Wondering what the best accounting software is for your restaurant? You are in the right place!

Quickbooks For Restaurants And Bars
Best Restaurant Accounting Software
Best Free Restaurant Accounting Software
Best Software For Restaurant Accounting
Best Restaurant Accounting Software

You have now decided to move beyond do-it-yourself (DIY) spreadsheets for your restaurant accounting, but with so many options it is always daunting to choose the right accounting software for your business.

Read detailed reviews about Restaurant Management Software ➣ Prepared by experts ➣ Select the best B2B solution for your business.

Reviewing the best restaurant accounting software for your business. Compare the top restaurant accounting software with a framework to make a quick purchase. Designed specially for restaurant owners and managers, Wave restaurant accounting software is simple to set up and use, and can be easily customized for any size of business. It’s also great for caterers, bakeries, coffee shops, and for take-out and delivery services. Whip up the right features.

Our team here decided to spend some time researching, asking around, creating a framework for ranking, and preparing a shortlist of some of our favorite accounting software, so that you do not have to spend hours researching your next restaurant accounting software decision.

Read Also: Why Your Restaurant Needs an Accountant or Bookkeeper

Criteria of Great Restaurant Accounting Software

To give you a framework, we set out some factors below that you could consider to make that purchase. Here they are:

Suitable for Your Bookkeeping Process

Restaurant accounting is heavy on transactions (from the customer’s side, from the purchasing standpoint, from the partner side, and so on) and sometimes need some special processes like opting for a 4-week accounting period, and an accrual system of accounting to name a couple.

Run through your existing process, and list down the features that you need in the software.

For instance, you need smart reconciliation tools, payroll features, check printing ability, accounts payable management, and so on. Once you know what kind of features you are looking for, and how important they are, it is easier to sift through the software that will meet your needs.

Consult Your Accountant And/Or Bookkeeper

Including your accountant or your bookkeeper in your decision-making process is highly advisable. Chances are they have been working with restaurants, bars, and cafes for a while, and can guide you with the best insights. They will be co-using the software with you, so it is important that they feel comfortable with the interface.

Additionally, most of the software comes with free demos and trials, and they can be your test team and help you make a more thoughtful software decision.

Fits Your budget

The budgeting criteria needs no reminder, but remember, cash is king!

It is important to note, even though one software may be slightly more expensive than another, it may increase productivity by 2x by being geared towards your restaurant configuration. This means it could save you countless labor hours.

Don’t worry, we have already ranked our top picks according to the price in this article as a good starting point for you. Even though some options are more expensive, when you see the trade-off with the time saved and the efficiencies with these kinds of tailored software, it could be a worthy investment for your restaurant.

For instance, having the optimized accounting software reduces the manual entries recorded by a bookkeeper, and equates to fewer hours paid to your bookkeeper.

Compliant With Your Data Preference

It could be that you are often on the move, and would like to see the accounting and financial data on multiple devices and from anywhere (yes even on vacation). Perhaps you prefer that your restaurant accounting data is only stored locally for data protection and privacy reasons.

So, ask your accountant or bookkeeper, your IT department (that guy you call when all the computers are down), and add it to the list of your needs.

List Your Desired Integrations

We get up in the morning, check our Instagram to see our friend’s latest post and the industry professional dish of the day. Then we spy on our next-door restaurant competition on Yelp. To stay reinvigorated we then look up some inspirational posts on Pinterest. This is all before we get out of bed to start our day.

The point is that with so many applications and software available to us, we are already using some, for instance, things like inventory or vendor purchasing. Many accounting software has the possibility to integrate with other software, or even bank and credit card accounts for some automated entries.

Think of any integrations that you might want, and if one of the options happens to provide them all, then move it up to the top of the list!

Comes Highly Recommended by Your Industry Friends

It is always a good idea to ask around in your circle of restaurant, bar, and cafe professionals/ business owners about what software they are using.

Of course, every restaurant is unique and has different processes and systems in place, but at the end of the day, the nature of the restaurant industry is very similar. Ask friends and colleagues for recommendations, or just online on different websites and forums (ask below in the comments, we are always happy to provide feedback).

This quick research or questioning could help you unearth some pros and cons that you otherwise might not have considered.

Competency to Use it

As amazing as it is that the accounting software available today is now able to provide us with almost any kind of automation, and integrations, and reporting, and so on, we sometimes get blinded by the plethora of options.

Always ensure that the software is user friendly for you and your hospitality team.

And if not, then account for the extra expense you will have for taking the help of an IT wizkid (or IT professional) to set it up, teach your team and help maintain the regular usage of the software.

Restaurant Accounting Software Comparisons

We believe that by now, you already are equipped to make that list of criteria (wants and needs) and know what you must have in accounting software.

As the next step in the process of choosing the right restaurant accounting software, as promised, here is a shortlist of unbiased recommendations from our side that can help you get started.

These software are tailored for the needs of restaurant accounting and are popular choices in the industry.

Each of these software’s are given a points rating (out of 10), so as to get a quick understanding of the strength and weakness of each of these software.

Further, after a short introduction, you will also find a summarized table where-in we ranked these restaurant accounting software based on the same criteria so you also get a relative comparison between the software and can match them better with your list of demands.

So, here you go:

QuickBooks Online

QuickBooks Online (QBO) is a web-based accounting solution made by Intuit that focuses on individual accountants and small businesses.

Their advanced version is more tailored for medium to large enterprises with more complex accounting features (think accounting teams, custom user permissions, multi-entity, etc.).

QuickBooks is one of the popular choices in the industry and covers more or less all general features required in a restaurant accounting software. Cloud accounting, invoicing, online banking, accounting reports, cash flow management, mobile applications, multiple users, and free unlimited support are just some of the awesome features QuickBooks has to offer.

Another key benefit of QuickBooks Online that is often overlooked, is its robust application marketplace. This allows you to seamlessly link to your point of sale system, sometimes eliminating the process of daily sales manual entry.

That was just one example, tons of other efficient applications exist to help you to better run your business.

Some cons to look out for

Some usual features like certified payroll and job costing are not available. Further, they have limitations on the reports you can pull

Best Restaurant Accounting Software