Tidal Cafe Case Study
Jack Davern
Jack Davern, Tidal Cafe: The experience you get from Steven and his team is invaluable
In 2022, Jack Davern had an opportunity to take over the cafe he had been a chef at for more than 8 years. With over 18 years in business, Cube Coffee built up a loyal customer base. With Jack’s rebranding, Tidal Cafe was created. Guests at the cafe’s Seaport in Launceston location enjoy exquisite cuisine along a fantastic view of the water.
The couple that owned the cafe before Jack had taken care of the bookkeeping themselves, but Jack didn’t have experience managing books and didn’t want to continue on doing it himself. He spoke with the accountant who had previously worked with the cafe for his advice. That accountant heard of Steven Mulligan and got Jack in touch with him.
For their first meeting, Steven visited Tidal Cafe, had a coffee and discussed Jack’s needs.
“Steven was very friendly. There was no pressure, it was just a general conversation about what I needed, whether I chose Number Krunchers or not. He told me what they could provide me and how working with us would help his business.”
Number Krunchers currently provides Tidal Cafe with
- Virtual end-to-end bookkeeping, including processing point of sale reports, invoicing, bills payable, and payroll.
- An automated accounts payable system.
- A Profit First package, called Planning for Profit, in which all Profit First bookkeeping is performed by Number Krunchers. Jack is advised on allocating money between his business bank accounts according to the planned purpose for his money – for example an allocated profit bank account, gst bank account, owner’s pay bank account and operating expenses bank account.
- A monthly finance meeting to ensure Jack is up-to-date and understands his financial information, which is used in conjunction with the bespoke Hospitality Planning for Profit & Budgeting Package.
- Outsourced end-to-end payroll including a time & attendance rostering system (with services provided by Number Krunchers’ partner payroll & HR company in Sydney).
Payroll
“Payroll has been a huge thing for them to take care of. If you’ve never done it before, which I hadn’t, there’s a lot more to it than you realise. Number Krunchers uses an app for payroll, and it’s very simple and straightforward to use. It only took me a 30-minute Zoom meeting to learn it. My staff finds it easy to clock in and out and take their breaks. It’s very user friendly and we have peace of mind that all employee wages are compliant with our award.”
Jack says the bills payable system is simple and straightforward, too. Accounts payable is now centralised with bills going directly from suppliers to a portal, where Jack can approve them. Number Krunchers then processes and uploads ABA payment files into his bank, ready for him to approve.
Profit First
“Steven introduced me to Profit First and it just seemed like a very beginner-friendly system. Once it’s set up, it’s easier to understand where your money is at. He explained it to me like a pie. You make all this money and typically people think they can have all of that great pie, but the slices need to be allocated. You get one slice, but everything must go somewhere else. At the end of the week, Steven sends me a transfer list, so I know what amounts to transfer into which accounts. This takes a lot of the pressure off me.”
In addition to running the cafe, Jack is still the chef and has a young family at home. In all, he estimates he spends 70 hours a week working.
Steve’s got your back
“I wouldn’t have been able to make it through the last six weeks really without them; without knowing Steven had my back. By the time you deal with everything here and then stop to try to deal with things like payroll, it’s a lot. You’re stopping and thinking about where the invoices are, where the timesheets are, where the payroll is, those things. Having people like Steven and his team behind you takes a lot off your shoulders.”
Jack says he also values the research and advice Steven gives him, which enables him to run his cafe more efficiently. Having a bookkeeper who specialises in hospitality has helped Jack as he takes over the business.
“My cafe is quite small compared to, say, a hotel, but Steven working with his other clients may see something that doesn’t work well there that he can advise me on. He can look at their program and see the pros and cons and tell me about it. He’s doing the research for you; he’s just always thinking. You get a brain trust more than just bookkeeping.”
“Having the team around has been a huge benefit. If I ever have an invoice, I’m not sure about or a bill I think isn’t right, they are just one message away. I get a response in around 15 minutes saying they’ll look into it for me. They’re always around. It’s really beginner friendly. If you’ve never run a business before or done this sort of work, the support, knowledge, and experience you get from Steven and his team is invaluable.”
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