often lots of issues with such businesses - control of cash (you need to get them on a very good system from day one that is easy for them to follow, but gives you what you need to process everything), VAT registration and them understanding what then charge VAT on and what not to - not straight forward in the food industry to someone who has no knowledge (them I mean, not you!), not losing invoices ( a common one given they usually are cash rather than account ones and they use them to check the stock in.......and then they seem to vanish!) plus wages (often the type of client where staff move a lot ) and tips needs to be sorted so they pay the tax on such (you will need to st up a TRONC scheme).
I would suggest you code the takings to reflect the possible likely future reporting demands of the business and to allow for when they are VAT registered (if not from the start) so even if you split it into say the following:- 1) Food 2) drink 2) Tips 3) sales of vouchers 4) redemption of vouchers
plus till differences ( another potential issue for you)
If you can - make sure they have a great till system which provides all the detail you need on 'z ' reports.
Bear in mind also - that some of the cash till takings will be used by the staff to go and buy whatever they need for front and back of house - stamps/coffee/taramarind paste or whatever when the chef runs out and needs it to finish one of his dishes off......so build that itnto your daily cash/till takings handover sheets.
HTH as a starter. Good luck. You might need a bag full of patience to start with.
-- Edited by Cheshire on Tuesday 9th of August 2016 09:14:37 PM
__________________
Joanne
Winner of Bookkeeper of the Year 2015, 2016 & 2017
Thoughts are my own/not to be regarded as official advice,which should be sought from a suitably qualified Accountant.
You should check out answers with reference to the legal position
Hi again
Just realised you asked for approximate TIME, I read it as rate (clearly not reading it properly).
But this is still hard without knowing things such as number of times open/how many covers/how many staff/one shift or two of kitchen staff/projections/experience/processes already set up/systems they will be using and levels of automation and a whole lot more. Plus what you do on day one should really be a lot less than say 12months time, depending on their success (or not). I would suggest you find out as much as you can about all of this, perhaps re-post with some more info if you wish, but go in with a month one set up time (to do the systems, including your software/VAT/TRONC/payroll) plus the estimate the bookkeeping between two sets of hours, building in some flex to allow for issues/growth dependent on the answers to the above. Ive looked after one that really needed a bookkeeper 2-3 days per week (totally disorganised/3 outlets) and a cafe that took just a few hours per month.
__________________
Joanne
Winner of Bookkeeper of the Year 2015, 2016 & 2017
Thoughts are my own/not to be regarded as official advice,which should be sought from a suitably qualified Accountant.
You should check out answers with reference to the legal position
Thank you so much
He is considering registering for VAT from the start.
Regarding bookkeeping, he is asking to provide an estimate of how long it will take per month so he has an estimate.
Thank you so much He is considering registering for VAT from the start. Regarding bookkeeping, he is asking to provide an estimate of how long it will take per month so he has an estimate.
Yeah - sorry, I spotted this after my first post! Ive added another comment - not sure if you have seen it (might have been whilst you were typing!)
__________________
Joanne
Winner of Bookkeeper of the Year 2015, 2016 & 2017
Thoughts are my own/not to be regarded as official advice,which should be sought from a suitably qualified Accountant.
You should check out answers with reference to the legal position
Thank you so much He is considering registering for VAT from the start.
Worth getting him to re-consider this. He will have a LOT of VAT to pay (on most if not all sales - worth checking out the rules around food sales just in case he does takeaway cold as well as hot stuff), but very little to re-claim as most of his invoices will be zero rated VAT (food purchases). If he leaves it until his t/o is to the registration limit then he can still claim pre-reg VAT subject to the usual conditions, which is where he is probably coming from as he will do a fit out which might have some VAT). Worth doing a numbers check there.
HTH
__________________
Joanne
Winner of Bookkeeper of the Year 2015, 2016 & 2017
Thoughts are my own/not to be regarded as official advice,which should be sought from a suitably qualified Accountant.
You should check out answers with reference to the legal position
Basically,
It will all be takeaway food to star with as it will be a gourmet food truck. Plan is once he is generating enough income he will also buy a permanent location eg restaurant.
He is confident that be will do well as he has managed to secure a few prime locations in the city which are busy and hot spot for food.
Reason why he is considering registering for VAT is he has already purchased a truck which he has fitted out. Costs are reasonable high hence the thought of registering for VAT
Basically, It will all be takeaway food to star with as it will be a gourmet food truck. Plan is once he is generating enough income he will also buy a permanent location eg restaurant. He is confident that be will do well as he has managed to secure a few prime locations in the city which are busy and hot spot for food.
Hi Nadia
this one will be much quicker to process each month, maybe just an hour a weeks worth, plus payroll. Although that excludes initial set up and would depend on what system they use for sales, given the complexities of the VAT. So quiz his understanding of it and check to see if he has a good till that can be configured to work it out based and produce the correct info on the a readings. Ie he need to be able to put in what was actually purchased rather than having just keys for hit and cold food etc.
__________________
Joanne
Winner of Bookkeeper of the Year 2015, 2016 & 2017
Thoughts are my own/not to be regarded as official advice,which should be sought from a suitably qualified Accountant.
You should check out answers with reference to the legal position
