Food And Beverage Software | (F&B) Accounting Software

Whether you manufacture tortilla chips or distribute different beverage products, you’re faced with unique needs and challenges in the food and beverage industry. While other industries are perhaps dealing with larger, more expensive products, they typically don’t face the same hurdles that perishable food creates.

Even in terms of non-perishable food and beverages, there is pressure on the food and beverage industry. Consumers expect your business to keep shelves stocked constantly at affordable prices. Not to mention, quality control and regulations are set to high standards for consumer safety.

What does all of this mean for your accounting?

Since the food production industry is unlike any other, it makes sense that your accounting processes and priorities will also differ. If you would like to learn more about food and beverage accounting, we encourage you to keep reading this article.

Not only will we cover the food industry problem your business will face, but we’ll also provide you with helpful solutions. We’ll especially focus on how food and beverage manufacturing software can help your business grow and thrive.

Different Types of Food and Beverage Companies

First off, it’s important to know that there several different types of businesses in the F&B industry. Many of the largest food and beverage companies own several businesses across these different areas. For example, one food processing company might also own its own wholesale and distribution chain. As a result, they often find themselves with more complex accounting needs.

Why is that?

Food and beverage production has much different accounting needs than food service industry types. Therefore, owning a business in each sector will compound their overall accounting needs. The following industry areas all have unique accounting practices and priorities based on the product or service they provide:

• Food Services: Restaurants, fast food establishments, and everything in between are part of the food service industry. These businesses' primary F&B accounting focuses should be on cost, food waste, and inventory. They’ll also need to handle sales tax if applicable.
• Food Processors: From sauces and spices to confections and sweets, there’s a wide variety of food processing companies. They transform agricultural products into other food forms, so recipe management and compliance are critical parts of their accounting processes.
• Grocers: The stores that sell food products directly to consumers need to carefully manage sales tax, costs, and inventory to optimize their profits. Grocers also need to keep up with the latest food and beverage trends to provide customers with the products they want.
• Distributors & Wholesalers: Food and beverage manufacturing companies use distributors to get their products to the stores. The distributors and wholesalers are most concerned with inventory tracking, expiration dates, and perishable goods waste. They will also need to keep accurate records for accounts receivable and payable. 
• Beverage Production: These businesses are similar to food processing companies. They create a variety of beverages from soft drinks to juices. A beverage manufacturer focuses on expiration date control and raw material potency.

Challenges in Food and Beverage Industry

We briefly mentioned some of the biggest challenges that impact the F&B industry, but what do those challenges really mean for you? How do they impact your accounting processes and your ability to make business decisions?  

Whether you’re the largest food and beverage company in the world or the smallest, you’re sure to face the following challenges every day. Read on to learn what they are and how they affect F&B manufacturers, along with the benefits available from food and beverage software.

Managing Costs with Stringent Regulations

Your customers are trusting you to provide them with products that are safe to consume, but they aren’t the only ones you have to please. The government has created an entire agency dedicated to the safety, security, and efficacy of the nation’s food supply. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) creates laws and regulations that you will always have to keep in mind.

The Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) is usually one of the regulations that creates the most work for food and beverage companies. It requires that you invest in a supply train tracking system so that you can efficiently and accurately locate all of your products. Food and beverage automation companies use software that manages all of this for them.

Growing Consumer Demand for Accountability and Sustainability

Now more than ever, consumers are demanding more than just safety from F&B businesses. There has been growing pressure for accountability and sustainability practices. As more people become aware of the impact that food waste has on the environment, consumers are urging companies to be more efficient with both their operations and supply chains.

In order to take accountability, your business will have to make drastic changes. These changes start with real-time data analysis. You may have to upgrade your accounting tools to track:

• Perishable Product Spoilage
• Production Errors
• Raw Material Waste
• By-Product Waste
• Expiration Dates
• And More!

Maintaining Consistency for Customer Satisfaction

While accountability might be a new hurdle, your business probably knows the struggle of creating the same product over and over again. Your customers expect you to maintain consistency across thousands of batches of their favorite soda or snack. While it might sound like an easy enough request, there are a lot of factors that contribute to the taste, texture, and appearance of a product.

You might find yourself struggling to source the exact same ingredients every time, and if there is a change, your customers will let you know it. In some cases, changing the ingredients or recipe might be beyond your control. Afterall, the market is constantly evolving as supply and demand shift.

The big challenge is finding a way to please all your customers while still controlling cost amid the market changes. Fortunately, a solid food and beverage accounting system can help you to stay flexible and in control while you seek out the ideal solution.

Recalls in the Food Processing Industry

Recalls happen, and while some are bigger than others, they can cause be a detrimental hit to your business no matter the number of products affected. They cause your business to lose out on valuable sales, and it could cost you more in other areas of your business. For example, your food and beverage marketing department might have to work overtime to combat the bad publicity of a recalled product.

Unfortunately, most recalls happen when you least expect them. As a result, you’re often left scrambling as you try to ensure both the safety of your customers and the profitability of your business.

If you would like to be better prepared for recalls, we suggest that you invest in a comprehensive business management solution. It should combine your accounting tools with operations dashboards. The goal is to get more visibility of your operations with up-to-date data and lot tracking.

With these functions, your software should help you to see the overall scope of the recall right away. The goal is that you will be able to get ahead of the recall and keep any of the contaminated products out of the supply chain.

Benefits of Using Food and Beverage Software for Accounting

The solution to many of the challenges that you will face are in technology. Food and beverage software development has created some of the best products to manage your accounting and other processes all in one place. Software like Sage X3 can give your business all of the tools you need to:

• Control Global Operations: Sage is flexible software that allows you to combine different tools, currencies, and languages for global success.
• Expand Your Business: With all of the different combinations of Sage software products, you can effortlessly grow and expand your business into different markets and verticals.
• Track Your Inventory: You never have to stress over the location of different batches. With the advanced inventory and supply chain tools, you can easily maintain compliance and prepare for recalls.
• Manage Finances: You have every tool you need to manage your business’ finances in one place. The real-time data allows you to make investment decisions and forecast cash flow.
• Handle Accounting Functions: From accounts receivable to calculating taxes, Sage X3 is capable of handling your accounting processes from beginning to end.

Contact a Food and Beverage Consultant for More Info on Accounting Software

With all of it’s innovative tools, it’s clear that Sage X3 is the future of food and beverage industry accounting. For that reason, we recommend that you make the switch sooner rather than later.

If you would like to learn more about the benefits and features of this accounting software, you should contact us at Kerr Consulting. We have a team of food and beverage accounting consultants ready to provide you with more information on Sage and their other products.

You can get in touch with one of our knowledgeable professionals by calling our local office. We can answer questions over the phone, or you can request an in-person consultation. We also have a convenient online form that you can submit to request more information on our software and services.