Restaurants & Food Service
Thin margins demand precise tracking. We provide controller-level oversight to separate profitable operations from money pits and build the financial foundation for growth.
The Industry
A busy weekend feels like success. The dining room was packed, the bar was three deep, and the catering order for Saturday went smoothly. Then Monday comes and you realize the food cost ran 38% instead of 30%, the delivery apps took their cut, and overtime pushed labor through the roof. What felt profitable left you scrambling to cover next week’s produce order.
Food service is a cash flow puzzle wrapped in razor-thin margins. Revenue comes through five different channels, each with its own timing and fee structure. Inventory spoils. Staff turnover is constant. The difference between a profitable restaurant and a struggling one often comes down to whether anyone is actually watching the numbers at a detailed level.
Who This Covers
Who This Covers
Full-service restaurants, bars, cafes, catering companies, food trucks, quick-service concepts, and multi-location operators throughout South Florida. Established businesses doing real volume who need more than basic bookkeeping to manage the complexity.
What Makes It Hard
What Makes It Hard
Daily cash handling alongside card transactions and delivery app deposits. Tip reporting and payroll that changes every pay period. Food costs that fluctuate weekly. Alcohol inventory that requires separate tracking. Sales tax rules that differ between food and beverages. And all of it running on margins that leave no room for error.
What We Handle
We provide controller and CFO-level oversight for restaurant operations that have outgrown basic bookkeeping. This means reviewing what your internal staff produces, catching errors before they compound, and delivering financial statements you can actually trust. We focus on the adjusting entries, reconciliations, and monthly close procedures that turn raw transaction data into useful management information.
Beyond the monthly close, we help you understand what the numbers mean. Prime cost analysis, labor efficiency by daypart, and variance reporting that explains why this month looked different from last month. This is the level of financial insight that lets you make decisions based on facts rather than gut feel.
Financial Oversight
Financial Oversight
Monthly review of your books with error correction and adjusting entries. We reconcile bank accounts, credit card deposits, and delivery platform payouts. Prepaids, accruals, and proper expense timing get handled so your P&L reflects reality. Your internal bookkeeper gets guidance on what to fix and how to improve.
Performance Analysis
Performance Analysis
Food cost and labor cost tracked as percentages of revenue. Prime cost monitoring that shows whether you are operating within healthy ranges. Variance commentary that explains what changed and why. KPIs that matter for restaurants, not generic business metrics that miss the point.
Common Problems
The most dangerous issue is not knowing your true costs until months later. Food cost looks fine based on invoices, but without proper inventory adjustments, you miss the waste and theft that erode margins. Labor looks manageable until you factor in overtime that got approved without anyone checking the budget. These problems compound quietly.
Another pattern we see is the restaurant owner who wants to expand but cannot get financing. They walk into the bank with financial statements that have unreconciled balances, miscategorized expenses, and no clear picture of profitability. The lender sees risk instead of opportunity. Growth stalls because the financial foundation was never built properly.
Revenue Leakage
Revenue Leakage
Delivery apps deposit money on different schedules with fees buried in the settlement reports. Cash deposits that do not match register totals. Comps and voids that get lost in the shuffle. Without reconciliation at the transaction level, revenue disappears without anyone noticing.
Tip and Payroll Complexity
Tip and Payroll Complexity
Tip credits, tip pools, and cash versus credit card tip reporting create compliance risk. Overtime calculations get messy with tipped employees. Payroll taxes on tips require precise tracking. Mistakes here lead to DOL issues and IRS penalties that hurt far more than the original error.
What Changes
You start managing by the numbers instead of by intuition. Weekly prime cost reports show whether you are on track or drifting. Monthly financials arrive clean and on time, with commentary that explains the variances. When something goes wrong, you catch it in days rather than discovering it at year-end.
Growth becomes possible because you can prove profitability. Banks and investors see financial statements that reflect a well-run operation. When you are ready to open a second location or expand your catering operation, you have the documentation to support the ask. The financial infrastructure matches your ambition.
Operational Clarity
Operational Clarity
You know which revenue streams actually make money after all costs are allocated. You see labor efficiency by location or daypart. Menu pricing decisions get informed by real margin data. The guesswork goes away and you run the business with confidence.
Growth Readiness
Growth Readiness
Clean financials open doors. Lenders take you seriously. Potential investors see a professional operation. Landlords for that second location want to see your track record. When opportunity arrives, your books are ready to support it instead of standing in the way.
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Next Step:
Let's Talk About Your Business
Tell us about your business and your goals. We'll discuss how Jargo can support your financial operations and growth.