The Best Accounting Software for Restaurants in 2024

Sound financial management depends heavily on your choice of accounting software, which plays a leading role in maintaining your restaurant’s operations. Accounting software should align with your budget, offer user-friendly functionality and integrate seamlessly with existing programs and applications. To assist you in navigating the extensive array of choices, we performed a deep dive into the leading accounting software solutions for restaurants. We examined their features, prices, fees and reputations to come up with the five best options for restaurant owners.

Accounting software is a powerful tool for businesses, streamlining financial management and providing valuable insights. By automating tasks like invoicing, expense tracking and reporting, accounting software helps businesses save time, reduce errors and make data-driven decisions. With accurate financial records and insights into profitability, businesses can optimize their operations and achieve long-term success.

Restaurant accounting software is designed to meet the unique financial challenges faced by restaurants. By automating tasks like sales tracking, inventory management and payroll processing, this software saves time, reduces errors and provides valuable insights into your restaurant’s performance.

With features such as POS integration, expense tracking and financial reporting, restaurant accounting software empowers owners to make data-driven decisions, optimize operations and ensure compliance with tax regulations.

Managing your restaurant’s finances is a substantial undertaking. However, the appropriate accounting software can help you meet the challenge. Here are several key advantages to adopting accounting software:

It helps organize your restaurant’s finances

The typical restaurant deals with dozens if not hundreds of diners per day. This large number of transactions can become very unwieldy if you don’t keep organized. Accounting software can sync with credit card processors and POS devices to keep daily records of your sales, cash flow and more. Many labor-intensive accounting procedures, such as bank reconciliation, can also be automated using accounting software, reducing the chances of mistakes.

Beats spreadsheet programs

Spreadsheets are digital files employed for structuring data into rows and columns. Popular spreadsheet programs include Microsoft Excel and Google Sheets. Spreadsheets offer a cost-effective solution for smaller restaurant operations, such as food trucks and market stalls. However, for a brick-and-mortar restaurant or a restaurant with multiple locations, dedicated accounting software is a wiser choice to address more complex financial needs.

Generates invoices for catering clients

Not all restaurants need invoicing capabilities, but this is a helpful feature if you deal with many catering clients. A professional-looking invoice is essential to getting paid. Many accounting software services double as invoice generators, allowing you to send invoices via email and get paid online. Often, the invoices can be customized with your restaurant’s branding.

Keeps track of perishable inventory and food costs

Restaurants must constantly order and reorder food, cooking supplies and other items used in daily operations. Accounting software helps keep track of what you paid for your inventory, which is necessary for calculating P&L.

Allows you to calculate accounts payable

Many restaurants have dedicated suppliers for their perishable goods. Accounting software keeps track of what you owe and automates payment to suppliers, ensuring you don’t fall behind on bills and damage relations with partners.

Helps you comply with tax laws

Navigating business taxation can overwhelm small restaurant owners. Many states charge meal tax, which restaurant owners must collect. The labor-intensive nature of the business means that restaurants must also deal with tax laws regarding employees. Accounting software streamlines tax filing by eliminating uncertainty. Numerous programs facilitate meal tax calculation, prepare a variety of tax forms and handle the filing process. This frees you to focus your attention on your food and business operations.

Improves Internal Controls

Internal controls refer to the protocols and mechanisms instituted by organizations to safeguard the integrity of accounting and bookkeeping practices. Many restaurants are still cash-based businesses, which means that having proper procedures in place is essential. Accounting software enhances the reliability of your internal controls, which helps to prevent employee accounting fraud.

>> Learn More: 5 Restaurant Employee Scams That Will Cost Your Business Big

When selecting accounting software, it’s essential to consider the pricing models, features and hidden fees that may apply.

Subscription pricing

Many accounting software providers have adopted a subscription-based pricing model, offering monthly or annual billing options. This model provides several advantages:

• Consistent Access: Enjoy uninterrupted access to the software and its features.
• Regular Updates: Benefit from automatic updates to ensure you’re always using the latest version.
• Predictable Costs: Have a clear understanding of your monthly or annual software expenses.

