Modern Financial Management Software for Restaurants
By Katie Maw, Percipient
Percipient’s Katie Maw explores how modern financial management software for restaurants can free up time, reduce costly errors, and empower finance leaders with data-driven insights that fuel expansion and long-term profitability.
The UK restaurant sector’s post-pandemic recovery has been one of the toughest across the hospitality sector. Recent budget changes brought increased wage bills, higher business rates, and VAT rises, all adding pressure to already thin margins.
With cost control now a dominant lever for success, restaurants must find more innovative ways to maximise profitability while still delivering an excellent customer experience.
Cost Optimisation
Restaurants are under constant scrutiny across key cost drivers — ingredients, wages, covers, and energy usage. Balancing cash flow with the need to invest in growth means “business as usual” no longer works.
By adopting automated finance systems, restaurants can track every variable in real time, spot inefficiencies, and take corrective action before profits are impacted.
Creating an Automated & Intelligent Operation
Automation and financial consolidation can help restaurants streamline operations, gain real-time insights, and drive sustainable growth. However, automation and financial consolidation are not enough in isolation. Analytics and real-time intelligence, which point to the optimum scenarios for cost control, profitability and service, are integral in this new environment.
Dynamic Planning
From Brexit and the Ukraine war to volatile supply chains and rising labour shortages, raw ingredient costs remain unpredictable. Add evolving tax frameworks and compliance pressures, and it’s clear restaurants need a real-time view of financial performance.
With Sage Intacct, restaurants can:
Track supplier costs and adjust menus based on seasonality
Model “what-if” scenarios for cost control
Make data-driven decisions that protect margins
Tailored dashboards and reports put finance leaders in control, allowing for adjustments that can be made
Simon Rogan’s Story
With 15 different sites, a £10 million turnover, and ambitions to expand further, Simon Rogan-led Umbel Group is an excellent example of a restaurant business embracing digital to achieve the optimum balance across cost control, the customer experience and profitability, as Financial Director Chris Gallagher-York explains:
“One bad decision or oversight can wreck a week’s figures, so daily check-ins, supported by weekly meetings are imperative in maintaining focus and keeping everything on track. In a restaurant for example, a small surplus of fresh ingredients, or over-staffing by one, can quickly offset profit levels, and if not adjusted, this can become a trend which poses real risk to performance."
“The granularity Sage Intacct gives us ensures we’re on top of every aspect of every operation and entity at every moment. Entry-level systems such as Xero or Quickbooks simply don’t offer this capability and control over the numbers. Ultimately, we can pull out and review three and a half years of data in just five minutes, something which prior to using Sage Intacct, would have been impossible. It’s so easy to get information in and out of it, it really has become part of the DNA and driving force of our business.”
A Pivotal Moment in Hospitality
Restauranteurs have always been subject to volatility and challenges around cost control, but today’s environment really amplifies the impact of these.
The hospitality industry is pinning its hopes on a brighter budget this Autumn. But in the meantime, prioritising effective, dynamic and intelligent financial management is key to stemming costs. Representing the difference between making a profit or a loss, those at the forefront of digital transformation are inevitably in a stronger position to pursue growth irrespective of the measures likely to be outlined in the months ahead.
In managing cashflow and investing proportionately in growth, platforms such as Sage Intacct can help squeeze maximum profit from a complex mix of variables and deliver sustainable growth against a backdrop of hostile dynamics.
Take Control of Your Restaurant’s Finances
Whether you’re running a single restaurant or a growing hospitality group, modern cloud financial software like Sage Intacct gives you the tools to thrive in today’s challenging market.
Contact Percipient today on 01606 871332 or request a free consultation and discover how Sage Intacct can help you build a smarter restaurant.