When it comes to running a restaurant knowing your COGS, overall sales and gross profit is a big part of the daily responsibility. But getting to the end figures (and ones that you can safely share with your stakeholders) isn’t always easy.
From missing data, to incomplete stocktakes and discrepancies between actual and theoretical COGS, we know how hard it is to find accurate, reliable data that truly represents how your business is operating.
This is where accounting software can often help.
What is Sage accounting software?
Sage is a well-established accounting software used by many businesses to keep control of the financials of a business. It provides features to process and manage everything from invoicing, to cash flow, tax, payments and more, as well as operational aspects like payroll and holiday approvals.
Sage has various “products” which are offered depending on the size and complexity of a business, but they primarily serve small and medium businesses, as well as accountancy firms.
Is Sage the same as Xero?
Most businesses choose to employ a single accountancy solution to help manage their finances, in which case you would only need Sage or Xero - not both. They each offer many of the same capabilities and feature sets, with Sage being slightly more established for medium-sized enterprises. Xero is considered easy to set up and run, offering a free trial and a simple pricing structure that’s visible on their website (with Sage, pricing is only available on request).
Overall, both are good accountancy solutions that let you stay on top of your business’ expenses and cash flow.
How does Sage work for restaurants?
Sage offers various features which restaurant owners and managers can use to support daily operations and generate accurate management accounts. We’ve found that Sage is easy to use, so if you’re a general manager rather than a registered accountant you should still be able to operate Sage easily to get to the information you need.
Some of the features Sage offers which are particularly useful to restaurant owners include:
Cost control
Sage lets you see and manage bills and overheads in your restaurant. From what you pay out on labour, to the cost of utility bills and products ordered, it’s a clearcut way to see profit and loss across the business.
Cloud-based access
Sage is a cloud-based platform which means that all of the information is stored in the cloud, and is therefore accessible from anywhere. This is useful for restaurants where managers may need to access reporting on-the-go, and also from various restaurant locations.
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Daily reports
Sage allows restaurant managers to generate reports that help with the day-to-day running of a department, or the overall business. For example, having instant access to dashboards that illustrate data like total sales, cost of sales, operating expenses and net income, with the ability to compare figures month-to-month.
Stores all financial data
Sage provides one place to run your accounting processes - from accounts payable, to accounts receivable and a general ledger of business transactions. This makes it easy to keep everything organised in one place, and likely reduces the amount of admin needed to know your numbers.
Does Sage offer inventory management?
Like many accountancy packages, Sage does have inventory management features. However, some users on review site G2 state that it can be difficult to use. This is why many restaurant owners choose to use either their own system, or another piece of software (which integrates with Sage), for the sole purpose of stock control.
This is where growyze comes in. Our integration with accountancy packages such as Sage and Xero, as well as popular POS systems such as Square and Clover, means that you can run your restaurant business end-to-end. Combining data on what you’ve ordered, what you’ve sold, and how much revenue your restaurant is making as a result.
growyze is purpose-built by hospitality pros, for hospitality pros, which means that everything about the product is intuitive and easy-to-use. From completing stocktakes in record time, to three-way validation to match orders, deliveries and invoices, and a full system that allows you to order products from suppliers in just a few clicks.
growyze: the intuitive inventory management solution which integrates with Sage
When you combine the power of a good accounting software with a solution built for inventory management you’re able to simplify day-to-day operations. To learn more about how growyze works with Sage’s accountancy platform, book a demo with us today.
