Stay On Top Of Your Books In The Hospitality And Retail Sectors
Anybody who owns or manages a hospitality or retail business knows how hard it is to stay on top of things like staffing, stock and payment systems — you’re always so busy just keeping the business ticking over. In the following, we highlight the accounting software tools that are available to lighten your load, keeping your books up-to-date and transparent with very little effort on your part.
Accounting Software
The most common issue we encounter with hospitality and retail clients is that there is very little reporting on stock, staff, and profit and loss statements. Rather, business owners and managers in these sectors tend to look at their bank account, and that’s it. This means there is a lack of management of cash flow, which can lead to big issues at tax time, not to mention running out of stock or being under-staffed.
The solution to the above is as easy as investing in an accounting software system, such as Xero, MYOB or Quickbooks. Each system can generate reports on staffing, stock, and payments, and reconcile your books automatically. These systems allow small businesses to keep up-to-date with what’s coming in and going out in real time, giving owners and managers the ability to make informed decisions about staff, stock, and expenditure.
Payment Systems
On top of the above accounting software, there is a range of plugins available that provide specialised oversight and automation of separate aspects of the retail and hospitality sector.
One such plugin is Tyro , which we highly recommend for payments, due to its simplicity and competitive pricing and its ability to integrate with your payment system.
Tyro provides both hospitality and retail businesses with tailored and flexible solutions that recognise the specific needs and variations of each sector. For example, Tyro caters for everything from cafes to bars, to accommodation and retail liquor outlets within the hospitality industry. In terms of retail, Tyro is flexible enough to provide payment solutions to any kind of business, whether it’s a service such as hairdressing, a food store, or a fashion outlet.
Point of Sale
There are a number of other point of sale (POS) systems on the market, many of which target specific industries. Of these, there are three that we would recommend in particular, given their state-of-the-art features, flexibility and integration capabilities.
For retail businesses, we’d encourage you to take a look at Vend. This solution prides itself on being a comprehensive POS system that combines highly advanced technology with ease-of-use. To give you an idea of Vend’s capabilities, here are just two its standout features:
- Sign in from anywhere at any time: Vend is based in the cloud, so you can sign in and work from anywhere on the globe, easily accessing your sales data, products and reports, even when you’re on your well-earned holiday!
- Keep selling when the internet goes down: Vend continues to work even when it’s offline and re-syncs your data as soon as the internet comes back on, so you’re never faced with losing a sale or the uncomfortable situation of having to turn customers away.
For hospitality businesses, there are two POS systems that we think offer excellent features and flexibility for cafes, bars, restaurants, accommodation and all things in between. These are:
- Kounta : A one-stop shop for everything POS for hospitality businesses, featuring the ability for you to customise the system to your exact needs, down to the most minute detail.
- Square : Not only was Square one of the first POS systems to accept chip and cardless payments, it comes with the free Square POS App that gives you the tools to run every aspect of your hospitality business through your payment software.
If you have any questions about the software solutions mentioned above please get in touch with us at 360 Accounting. We have worked with small businesses in the hospitality and retail space for years and understand your unique challenges.
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