Restaurant accounting requires a special touch and there is no one I recommend more to independent restaurant owners than Anne Gannon, CPA.
In this latest episode of The Restaurant Prosperity Formula podcast, Anne and I talk about many important topics, including:
After working in a big-five accounting firm in Boston, Anne was motivated to create a more efficient system for monthly accounting and tax services. She saw too many small businesses spend a year without accurate numbers or support only to end up during tax season paying big bucks to figure out their tax obligation and where they really stood financially – 18 months removed from what actually happened. She wanted to take a more proactive approach and work one on one with her restaurant clients every month – sometimes weekly – to allow them to be proactive in their own businesses. So she opened her company, The Largo Group
Anne disrupted the CPA paradigm when she opened her accounting firm. She charges her clients a monthly fee and works one on one with them throughout the year to keep their monthly accounting up to date while keeping their accounting costs lower.
“When I went out on my own, the goal was to not be a traditional accountant, to do it the way we wanted to do it. And that's really been our mission: to break down accounting into not just the annual tax return but to have constant communication between the business owner and the CPA. The numbers in accounting are the language of business, so you need good numbers to really understand your business. And that's the goal of The Largo Group,” said Gannon.
During our discussion, Anne also talks about how things have been different in the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Everyone was so focused on revenue because we were in a really good economy. So, if a restaurant owner was hitting a million dollars, they wanted to get to 1.5 million, and then once they were at 1.5 million, they wanted another location. Restaurant owners weren’t focused on saving, only on getting bigger. Then COVID hit,” said Gannon.
Anybody who went through the last several months knows what the end of March was like. Hopefully you’ve stabilized with your local government’s regulations and your customers are comfortable with what you’re able to offer. You’re not back to pre-COVID sales, but many restaurants have at least three weeks of consistent revenue. These can be numbers you can work with to project and build efficiencies.
This is a great episode to listen to as an independent restaurant owner because the truth of matter is a cash flow budget doesn't stop you from making an entrepreneurial decision. If you sit there and say, I want to add this piece of equipment because I think it will increase my revenue, would increase my efficiencies, or you still want control of your business, the cash flow budget shouldn't be scary. They are more like a crystal ball to help you plan. You can project out, even down to repairs. You can plan for things like repairs. When you know what cash you’ll have in the bank, emergencies aren’t so scary.
Two more hot takes from the episode
To get more restaurant accounting tips to build cash flow and security, listen to this episode of the podcast. Anne and I talk about:
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