Questions to Ask When Choosing Restaurant Accounting Software – Series Part 2 of 3

This is part two of our series, the questions you should be asking when choosing restaurant accounting software. Each week we’ve been sharing five questions. Whether you’ve outgrown your accounting software or need a best-in-class suite that correlates better to the restaurant industry, you should be asking some (if not all) of these questions.

Is the software updated frequently?

It is important to know if it will be updated annually, semiannually, quarterly, etc., You should also know if updates are an additional charge.

For instance, Sage Intacct is updated on a quarterly basis. Four times a year they roll out new updates and enhancements to improve their solution at no additional cost.

Is there customer support? Will it be enough?

With any software solution, you will need help from time to time. When that inevitable time comes, what does customer support look like? Will I be able to go to my implementation partner or will I be routed to another organization? Will they offer extended or enhanced support packages? Don’t be afraid to think about life after implementation.

Do I need to be on the cloud?

With the traditional on-premises model, you license software and run it on your own servers. For an on-premises solution, you often need to have a built-out IT infrastructure, investment capital, and expertise to support and maintain major software applications.

The cloud offers compelling and unmatched advantages for deploying business software, and particularly financial applications. Instead of continuing to invest in antiquated on-premises systems, many businesses have turned their focus to Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) and cloud-enabled software because they need flexible and agile financial applications that are relatively easy to implement, configure, and update.

You need to ask yourself if you want to have an on-premises solution that needs to be supported and run locally, or a dynamic integrated solution that can be used everywhere and anywhere.

What do other restaurant groups that use the same software say?

You can research night and day; however, it is important to know what your peers are using and how they are being successful. Ask for references, case studies, and use cases. Ask your peers. Write a LinkedIn post to your network.

Buying accounting software isn’t something that you want to do every year. Do your research and feel comfortable with your decision. It’s a big purchase and should be treated as such.

Can it integrate with other applications that I use to run my business?

Easy integration comes with the territory in the cloud. Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) and Web services enable cloud systems to easily integrate with one another so your company can use the best applications for each functional area of the business. That means no more costly custom programming and maintenance from expensive IT resources.

Want to learn more?

If you are in the process of looking for new accounting software, or just budgeting the project for next year, do your homework and ask yourself these questions. Book a demo >