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We have an in-depth understanding of the hospitality and its unique challenges, and can help you do the same.
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We understand the tight margins that hospitality professionals face when running a cafe, bar, hotel or restaurant. We can help you with your day-to-day bookkeeping and ensure you reach compliance with the laws, regulations, standards and ethical practices that apply to your company or franchise.
By engaging professionals to manage your finances, you'll free up valuable time to improve the performance and branding of your business.
Our capable team can also advise you on the short and long-term strategic direction of your business and suggest the best payroll and rostering technology.
Cafe owners
Bar owners
Hotel owners
Restauranteurs
Franchisees
Over our long history, we've worked with business owners across several hospitality verticals to help them identify and achieve their financial goals.
We know the success of hospitality businesses based on three things: pricing your products, keeping the cost of goods low, and achieving compliance with industry legislation.
Our hospitality business advisors take the time to ensure you understand your profit margins and know how to increase your after-tax profits.
We keep ahead of market trends and can show you the best rostering software and payroll technology to make running your business easier and more efficient.
Liston Newton helped Kael and Matthew successfully integrate Xero into their business to provide a full picture of day-to-day operations. We set up and continue to manage their administrative needs including payroll for over 20 staff, supplier payments, and monthly reporting.
Since the launch of Square & Compass, Kael and Matt have expanded and opened Vacation Cafe in the CBD, Lobbs Cafe in Brunswick and an artisanal coffee roasting business.
At Liston Newton Advisory, we have a long history of assisting hospitality professionals with day-to-day bookkeeping and tax affairs, and we understand the unique challenges faced by business owners in the hospitality industry.
Our team can help you understand your profit margins, plan for long-term growth, and ultimately improve your business's profitability.
We've been doing this for a long time, and we have industry leading qualifications and accreditations to show for it. Learn more from a specialised business accountant.
There are many rostering systems out there and each one has its pros and cons that may or may not suit your business. In our experience, Deputy is a powerful and dependable rostering system that connects directly to Xero and can handle the needs of most small, medium and large hospitality businesses.
Each business must individually determine the optimal staff arrangements for its circumstances. We can help you decide what sort of set-up best aligns with your short and long-term financial goals. In some situations, it can be more cost-effective to move casual staff into part time roles, particularly if they are regularly rostered onto weekends and public holidays. Award rates are constantly changing and it's important to seek advice from hospitality accountants to manage these changes profitably.
Keeping track of GST-free foods is best left to an experienced bookkeeper. Some examples of GST-food include:
The margins for hospitality in general are very tight, which is why it's essential to put a precedent on managing costs and ensuring your pricing is correct. For a cafe with a revenue of $500k+ per year, you should be aiming for a gross profit of 60% to 65%. Employee wages are generally around 30% to 35% so net profit before owners salary will ideally average around 8% or up to 15% for the better businesses.
The two most important questions to ask yourself before expanding your business or opening a new location are:
1. Does my current business have reliable staffing and procedures in place? These procedures can be replicated at the new location/s and allow you to transfer administration, staffing and bookkeeping systems.
2. Do I have sufficient funding to support the new location? A proper budget must be created and maintained for the build and construction of any new business. Once this budget is created, you will also need to ensure you have adequate funding from financial lenders or other investors. Too often poor planning for expansion can lead to not only the new location failing, but the demise of the existing and formerly thriving businesses.
To be able to answer that question correctly you are going to need to deep dive into your business and its profit margins. The increased popularity in food delivery services can undeniably help drive revenue for your business - but unless that equates to increased profits, it may not be worth your time. With the price of goods already being 30 to 35 per cent of your business costs, adding on an extra 25 to 30 per cent for the delivery service can severely affect your business's profitability.
A thriving business may still be able to profit from using food delivery services but it is key for you to understand how to track this and manage staff effectively to get the maximum profit out of these services.
Whether you're a cafe, restaurant, hotel or bar owner, we can help you grow your business. Talk to our team about your goals today.
