Hiring a Bookkeeper for Your Restaurant

If you are just opening a restaurant you will find that there are not enough hours in the day for you to every job that needs to get done. Bookkeeping is one of those tasks you need to delegate so you can focus on your food cost and quality. A bookkeeper for your restaurant should be one person that you hire right at the beginning. You need to determine how much of the bookkeeping and accounting your bookkeeper will be responsible for.

Finding the right person for you can be a challenge because not only does this person have to know basic accounting practices but they have to mesh with your personality and management style. So you need to have a two pronged approach to hiring a bookkeeper.

Does Your Bookkeeper Know What He or She is Doing?

Knowing what you expect from your bookkeeper is very important. Do you need someone just to do filing and data entry or do you need a bookkeeper that can handle all of your payroll and monthly financial reports?  Be sure that you are clear on what you expect before you start the interview process.

If you are confident enough in your bookkeeping and accounting abilities then formulate 4 or 5 questions, which are specific to your business, to ask your interviewee. In this way you will know if you have a qualified candidate that knows enough to handle the job for you.  If you are using an accountant or accounting firm to handle your major accounting functions, ask them to come up with some basic questions (and answers) for you.

Unless you are an accounting whiz you probably will not know the right questions to ask to weed out unqualified candidates so let the experts do the testing. The American Institute of Professional Bookkeepers has a free assessment exam that you can use to qualify a potential bookkeeper. Go to https://www.aipb.org/testrequest.php for that. This way you know up front if the candidate has the bookkeeping skills you require.

Have a Face-To-Face Interview, Then Follow-up.

Once you have determined what you are looking for in a candidate you need to match their personality to your specific operation. The restaurant environment can be chaotic, noisy and fast paced. Your potential bookkeeper must be able to adapt to that environment, as well as, your personality. You want to know if they have experience with your accounting system (if you have one). You may want to have your partner or someone that you know with accounting experience, do a follow up interview just to get a second opinion.  For a position of this importance it is a good idea. After all, they will be handling your money, your restaurant’s life blood.  Find out what restaurants or similar environments they have worked in before.

After the interview you should check and verify the past employment noted on the resume. See what actual experience they have had and do not rely solely on the resume. Take the time to call past employers.

When hiring a bookkeeper for your restaurant you want to take your time to find the right match or consider a restaurant bookkeeping services.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *