Back office services like GrayPay™ free you to manage your business more efficiently.
By Christine C. Keaney
Supervisor at Gray, Gray & Gray
One thing you can say about most McDonald’s Owner Operators: they are hands on people. Few franchisees sit back and manage their restaurants from afar. They prefer to be at the front of the house, managing by doing. This attitude and approach helps the best Owner Operators to remain in touch with their customers and employees.
But as a franchisee you also have a business to run. Your attention is frequently diverted from active management of operations by the business of, well… business. Schedules need to be finalized, reports created and analyzed, calls need to be made, you have meetings to attend, invoices to review, bills to pay, etc. These “back office” duties, while essential to ongoing operations, can be time consuming and a drain on the time an Owner Operator devotes to overseeing the big picture.
Hiring a business manager or bookkeeper may seem like the best route. But the median annual salary for a bookkeeper is now $39,459, with some earning more than $45,000! It may be easier and less costly to outsource these routine functions to someone who is intimately familiar with your business and its financial operations: your accountant.
You count on your CPA for assistance in important matters such as taxes, audits, financial statements, and valuations. But a select number of accounting firms have expanded their scope of services to include an array of back office functions that can help streamline your operations, ensure accuracy and timeliness, and free you from the yoke of tedious paperwork.
One of the most appreciated services that we offer our McDonald’s clients is GrayPay™, a customized back office program that has been specifically designed for McDonald’s franchisees. It can save a typical Owner Operator as much as $20,000 per year in administrative costs by eliminating the need for a full-time bookkeeper. GrayPay™ incorporates almost all of the bookkeeper functions for about half the cost, with greater efficiency and accuracy.
GrayPay™ eliminates the tedious task of receiving, assessing, and paying vendor invoices. We do it all for you, including dealing with vendors and suppliers. No more phone calls from a supplier looking for payment! And, because we are already transmitting monthly reports to McDonald’s corporate offices for our clients, we eliminate the need to “double enter” items.
We also manage the onerous task of producing and mailing all appropriate IRS 1099 forms to vendors, a time-consuming – yet required – tax function.
As an added benefit, because Gray, Gray & Gray works with so many McDonald’s Owner Operators, we work with all of the approved McDonald’s vendors for such items as equipment, supplies, and uniforms. We constantly compare invoices each franchise receives from these vendors to make sure your costs stay in line, making sure you are paying fair prices for goods and services.
Finally, we scan and store all records and documentation electronically, eliminating the need for you to store piles and piles of paper. There is full visibility for you at all times so you’ll know exactly what is going on with your invoicing and payment schedule.
If paperwork is piling up in your office and your attention is being taken away from the important task of managing your restaurant, consider putting GrayPay™ to work. You’ll be able to relax and focus on growing your business when you know that your back office functions are covered. Call us today at (781) 407-0300 to learn more about GrayPay™.