Running a pub or club can be rewarding, but as an owner, you know it requires commitment – especially during peak seasons! During busy periods, pub and club owners often find it difficult to keep records. Tiresome as it may sound but these important admin tasks cannot be neglected. Why don’t you start setting up a reliable system to make keeping books up to date easier? Here are some tips.

Cashies

If you book live entertainment, make sure you issue receipts or keep invoices as payments as these are often made in cash. Have the receipts signed to acknowledge the fee for a clear audit trail as well. Remember that cash takings must be recorded carefully too! Use separate sales codes on Xero for various transaction types for easier reconciliation of cash takings.

Separate dry and wet sales

Another good practice is to separate dry and wet sales. Your accounting will be a lot clearer if tills are set up to differentiate food and drinks. Keeping an eye on gross profits and margins will be easier when different income streams are specifically coded. Don’t forget to factor in other forms of income such as vending machines or overnight room bookings.

If you have different moving parts in the business, separate them into units, which could be any of the following: Dining (such as the restaurant or café), bar, events hire, accommodation, and gaming. Organise your accounting or bookkeeping system to be structured under each business unit and use accounting software to record bulk sales and purchases to have a tracking system. The profit & loss statements and performance reports must be separate for each unit, so you can monitor the performance of each one accurately.

Depreciation accounting

Have your accountant produce a report that shows all assets purchased for each business unit and the total depreciated amount for the assets to understand the costs involved with the purchases, so you know which ones have already been deducted or are yet to be deducted.

Payroll processing

It’s important to keep all employees on the payroll, including casual staff. Even temporary waiting or bar staff must be in your payroll scheme. If you pay them in cash, ask them to sign a receipt and keep these copies as well.

Control your stock

Control your stock diligently as margins in the hospitality industry can be slim. Know what’s selling well and where you need to make changes. File away credit notes for short deliveries or breakages and most importantly, split private and business expenses clearly!

Make sure you’re reviewing the performance of the business each month, so you don’t miss on identifying any opportunities to improve it. At Outside, we can help you do all these, so you can better manage your business finances and just have fun at the bar. Let’s put a plan together today! Give us a ring and we’ll get you all set up in no time.

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