What Is a Revenue Accountant? 9 Insights for Hiring One

A steady revenue stream signals a restaurant’s success. It builds a solid financial baseline that you can lean on when experimenting with new menu items, coordinating marketing campaigns to reach new audiences or navigating market disruptions.  

Like most restaurants, your establishment likely brings in revenue from multiple sources. But without cohesive strategic planning across accounting duties, you face a heightened risk of inaccurate financial reports and missed opportunities to drive growth. You need a professional in the field to expertly handle your finances—a revenue accountant.  

Throughout this article, we’ll answer the question: what is a revenue accountant, qualifications to look for, and how to find the right one for your restaurant. Let’s get started. 

Defining a Revenue Accountant 

Revenue accountants play an important role in your company’s financial health. They oversee all revenue-related transactions, organizing and structuring your revenue data to give you a clear sense of your restaurant’s income and make sure it’s accurately recorded. A revenue accountant oversees financial records, tax information, monthly revenue reports, and regulatory obligations. If your restaurant has a revenue manager, the two may work together closely. 

Unlike a standard accountant, revenue accountants specialize in financial operations for money entering the business. You may also have an accountant who oversees a specific part of your finances or handles your annual taxes.  

Essential Qualifications for a Revenue Accountant 

All revenue accountants complete the required educational background and professional certifications. It’s also a good idea to choose a revenue accountant with proven expertise working in your industry. Keep an eye out for these five qualifications: 

1. Bachelor’s degree in finance, accounting, or a related field. 
2. Professional certifications, such as being a Certified Public Accountant (CPA). 
3. In-depth knowledge of accounting software and concepts. 
4. Strong communication and interpersonal skills. 
5. Experience working with other restaurants or c-stores. 

It’s essential to hire a revenue accountant who knows the nuances of your industry. Their in-depth knowledge of restaurant or convenience store financial health means they can effectively manage your revenue and uncover opportunities to boost it.  

Core Responsibilities of a Revenue Accountant 

Your revenue accountant’s responsibilities should revolve around your restaurant’s unique needs and expectations. But, at a baseline, these are their four key responsibilities: 

1. Keep Accurate Revenue Records: Organize all income to promote financial accuracy and keep financial records readily accessible. 
2. Maintain Financial Compliance: Review all financial transactions so they comply with standard industry financial regulations.  
3. Resolve Income Discrepancies: Monitor financial records for errors and then resolve them to create accuracy throughout your finances.  
4. Prepare Financial Statements: Create detailed documentation that captures your business’s financial health. 

Your revenue accountant will also be knowledgeable about standard accounting principles and compliance, such as generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), revenue recognition standards, and Sarbanes-Oxley.  

Tools and Technologies Used by Revenue Accountants 

Revenue accountants leverage various tools and technologies to support your restaurant’s finances. Here are the four top resources they may use: 

1. Accounting Management Software: This software handles the day-to-day functionality of storing and managing your restaurant’s financial records.  
2. Revenue Compliance Tools: Use software that monitors revenue transactions for compliance with industry rules and regulations.  
3. Data Analytics and Revenue Reporting: Capture all financial data in one place, organize it, and then generate in-depth financial reports using an analytics solution. 
4. Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Integrations: These tools integrate all your financial systems to centralize data in one accessible location.  

Technology helps financial management be efficient and accurate. Manual records are vulnerable to duplicates, missing information, or incorrect numbers. Your revenue accountant can let the software do the heavy lifting, allowing them to focus on interpreting the data and making recommendations to drive revenue.  

Key Insight: Whether you’re new to revenue accounting or working to revamp old processes, artificial intelligence (AI) technology can help. Financial software that leverages AI can analyze large sums of historical data, organize vast income records, and provide valuable insights to help your accountant forecast future market conditions.  

The Impact of Revenue Accounting on Business Strategy 

Your restaurant income determines how you create a business strategy. Anything you want to try, like creative marketing campaigns or experimental new menu items, hinge on your business’s ability to fund it. With good revenue accounting, you can feel confident that you’re making business decisions based on trustworthy financial reporting. Financial visibility gives you more control over how you reinvest profit into the business. 

Let’s look at an example: 

Say your profit margins are less than you hoped. You suspect that inventory costs are too high when compared to menu prices, but you need clear insight into your income versus cost to make impactful changes. Here are two steps a revenue accountant may take to help: 

1. Collect income data over the course of a chosen time period. 
2. Organize the financial reports into per-menu item profits. 

With an in-depth look into your revenue per menu item, you can compare it to your expenses for each menu listing. Subtract costs from income to get your profit margins for each item on your menu.  

Now you know which items on your menu don’t generate enough revenue to justify their expense. Adjust your business strategy to cut costs and maintain more efficient inventory practices. If something on your menu doesn’t generate enough revenue for required expenses, consider replacing it with something more cost-effective.  

In this example, your current revenue stream brought the possibility of overspending on inventory costs to your attention. Now, take this extra cash and reinvest it in the business to increase revenue. You could roll out a compelling loyalty program, invent new menu items, or run marketing initiatives that connect with new audiences. 

