LFTL: Harmony's Enhanced Tools for Better Management & Compliance

Usually with Lessons From the Line we offer tips, news, and updates about our industry - this month we’d like to talk a little about the tech updates we’re undertaking here at Harmony Group to better serve you.

As part of our commitment to continuous improvement, we are always in the process of evaluating and adopting best-in-class software and practices. Our aim is to provide you with the most streamlined, efficient, and transparent tools to manage your operations. To that end, we wanted to send a quick recap of changes we’ve been working on, as well as some exciting implementations to come (don’t worry - this is just for your information; no actions necessary!):

Business Intelligence / Reporting - Over the first half of 2023, we’ve implemented Business Intelligence software for our new Harmony Reports dashboarding and managerial accounting reports. The primary benefits of this enhancement include data visualization, customer portals, and the creation of impressive financial packets, which can be utilized for a myriad of purposes. The ability to visually depict trends in important cost centers allows operators to manage those trends effectively and is something that we think can lead to real operational improvements. If there is a cost or revenue center that needs measuring, custom metrics can be created to allow constant visibility.

Invoice Management - Heading into the second half of 2023, we are pleased to announce that we have partnered with Margin Edge, a leading name in invoice management solutions. This integration will enable real-time, cloud-based access to your invoices, thus streamlining your day-to-day operations. In addition, it will greatly assist in compliance with alcohol regulatory agencies. We’ve been testing various invoice management options for years and spent the first half of 2023 in R&D efforts to develop new accounting processes around the software, so we will transition all clients to Margin Edge for invoice management over the course of this year.

Beyond the core invoice management service, our partnership with Margin Edge also includes a partnership discount on their Restaurant Management Systems (RMS) module subscriptions. The RMS module includes menu costing and inventory capabilities that some of our clients find useful as they look to hone in on operations in a post-pandemic operating environment. For clients wishing to leverage this opportunity, please get in touch with your Harmony Staff Accountant to coordinate the next steps.

Tax Portals - To offer you real-time access to tax returns, we have added Canopy to our suite of tools. This client tax portal will streamline your financial information and allow instant access to critical tax documents. We encourage all of our tax clients to make sure they utilize the portals for all of their tax documentation needs.

Quickbooks Online - Finally, we are planning to migrate many of our clients to QuickBooks Online (QBO) over the coming 18 months, in line with our aim to integrate best-in-class software into our services. While we have long objected to some of the inefficiencies inherent in this software package, we’re excited to take advantage of the capabilities of add-on software to continue to drive further insights into your businesses. You already have 24/7 remote access to your books, so nothing will change on your end other than future login processes. We will ensure smooth transitions and offer guidance during this process.

We are confident that these improvements will make your experience with our services even more efficient and seamless. We look forward to facilitating your continued growth and success!

Best regards,

Matt

Last Bites

July 2023

Toast Gets Burnt by Fee Attempt

Surging beef prices brought on by drought, rising labor costs due to removal of the tip credit, tight labor pools, and other runaway costs have led to many restaurants instituting a service charge to stay afloat. We’ve covered them before and likely will have more to say in the future but in the words of Mike Sorrentio – “it’s a situation.”  Service fees are probably the biggest flashpoint in the industry now so it was quite an unwelcome surprise when Toast decided to impose a mandatory .99 fee on all online orders through its Point-of-Sale and force the restaurants using Toast to collect the fee from customers and remit it to Toast. Restaurants were outraged that the POS provider was strong-arming them to charge fees to their customers, congress got involved and the fee was quickly withdrawn.

Mr. Beast Burger… We Hardly Knew Ye?

At Harmony we can be cheugy (the kids say this means outdated) when it comes to the latest trends. So we learned about Mr. Beast from reading the New York Times. It’s not his performative generosity that we are interested in but “Mr. Beast Burger.'' The virtual chain was often cited as the next trend – buzzy celebrities lending their name to a food venture where the actual food was prepared by other restaurants in “virtual kitchens”.  Always a trend that seemed destined to burn fast and hot due to probable quality control issues and weak customer attachment it seems no one wants to do Mr. Beast Burger anymore – not Mr. Beast and not Red Robin. Much like “ghost kitchens” it seems “virtual kitchens” aren’t the future of dining after all.

Another Day, Another Starbees

For much of American history, a coffee and cigarette was an indispensable part of a morning ritual designed to promote regularity. With cigarette smoking understandably less fashionable today, Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz has traveled to the ends of the Italian peninsula to restore the potency of this handmaiden to the morning constitutional. His solution: add olive oil to coffee which (allegedly) is popular in Sicily. Oddly enough, many customers haven't hailed his innovation. The moniker 'Oleato' and the ensuing backlash bear a striking resemblance to the Olestra non-fat-fat fiasco of the late 90s (the 90s are making a comeback). To underline just how unappetizing the industrial food complex can be, Olestra can now be found as an industrial lubricant (naturally) and paint additive.