Owning a restaurant can be incredibly rewarding. Any successful restauranteur will tell you there’s nothing as satisfying as serving delicious/creative food while providing customers with excellent service. Very few industries operate like the restaurant/service industry.
If customers enjoy themselves, they’re likely to come back again. Even so, managing a restaurant is hard work. The hours are long, and the margins are thin; the last thing a restaurant owner wants is to be bogged down by payroll. Here are a few reasons why restaurant owners/operators should let payroll companies handle their restaurant payroll.
Restaurant Payroll – A Tough Industry
Everyone in the restaurant industry works hard; Everyone has to execute their respective tasks with pace and efficiency, from the managers to the servers to the line cooks. People who work in the service industry come from various backgrounds. All types of people from various backgrounds work in the service industry, everyone from high school students to senior citizens. Some employees may work over 40 hours per week, and some might only pick up a few monthly shifts.
Complicating matters further is the tipping system. In Massachusetts, tipped employees who earn more than $20 in tips each month are paid a minimum wage of $6.15, which will increase to $6.75 in 2023. The diversity of employees and their preferred method of payment can raise some issues specific to the restaurant industry.
Restaurant Payroll Challenges
Restaurant owners can appreciate the tipping system. It incentivizes employees to provide exemplary service to be rewarded for their efforts. It can also significantly reduce the labor cost to owners. The only problem is that tips come in many forms and aren’t always paid out the same. There are automatic gratuities, cash tips, and tips added on credit or debit cards. That’s before getting into the madness of pooled tips.
Tips need to be reported accurately so that accounting numbers are correct. In case of an audit, the IRS needs to clearly see the money coming in and out of your restaurant. But, most restauranteurs didn’t get into the restaurant business to organize spreadsheets. A local payroll company can help organize restaurant payroll and let the owners, operators, and chefs concentrate on what’s important; pleasing customers and running a sound business.
How a Payroll Company Can Help
A trusted payroll company will be staffed by experts who understand local tax laws and have experience with balancing payrolls while working alongside various types of businesses. A payroll company can handle all the paperwork associated with the payroll process off-site, freeing up space in an establishment. They can also offer software programs to make entering data simple.
For your restaurant payroll needs, contact us at Brabo Payroll. We’re a premier payroll company for small businesses with lots of experience in restaurant payroll.
Call (617)420-8677 to learn more about our payroll service solutions!