Subscription prices can vary depending on the specific features and level of service included in the plan. Expect to pay anywhere from $5 to $60 per month, with higher-tier plans offering additional features and functionality.

Fees

When evaluating accounting software, be aware of potential hidden fees that may arise in areas such as:

• Online Payments: Some providers may charge additional fees for processing online payments.
• Software Integrations: Integrating with other business systems may incur additional costs.
• Technical Support: The level of technical support provided may influence the overall cost.

Free options

While many accounting software providers offer paid subscriptions, several free options are also available. Some programs, like Wave, are entirely free, while others, like QuickBooks, offer basic free tiers.

Accounting software for restaurant owners ranges from basic freeware to expensive custom solutions. To best understand what goes into choosing accounting software, we spoke to restaurant owners and other business leaders about the process they went through when choosing accounting software and what they prioritized.

“Managing finances in the restaurant industry is complex and detailed,” said Jaffer Kovic, the founder and owner of Dilworth Tasting Room. “The right accounting system is crucial for managing and ensuring smooth operations.”

The best choice depends on the size of your restaurant, as well as your financial needs and goals.

1. Conduct preliminary research.

First, put together a preliminary list of the leading accounting software services for restaurants. Our guide identifies five great choices for restaurant owners. You can also check out our full list of the best accounting software for small businesses. Furthermore, you should decide how many users from your restaurant will need access to the software, as many services limit the number of users or charge for additional users.

“You need an accounting system that helps track food costs, labor expenses, and overhead to maintain profitability,” Kovic advised.

2. Decide on a budget.

“Regarding the software’s cost, it’s important to factor in the value of the time any automations would save the business, said Kathy Gilchirst, CFO at Cardinal Bookkeeping & Advisory.

Most accounting software services follow a tiered pricing model, with several preset plans offering an increasing number of features. It helps to decide how much you can spend before you begin your search. Knowing what you can afford can either expand or limit your choices.

3. Identify your restaurant’s accounting and invoicing needs.

Is your restaurant a single location or a small chain with multiple locations? Do you only serve food onsite and get paid at the POS or do you also send invoices to catering clients? These questions will determine which features you need in your accounting and invoicing software. Make sure that you review each plan offered by the provider and ensure that it contains the tools that you need for your restaurant’s individual needs. Kovic advises that restaurant owners pay particular attention to integrations.

“With high transaction volumes across all three of our locations, it’s essential we have an accounting system that integrates with our POS system for real-time tracking of sales and expenses,” Kovic said.

Gilchrist concurred, saying “I have seen businesses spend many hours each month duplicating the entry of invoice payments into their invoicing system and their accounting system because there was not an integration for that between the two systems.”

4. Consider customer reviews.

Customer testimonials are an important source of unbiased information. Review platforms such as Trustpilot can provide insight into a company’s customer service and how the company resolves issues. This is especially important for a technical product, such as accounting software. Many software companies have outsourced their customer service departments or switched to automated systems. Many restaurant owners don’t have time to wait around for assistance, so this is a factor that you should consider.

5. Search for free trials.

Many accounting software services provide free trials for up to four weeks. Testing the software before committing is an easy decision if the option is available. At the very least, schedule a demo with the company so you can see the software in action.

Restaurant accounting software often provides functionalities like AR, accounts payable (AP), banking and reporting. Some services extend their offerings to encompass inventory management, project management, time tracking and payroll. Here are some of the key features of accounting software you should consider before pulling the trigger on software for your restaurant.

Bank Feed

This establishes a connection between your business bank and credit card accounts, allowing for daily updates on transactions. This streamlined approach eliminates the need for manual statement uploads. It also simplifies bank reconciliation, transforming it into a manageable daily task rather than a monthly ordeal.

Dashboard

Upon logging in, the dashboard greets you with an overview of account activities and key metrics such as cash flow, P&L, account balances, expenses, AP, AR and sales. Some software allows you to customize the dashboard based on personal preferences.

Bank Reconciliation

Accounting software takes away the monotony of reconciling a business bank account. Advanced reconciliation tools identify potential matches between bank transactions and entered bills and invoices, expediting the process and eliminating the need for extensive record review.

