As a food truck owner, choosing a point of sale (POS) system is arguably one of the most important decisions you’ll make. It’s the foundation of your day-to-day operations, from accepting orders and handling sales tax to creating menus and communicating with your kitchen.
In this short series on finding the best food truck POS, we’ll walk you through everything the Table Needs POS can do to make your food truck run more smoothly.
Today, we’re focusing on finances and reporting. While most food truck owners likely didn’t get into the business to focus on the books, they’re still a crucial part of running your food truck. But we’re here to help with every step of the way. Let’s get into it!
Check out the rest of the Finding the Best Food Truck POS series:
- Finding the Best Food Truck POS: Menu Design and Management
- Best Food Truck POS: Mobile App
- Finding the Best Food Truck POS: Order and Payment Processing
What to look for in your food truck POS when it comes to finances and reporting
After cooking great food, finances and reporting is arguably the most important aspect of running your food truck—but one that a lot of food truck owners feel pretty overwhelmed by.
When you’re looking for a food truck POS, look for certain tools and features that can help make this aspect of running your business a bit easier.
Food Truck POS with all-in-one ordering and payment processing
Running a food truck is complicated enough as it is; don’t add to that burden by juggling multiple finance systems. When choosing your food truck POS, choose one that lets you take orders from multiple sources and collect payments all in one place.
When all orders are aggregated and routed through one POS, that means no extra platforms to pay for, no additional log-ins to remember, and no extra hardware you need to keep open on your truck.
Plus, since all your transactions will be in one place, it’ll make your regular reporting so much easier. You won’t have to pull reports from multiple systems and compare them to each other; instead, you’ll be able to run one report that has all the information you need in one place.
Food Truck POS simplified reporting & fee transparency
Speaking of reporting, a well-designed food truck POS makes it super easy for you to run and understand the reports you need to keep your business organized and optimized. One specific area to look for is clarity around what fees you’re being charged and when.
Paying fees for processing, transactions, and technology subscriptions are a given when running a business; what’s important is making sure you know what fees you’re being charged, how much they are, and how often you have to pay them.
Without fee transparency, it’s difficult to know exactly where your money is going or how much profit your food truck is actually making. That’s why Table Needs’ reporting focuses on fee transparency, so you know exactly where your business stands and where your money is coming and going.
This level of clarity makes it easier for you to plan for other necessary expenses like inventory, gas, and payroll, while also giving you insights into if you need to adjust your menu prices or increase areas where you can increase revenue.
Food Truck POS with next-day transfers
You work hard for your money—you shouldn’t have to wait ages for it to actually be accessible to you. When you’re choosing your POS, look for one that has next-day transfers for all your credit card transactions, like Table Needs.
Knowing you have money coming without actually having access to it can be a super frustrating experience, and makes it more difficult for you to do the things you have to do to run your food truck.
With quicker transfers, you’ll have a better idea of how much money you have, making it easier for you to plan for things like payroll, supplies, and other necessary bills you have for running your food truck.
Food Truck POS that increases profitability, not just revenue
Understanding your revenue numbers and where your revenue comes from is an important part of running your business, but you also need to be thinking about profitability.
Profitability is essential to a successful business: It’s the only path to growth and security, which is tough to come by in the restaurant industry!
All of these features of your food truck POS—all-in-one ordering and processing, reporting and fee transparency, and next-day transfers—all help give you greater visibility and control over your finances. Which, in turn, will help you build towards an actually profitable food truck business.
When you have clear visibility into all your finances, you learn about more than just what you earned. You also see what money you have going out, which is how you can find your profit margin. With that data in hand, you can make informed decisions about staffing, locations, and menu pricing—all of which can help you make strategic choices to grow your business.
At Table Needs, all our teams, from product development to customer support, are focused on helping food trucks become profitable. With expertise and experience to develop the tools you need to succeed, Table Needs is a food truck POS built to help you become a thriving, profitable business.
Learn more about the Table Needs Food Truck POS
If you’re on the hunt for a food truck POS, you don’t need to look any further than Table Needs. Learn more about how our full suite of tools can help you run a more efficient business with ease, so you can spend your energy on your food and your community. Book a hassle-free demo today!
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