Key Insight: If you want to put your increased revenue to use to attract more customers, check out our guide to Choosing the Right Loyalty Program for Your Restaurant.  

Hiring a Revenue Accountant: What to Look For 

Earlier we mentioned that you should look for a revenue accountant with expertise in the restaurant industry. Here’s a closer look at four key traits to look for:  

1. Experience with Multiple Revenue Streams: In-store dining, online ordering, delivery, catering, local event sponsorship, and branded merchandise are unique restaurant income sources and need accurate tracking. 
2. Understanding of Inventory Management: The costs associated with ordering and storing inventory, along with stock usage and spoilage, influence revenue, so your accountant needs to know how to handle them.  
3. Insight Into Handling Income Changes: Sudden shifts in consumer behavior or global events impact restaurants. So, an accountant needs to consider your business’s profitable and lean period when managing revenue. 
4. Knowledge of Unique Restaurant-Associated Costs: Labor costs, cost of goods sold (COGS), external industry influences, and more will all impact a restaurant’s finances.  

When getting to know a potential revenue accountant, ask for specific past examples of how they handled challenges and the results of their efforts. Answers to these questions can give you a sense of how they would manage your restaurant’s finances, troubleshoot problems, and find new ways to increase revenue. 

5 Best Practices in Revenue Accounting 

While a good revenue accountant will know the ins and outs of effectively managing income, it’s often helpful to familiarize yourself with revenue accounting best practices. Doing so allows you to assess your business’ financials and collaborate with your accountant. Here are the five best practices in revenue accounting: 

1. Integrate Your POS Systems with Accounting Software: Connect your internal systems to accounting software to create a cohesive and centralized place for revenue data.  
2. Closely Monitor Overhead Costs: Utilities, wages, rent, equipment, or any other overhead expense must be closely monitored to promote accurate revenue accounting.  
3. Create a Detailed Budget: A budget that uses percentages instead of dollar amounts gives you more flexibility because your restaurant's income may fluctuate over time.  
4. Name Your Financial Metrics: Decide which metrics you’ll track, such as labor or inventory costs, to help you monitor the parts of the business that have the most sway on your income.  
5. Ongoing Accountant Training: As financial technology and best practices evolve, ask your revenue accountant to stay current on the leading industry practices.  

Use these best practices to create a solid revenue accounting strategy but remember to stay flexible. As the industry changes, your restaurant’s needs shift, too. Staying competitive and profitable requires that you be agile, adjusting to consumer demand and industry trends.  

4 Challenges Revenue Accountants Face and How They Overcome Them 

Just as it’s important to implement revenue accounting best practices, it’s also crucial to know potential challenges. These are four common hurdles your revenue accountant could encounter: 

1. Complex Revenue Streams: If you get income from online platforms, in-store purchases, merchandise, or sponsoring local events, tracking it all can be tricky. 
2. Compliance with Changing Financial Regulations: Tax laws and industry regulations may change suddenly, and your restaurant must adjust quickly.  
3. Labor Cost Control: Service industries sometimes have a high turnover rate, so managing labor costs could be more challenging.  
4. Detailed Inventory Management: Strategically managing inventory to avoid wasting money and stock spoilage can be difficult. 

One of the best ways to address all these challenges is by leveraging customized accounting software that connects to all your other systems. Financial data from across your business feeds into one place. It allows you to look at expenses and income side-by-side for a simplified cost analysis that shows where to reduce costs and increase revenue.  

Frequently Asked Questions About Revenue Accountants 

Check out our answers to common questions about revenue accountants below. 

What does a revenue accountant do? 

A revenue accountant tracks and manages a company’s income. They make sure a restaurant has an accurate record of all revenue for compliance, taxes, and financial reports.  

What's the highest paid type of accountant? 

Of all revenue accountant jobs, the highest paid is often the Chief Financial Officer (CFO). However, an accountant's salary depends on their educational background, professional experience, and related certifications.  

What are revenue duties? 

Revenue duties refer to additional fees and taxes, often applied to foreign goods. They’re common on imported goods and intended to increase revenue.  

What do you need to become a revenue accountant? 

To become a revenue accountant, you need a bachelor’s degree in finance or accounting, relevant experience, and knowledge of accounting systems. Specialized certifications may also be helpful.  

How much do IRS revenue agents make? 

The salary of an IRS revenue agent ranges from $40,000 to $100,000 per year. However, an accountant’s salary will depend on their educational background, professional experience, industry, and relevant certifications. 

Hiring Your First or Next Revenue Accountant 

A revenue accountant is your go-to person for crucial financial insight into your restaurant business. To remain profitable, you must have a firm grasp of your income and expenses. By working with a revenue accountant, you can rest assured your revenue financial reports are reliable and accurate, so you can focus on growing other parts of the business.  

Paytronix can help you find impactful and measurable ways to leverage an increase in revenue. With strategic marketing initiatives and reward programs, our software and experts support restaurants aiming to expand their customer base, improve brand perception, and find new avenues to drive revenue.  

Sign up for a demo to see how Paytronix can help turn extra revenue into sustainable business growth.