Accounting for Cafes, Coffee Shops & Sandwich Bars

Running a café, coffee shop or sandwich bar is hard work. Apart from the usual small business compliance issues of GST, BAS, PAYG and superannuation you have to contend with food handling regulations and council permits. The hospitality industry is also characterised by irregular trading hours, erratic and seasonal trade and stiff competition. The industry is littered with casual employees who bring other issues with them and to top it off, you are on your feet all day.

Over the years, Linda McGowan and her team of accountants and business advisors have mentored owners of numerous cafés, coffee shops and sandwich bars through the various stages of their business life cycle, from start up right through to sale. You’ll find we offer hospitality clients a full 'menu' of accounting, tax and business development services and we now boast a significant base of clients who run cafes, coffee shops, sandwich bars and take away food outlets. Our experience and knowledge has seen these businesses  become a niche within our accounting practice.

Thinking of Starting a Café, Coffee Shop or Sandwich Bar?

We are recognised by our clients and peers as a business start-up specialist. If you are looking to open a coffee shop, café or sandwich bar there are numerous issues to consider including site selection, tax registrations, insurances, the lease of the premises and health regulations. We can assist you in all of these areas plus provide advice on HR matters, payroll and the preparation of a business plan. On an operational level, we understand what is required for a successful opening and we can even assist you in executing the successful launch of your café, coffee shop or sandwich bar.

We’ll advise you on the most appropriate tax structure for your business taking into account income tax considerations, asset protection and future discount capital gains tax concessions. Next, we will help you select the most appropriate software for your business and factor in your business needs and level of accounting skill. Far too many people who open a retail shop make the mistake of buying sophisticated ‘double entry’ accounting programs (like MYOB and QuickBooks) that are beyond their needs and level of accounting skill. They end up creating financial records that can only be described as a ‘computerised shoebox’ that leads to frustration and excessive accounting and bookkeeping fees. Our brief includes helping you save money and it starts with the right business structure and accounting software.

Through our affiliate partners we can also help you locate suitable funding to finance your purchase, shop fit out, equipment, franchise fee, motor vehicle or van. Menu pricing is absolutely vital to the success of your café or sandwich shop and we can help you do some price modelling so you know your break even point and understand the financial implications of price increases by your suppliers. If you run a café, coffee shop or fast food outlet in Melbourne we can help you compare your business performance against industry benchmarks so you know what is working in your business and what needs working on.

To help our hospitality clients we developed a range of spreadsheets and tools including a comprehensive start up expense checklist. It will help you identify every possible start up cost broken down into categories including leasehold improvements, IT, marketing, capital equipment, furniture & fittings, professional services, licenses and permits, initial stock and working capital. These figures then automatically feed into an integrated cash flow budget to help you identify your finance requirements and they can also tuck neatly into your business plan.

Marketing Your Business  

For a café, coffee shop, sandwich bar or take away food shop your marketing could be the difference between success and failure. It all starts with branding and we can help you with your business name, logo and slogan. Next we’ll offer you advice regarding your website’s colour scheme, skin, functionality and content. We have worked with dozens of clients and liaised with graphic artists and our preferred website development team to create inexpensive but quality websites for clients. If you need help with your corporate brochure, newsletter or want to harness the power of social media to win more referrals we can also provide advice and direction. We believe our marketing skills set us apart from other accounting firms.

Want to Grow Your Business?

We believe you want to grow your business, improve the profitability and grow your personal wealth. For that reason we strive to help you ‘know your numbers’ and that includes understanding the 4 Ways to Grow Your Business. Once you understand the key profit drivers in your business we can talk you through profit improvement strategies. Not only that, we can quantify the profit improvement potential in your business.

We do so much more than just tax. The tax return is the start of the client process, not the end and as ‘business builders’ we provide strategies and solutions to grow your business and its future value. Our business advisors offer hospitality clients a range of tailored business solutions including:

• Start-Up Business Advice
• Advice regarding the Purchase or Sale of your Café, Sandwich Bar or Coffee Shop
• Spreadsheets and Tools including a Start Up Expense Checklist and Pricing Calculator
• Advice and Establishment of Your Business Structure taking into account issues like Asset Protection, Tax Minimisation and Future Discount Capital Gains Tax Concessions
• Business Registrations including ABN, TFN, GST, WorkCover etc.
• Preparation of Business Plans, Cash Flow Forecasts and Profit Projections
• Accounting Software Selection and Training – Point of Sale, Bookkeeping & Payroll
• Site Location and Advice Regarding your Retail Tenancy Lease
• Preparation of Finance Applications & Bank Submissions
• Preparation and Analysis of Financial Statements
• Bookkeeping and Payroll Services
• Costing of Menu Items
• Tax Planning Strategies
• Industry Benchmarking and KPI Management
• Marketing Audit including an evaluation of your branding, website, corporate brochure and menu as well as customer rewards program and public launch
• Advice and Assistance with Websites - Development, Content and SEO  
• Personal Financial Planning & Wealth Creation Strategies
• Business & Risk Insurances including Income Protection and Life Insurance
• Vehicle, Equipment and Shop Fit Out Finance (Chattel Mortgage, Lease etc.)
• Monitoring and Controlling Labour Costs
• Advice regarding Claiming Motor Vehicle Costs
• Recession and Survival Strategies
• Business Succession Planning

At Linda McGowan Pty Ltd we work with a cross section of businesses in the hospitality industry from small coffee shops to large take away food establishments. With such a broad range of experience we can tailor our accounting, tax and consulting services to fit your specific needs. If you are starting a café or coffee shop from ‘scratch’ or want to give your existing business more ‘bite’, contact us today.