Beth Anne Bookkeeping

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Restaurant Accounting Tips During COVID19

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COVID19 IS HERE. The government has basically shut down most restaurants and businesses in the United States.

Some restaurants are allowed to stay open as long as they do takeout only. Some states have even allowed restaurants to sell alcoholic drinks to go. (never thought I’d see that become a thing)

So what are some things you need to know during this time as a Restaurant Owner?

My friend Kristen made a great set of videos I am going to post below with a summary. Her first video is all about the finances and money things.

Here is a summary of her video:

  1. Sounds simple but you need to know how much cash you have available to you.
  2. You need to know what inventory you have on hand right now. Stop reading this and go take an inventory count and come back.
  3. You need to know who you owe money to vendor wise and employee wise
  4. Figure out what vendors you must pay whether you stay open or not (utilities, rent, mortgage, etc.)

Are you going to be participating in a To-Go/Delivery Program but you have never done much of this in the past? Below is a great breakdown Kristen did in setting this system up.

Here is a summary of this video:

  1. Make it Simple – Not everything on your menu will be good an hour or two after it has been made. Find the items on your menu that will do well and only offer a few items.
  2. To Go containers are like GOLD – Find the best togo containers for your food that you can afford.
  3. To Go Doesn’t mean To Home – While most customers will be taking their to go orders home some may be going to a nearby park or beach to eat it at a Social Distance from others.
  4. Think Outside the Box – Sell obscure things you are known for. Rubs, sauces, chocolate dipped ice cream cones, giftcards, and retail.
  5. Help Them Help You – Your customers want to help you and are worried about you.

This last video is all about Surviving the Wild

If you are a restaurant that has decided not to do TO-GO/Delivery and has closed I totally understand sometimes that is easier. But I have a few ideas of things you can work on during this time of closure.

  1. Catch-up on paperwork. (I know not very glamorous but you know it needs to be done)
  2. Clean up the restaurant. When was the last time the restaurant had a deep clean? Now is a great time to make sure all that gets done.
  3. Do any repairs/upgrades you have been putting off. Now is a great time to do all those repairs and upgrades that you didn’t want to shut the restaurant down to do. Since you can’t be opened now might as well do them.
  4. Get caught up on all your Bookkeeping. Have all your accounts been reconciled? Are all your bills up to date? Is everything for 2019 in Quickbooks/Xero? Sit down and send all the information your CPA needs to do your taxes to them.

If you have any questions about your Restaurant Bookkeeping I’d be happy to get on a short call with you to review your books, answer any questions you have about bookkeeping and restaurant finances.

How to Record a Vehicle Purchase in Quickbooks

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There are two parts to purchasing any vehicle. The first part is recording the asset and the second part is recording the liability (if there is a loan on the vehicle).

If there is no loan and the vehicle was purchased in cash then you can skip the second part.

A Fixed Asset is anything purchased for long-term use (usually anything that will last more than a year). This is usually equipment, machinery, land and cars.

To properly record purchased vehicle or any other fixed asset, follow the steps provided below:

I. Creating a Fixed Asset Account for Vehicles

  1. Go to Chart of Accounts
  2. Click on New
  3. Select Fixed Assets from the categories provided.
  4. Enter the name and description for the account
  5. Select the Detail Type

II. Adding the Purchased Vehicle

To record the purchase of the vehicle, simply record a purchase and link it to the Fixed Asset Account that you created by following the steps provided above.

III. Setting Up Liability Account

A purchase of a fixed asset may come with associated liabilities like loans and EMI payments. To properly record the entire transaction, the user must enter and track the liability. The liability account will be a Long Term Liability Account. To set up such an account, follow these steps:

  1. Go to the Chart of Accounts
  2. Select New.
  3. Click on Long Term Liability from the provided options and click on Next
  4. Enter the details for the account such as name
  5. Click on Save

At this point, you should leave Unpaid Balance field blank as we’ll be handling that later and note that we are still not yet done with “how to record a vehicle purchase in QuickBooks”. Here we need to pass the loan entry

To record the loan amount, follow the steps provided below:

  1. Click on the Create Button
  2. Select Journal Entry
  3. Click on the Account Dropdown options and Select Liability Account
  4. Enter the total amount for the loan on the Credit side
  5. Select the Asset Account that you want the loan amount to be linked with
  6. Enter loan amount again but this time on the Debit side

You should also record every payment made for the loan. This can be done by entering checks and linking them to the loan.

Let me know if you have any questions or would like a video to go with this in the comments.

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