8 Best Food Business Accounting Software (2024)

There’s a lot to consider in the running of a food business. Whether you have a cafe, restaurant, or food truck, staying on top of your finances is just another onerous task on a long list of obligations. Automating the various processes of payroll, product inventory, invoicing and expenses could be the key to unlocking your business’s potential. Compare the accounting products from our curated list below and find the right solution for you.

Upfront Conclusion

The best food business accounting software right now is Restaurant365 and TouchBistro.

Top 8 Best Food Business Accounting Software

Restaurant365 – Best Software for an All-Round Service
TouchBistro – Best Software for Mobile Food Businesses
ZipBooks – Best Software for Accounting Beginners
Xero – Best Software for Advanced Accounting
Quickbooks – Best Software for Profit Scaling
Plate IQ – Best Software for an Expanding Business
KitchenSync – Best Software for Businesses with a High Turnover
DAVO – Best Software for Financial Regulation

1. Restaurant365 – Best Software for an All-Round Service

PRICING: From $240/month.

Restaurant365 offers a gold standard in food business accounting. Its flexible features allow for its use by businesses of any size or type, from an independent cafe to restaurant chain. Being restaurant-specific, Restaurant365 delivers an astute functionality that knows its user.

KEY FEATURES:

Cloud-based
Inventory management
Comprehensive reports

REASONS TO BUY:

Customisable
Easy to use

REASONS TO AVOID:

Payroll tools not included

2. TouchBistro – Best Software for Mobile Food Businesses

PRICING: Plans from $69/month.

TouchBistro is a sleek tablet-based service recommended for use by food truck owners, owing to its remote accessibility. Its accounting functions are basic but sufficient for small businesses, and integration with other software is simple, should advanced tools be required.

KEY FEATURES:

iPad-based
Access to previous reports

REASONS TO BUY:

User-friendly interface
Access from anywhere

REASONS TO AVOID:

Simplistic accounting functions
Requires integration to function specifically for food industry

3. ZipBooks – Best Software for Accounting Beginners

PRICING: Free basic plan with upgrades from $15/month.

Dubbed the ‘other Freshbooks’ , ZipBooks delivers an accounting system that moves quickly and efficiently, to help your business do the same. The free plan is rudimentary but offers enough functionality for small or solo-led business ventures, whilst larger businesses will require a paid plan.

KEY FEATURES:

Repeat billing
Customisable invoicing
Attach images of receipts

REASONS TO BUY:

Scalability
Can be downloaded across devices
Helpful customer support

REASONS TO AVOID:

Information on overall reports is limited
Transaction fees

4. Xero – Best Software for Advanced Accounting

The pioneer of cloud-based accounting software, Xero has earnt a strong reputation in the accounting field. It boasts users from across the globe in every type of business.

PRICING: Free 30-day trial, plans from $6/month.

KEY FEATURES:

Cloud-based
Instant cashflow
Automated invoicing

REASONS TO BUY:

Popular
Easy to learn and use

REASONS TO AVOID:

Does not offer payroll

5. Quickbooks – Best Software for Profit Scaling

PRICING: Free 30-day trial, plans from $22/month.

A popular choice of accounting software for any business, Quickbooks for the food industry offers tools focused on tracking costs. Its quick approach to sales tax payments and expense tracking has the potential to save your business a significant sum, freeing up cash flow that can be invested in scaling your plans.

KEY FEATURES:

Integration with POS systems
Business statements
Automated timesheet importation

REASONS TO BUY:

Value for money
Multi-month discount deals
Drives business profit

REASONS TO AVOID:

Not industry-specific, so lacks tailored features

6. Plate IQ – Best Software for an Expanding Business

PRICING: Free demo, pricing on request.

Plate IQ’s centralised dashboard lends itself to a smaller business with plans to expand into several locations. It lacks the complexities of other products, but it’s a secure way to stay on top of invoicing and expenses.

KEY FEATURES:

Automated invoicing
Secure data storage
Spending transparency

REASONS TO BUY:

Time-saving automation
Remote accessibility
Takes care of lengthy AP tasks

REASONS TO AVOID:

No free trial
Design flaws

7. KitchenSync – Best Software for Businesses with a High Turnover

PRICING: Plans from $3/month.

Offering excellent payroll management capabilities, KitchenSync is a good choice for independent businesses or franchises with a large number of staff and a high turnover. Employee time cards can be synced directly with payroll spreadsheets, to increase accuracy and ultimately save on costs.

KEY FEATURES:

Profit and loss audits
Payroll management
Performance monitoring

REASONS TO BUY:

Can handle large amounts of data
Saves money
Affordable starter plans

REASONS TO AVOID:

Premium plans are expensive

8. DAVO – Best Software for Financial Regulation

PRICING: Free 30-day trial, plans from $39.99/month.

Davo delivers the financial security to make every business owner’s life easier and more stress-free. With its ability to quickly automate sales tax, you can rest assured that your business won’t encounter any fines relating to missed deadlines or financial irregularity.

KEY FEATURES:

Sales tax automation
Effective POS integration
Data encryption

REASONS TO BUY:

Strong financial regulation
Reliable

REASONS TO AVOID:

Lacks payroll feature
Requires integration with additional software to cover complex accounting needs

Frequently Asked Questions

Why should my food business invest in accounting software?

Unless you have a strong background in accounting, it’s not sensible to take on business-wide bookkeeping yourself. Using dedicated accounting software will save you significant time and money in the long run, as well as helping you avoid the various stresses that come with the manual tracking of costs. The automation and digitisation of accounting processes will also improve the accuracy of your business’s data and its compliance to financial regulations.

Is accounting different for a food business than in another industry?

In short, yes. As a business owner you will know better than most the various demands of the food industry, particularly how complicated it can be managing processes like payroll and inventory costs. Food businesses often have longer and more unsociable hours than something like a law firm or medical practice, so it becomes of greater importance to find a software that ticks all the boxes. With POS integration options, your accounting software should tie up any loose ends and see accounting obligations taken care of behind the scenes.