When’s the last time you pulled into a gas station to buy a paper map to find that shortcut to the beach?
Or went to the video store to get your VHS stack for the weekend?
Or stood out in the blazing sun pumping quarters in a pay phone to tell your boss you’ll be late?
Yeah. Times have changed.
We have Google Maps and Waze to automatically find the quickest route.
We can Netflix and chill without ever leaving the couch.
And payphones? We now have computers in our pocket that can simultaneously tell us the weather and make a phone call.
Though “retro” is in nowadays, sometimes being oldschool isn’t a good thing. In the restaurant industry, we seem to struggle to let go of the past.
Here are 3 outdated things that ALL restaurants need to retire TODAY.
Why? Technology has made them as obsolete as the typewriter and a dial-up modem.
#1 – The Paper Invoice Shuffle
You know the drill…
When your daily delivery arrives, the truck driver wheels it in on a dolly… and hands you a piece of crumpled paper… your invoice.
Your receiver signs off… and then the paper trail begins.
First, the invoice gets passed from your receiver to your GM. Your GM reviews it and approves it. Then it goes to the owner or the accountant for payment.
Days… maybe weeks… go by before you need that invoice again to:
- Check if you got that credit on a returned or missing item
- Verify if an item was over-ordered or not
- See if the invoice even got paid
But when you try to find it, it’s a matter of digging through massive stacks of paper…
There’s a stack on the GM’s desk, and a stack on the owner’s or accountant’s desk. Or they’re overflowing out of file cabinets and boxes stacked in the corner.
UGH.
Storing your invoices online means you can keep a running record of what you’ve paid for and when.
So you can stop the dreaded paper invoice shuffle.
NO MORE GUESSTIMATING
Sometimes you need to do a quick price check on an ingredient.
No problem, right?
Wrong.
You realize in the time it’s taking you to dig through your invoice stack… you could have just asked your supplier to resend it.
Most of the time, you give up the hunt and just guesstimate the price.
Which is just like waving goodbye to your hard-earned money.
Storing your invoices online means you find prices in a snap… And can stop the money from draining out of your pockets.
GET BACK HOURS IN YOUR DAY
Time… there never seems to be enough of it.
But you can save HOURS every day by storing your invoices online. It allows you to:
- Easily find items you’ve been overcharged for
- See information about all your suppliers
- Access your invoices whenever you need them
- Review dollar amounts on any of your invoices… in seconds
- See line-item details on each of your invoices
No more hunting through stacks of paper… all the information you need is at your fingertips.
And that saves you hours of time a week. It’s like turning the clock back.
LET EVERYONE IN ON IT
Ever get tired of the paper trail of invoices?
You know how it goes… invoices come in the door and get passed around from your chef… to your accountant… to your manager… to your owner.
It’s a drag.
Storing your invoices online means anyone in your business can access your invoices… whenever they need them.
And that means you can stop the (seemingly endless) paper trail.
#2 – Manual Data Entry & Accounting Processes
The word “accounting” can make even the most seasoned restaurant manager cringe.
After all, no one got into the business because they wanted to do math.
But any effective restaurant manager knows that running a profitable business means devoting attention to accounting details.
- A whopping 73% of operators take the time to review their profit and loss statements
- 75% of operators generate a weekly food and labor cost report
- A staggering 72% of operators take inventory routinely – either weekly or monthly
Knowing your numbers is key to turning a profit, right?
But you can bet these successful restaurant operators aren’t using manual accounting processes to evaluate the health of their businesses.
Nope… they’re taking advantage of accounting technology that lets them automate the entire process.
NO MORE DATA ENTRY
Someone types every line-item from your invoices into a spreadsheet.
It might be your accountant. It might be you.
But apps can do this time-consuming work for you… in much less time.
If you’re using an app to store your invoices online, most likely that app can grab the line-item detail for you.
This eliminates all the data entry related to accounting.
You save hours of time… not to mention you get rid of any errors tired humans might accidentally make.
#3 – Enough With the Inventory Clipboards
Your restaurant’s open, customers are pouring in…
…and you run out of the key ingredient for the day’s special because of an inventory mix-up.
Sure… you wrote down you were running low on your secret ingredient… but your reminder note didn’t make it to the right spreadsheet on the right clipboard.
Your customers are mad. Your servers are scrambling. Your chef is steaming.
Now you’ve not only missed out on sales, but you’ve also jeopardized your reputation.
And all because of a small inventory mishap.
If this situation sounds familiar… it’s time to put down the clipboard.
Head off inventory apocalypses by using technology to revolutionize the entire painful process.
TIME TO COUNT? YOU’LL HAVE TO FIND THE TIME FIRST.
Why count when you can have a machine do it for you?
Counting inventory every week takes time. And time is something you haven’t had since your grand opening.
That’s probably why over 60% of restaurants don’t take an inventory in the first place…
Try using technology that will help you skip the counting process. One that gives you the numbers you need without asking you to sit in the freezer for hours on end.
Find a service that can save you time while saving you money.
PRICE LOOKUPS & COGS AT YOUR FINGERTIPS
Can’t remember how much that head of lettuce costs?
And tired of flipping through sheet after sheet as you attempt to menu plan with costs in mind?
Restaurant apps and software will automatically calculate your Cost of Goods Sold for you – and can show where you’re overpaying.
So instead of having to finger through a week’s worth of invoices…
… it’s all done for you.
And those Cost of Goods Sold and usage reports? 100% accurate.
Conclusion: Old-School Is Out
Outdated pen-and-paper methods of managing a restaurant are obsolete.
They’re old-school… and not in a good way.
The smartphone that sits in our pockets has changed the way everyone does business… there’s just no way manual processes for invoicing or inventory are a viable option anymore.
Still not convinced?
According to the National Restaurant Association, 4 out of 5 restaurant operators agree that technology helps restaurants be more productive and profitable.
So what are you waiting for?
Stop with the outdated processes. You can eliminate them all just by snapping pictures of your invoices with the free Orderly app.
When you snap and share your sales, you can:
- Go paperless with your invoicing
- Automate your reporting
- Calculate your COGS
- And compare your prices to local market pricing
The average restaurant saves 21 management hours and $1,061 per month on these tasks with the Orderly app.
Best way to see how it works? Download the App.