Controls for Your Restaurant Accounting Software
Any good accountant knows that controls are an integral part of any accounting software system. A control in accounting terms is any process, action, or device that prevents or detects a mistake or intentional error in the accounting cycle.
Most restaurant owners are ambitious and have a good sense of intuition; however, they usually don’t appreciate the idea of internal controls. They see controls as a non-value added activity, an unnecessary evil that simply slows down progress. While it is true that controls can cost money and may be time consuming, it is also true that a good control system can save restaurant’s money, time, and headaches.
The most prominent area for employee theft or mistakes is with the cash. The following are some internal controls that will help keep your restaurant’s cash safe.
(1) Track who is doing what. This means that when an employee signs into the accounting software for the restaurant or into a cash register they have to enter a unique user ID and password. This will allow restaurant owners to see who made what changes. If one of your employees altered the restaurant accounting software so he could take off with some cash, you’ll be able to see it. Similarly if a cash register is missing a bunch of money, restaurant owners can see who was the last employee logged into the machine.
(2) Train employees to only run one transaction at a time. Many POS systems are known to be glitch if more than one transaction is entered in at the same time. In addition, humans are human, and doing two things at once isn’t our specialty.
(3) Make sure the register is always attended. This is a preventive control that prevents both your employees and customers from stealing. Make sure you always have at least one person at the register. In addition, it’s a good idea to have another employee nearby or a camera so that employees won’t be tempted to steal. You would be surprised what people will do when they are in need of money, have the opportunity to take some, and can rationalize away what they are doing.
While it is true that accounting software for restaurants comes with certain controls built in, you’ll want to ensure that you have your own controls in place. You can hire an accounting service or you can ask your accountants for ideas as to what they think might be some good controls. Accountants are trained in implanting controls both in school and in their professional lives. Although controls may seem like a waste of time, more and more small restaurant owners are seeing that they can save time and money with good controls in place.
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