Bank reconciliation is an important tool offered by most accounting software programs. Source: QuickBooks

Integrations

Many restaurants now use a variety of business apps to increase productivity, both at the front and back of the house. Ensuring these apps interface with each other is critical, especially in an era of rising restaurant labor costs. Integrating your accounting software with top payroll software services, payment processors, point-of-sale (POS) systems and customer relationship management software helps you to optimize efficiency.

Online Invoicing for Catered Events

Accounting software provides the ability to send invoices to clients for catered events via email, as well as to accept online payments to expedite the payment process. Some accounting software services integrate with third-party payment processors, while others use their in-house processing services.

Recurring Invoices

This feature empowers you to automate invoices for recurring catering clients. Recurring invoicing tools generally allow you to choose the frequency, including daily, weekly, monthly or annually, with the option to specify an end date for billing.

Automatic Payment Reminders

Automated reminders for upcoming and overdue payments help prevent unpaid invoices. Some software includes prewritten email templates for reminders, which can be customized to your specifications. The timing of reminders can be personalized, with the option to send thank you emails to customers after payments are received. For customers who are repeat offenders, some accounting solutions provide ways to charge interest and late fees on unpaid invoices.

Perishable Inventory Management

Accounting software that includes inventory tracking and purchase order management is essential for restaurants that keep a lot of perishable inventory on hand. This feature may require opting for a higher-tier plan.

Support for Multiple Restaurants

This feature is helpful if you own multiple restaurant locations or other types of businesses. Certain accounting software services allow the addition of multiple businesses to a single account.

Financial Reporting

Every accounting program generates financial reports, though the complexity and inclusiveness may vary. Ensure that your chosen program and plan offer the specific financial reports required for informed decision-making.

Mobile Apps

Not all accounting and invoicing software offers mobile apps. For those that do, the features can vary greatly. Functions can range from expense tracking and receipt capture to invoice creation and transmission, often mirroring the capabilities of web-based software. This can be beneficial if you aim to run your business from a smartphone.

Mobile apps allow you to perform accounting functions on a smartphone. Source: Xero

Plooto

Plooto is a versatile payment platform that streamlines financial operations for restaurants. By automating tasks like approvals, reconciliation, and reporting, Plooto helps businesses save time and focus on growth.

Neat

Neat is a powerful tool for managing financial documents. Its text-parsing technology automates data extraction from physical documents, reducing manual entry and improving efficiency. This is particularly valuable for restaurants that still deal with paper-based records.

FreshBooks

FreshBooks is comprehensive accounting software with a strong focus on invoicing. It offers features like professional invoice creation, online payments, time tracking and automated payment tools, making it a great choice for restaurants looking to improve their cash flow and streamline their financial operations.

To determine the best accounting software for restaurants, our team of finance experts and software analysts evaluated an initial list of 153 platforms. After whittling our list down to 15, five accounting software programs were chosen as our top recommendations. Our experts and analysts studied each solution’s functionality and evaluated the products on more than 27 factors.

These factors were broken down into categories and were weighted differently in our overall conclusion. The weights were determined based on how much business owners prioritize these criteria when shopping for business software and services and making purchasing decisions.

• Pricing (30%): Our experts and analysts compared and contrasted each vendor’s plans, judging which packages offered restaurant owners the best bang for your buck. We took into account monthly subscription fees, extra charges and the costs of add-on services like additional users.
• Features (25%): We looked for standard accounting software functions like bank reconciliation and inventory tracking that are useful for restaurants. We also assessed the available integrations and awarded extra points for advanced services, like AI-powered tools.
• Ease of Use (25%): We tried the software solutions ourselves, gauging each platform’s learning curve, user-friendliness and customization options. We also considered whether there was a fully featured mobile app for managing accounting tasks on the go.
• Customer Service (20%): We evaluated the range of customer service options, including whether phone assistance was provided with all package tiers. We also examined each vendor’s online resources for businesses interested in self-guided help.

Based on these criteria, we not only determined which restaurant accounting software our readers could trust but also the ways in which each solution could best serve different business needs. Some platforms were better at certain tasks than others or more suited to a particular type of company. These takeaways informed the “Best for” use cases you see on this page.

To learn more about our methodology, see our full editorial process.