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Streamlining Financial Operations with Restaurant365 and Leasecake at Cotti Foods
Background
Cotti Foods, a leading player in the restaurant franchise industry with over 200 Wendy’s, Taco Bell and Pieology locations, recognized the need to upgrade their financial systems to support their growth and acquisition plans. They faced challenges with their previous software in producing consolidated financial statements, and were looking for a more robust offering tailored for the restaurant business.
Cotti Foods is a leading restaurant franchisee with over 230 locations across 6 states.
Cotti Foods financial strategy is driven by their desire to grow opportunistically and ensure their finances are always in tip top shape. They rely on modern systems like Leasecake and Restaurant365 together to support their operations and increase overall success. Â
Units and Growing
States
Implemented Leasecake
Implemented R365
Solution
Cotti Foods transitioned to R365 as their general ledger system, and brought in Leasecake to help manage their lease accounting. Unlike competitors offering massive systems customized for various industries, both R365 and Leasecake are designed for restaurants, aligning perfectly with Cotti Foods’ needs for industry-focused robustness. And both platforms were built with ease of use and simplicity in mind, to ultimately help the users save time and operate lean.Â
“We were lucky if we could get our income statement out in 30 days. Now we can get it in 14 business days. R365 cut the time it takes to prepare our income statement in half.”
-Scott Miller, CFO, Cotti Foods
"Our rent payments represent our 3rd highest cost payments, so using R365 and Leasecake helps me maintain visibility into that high-cost part of my business."
Scott Miller
Cotti Foods, CFO
Why Combine Leasecake with R365?
As the CFO, the ultimate goal for Cotti Foods is to track cash flow and improve the bottom line. R365 helps to automate rent-related journal entries, and the integration of Leasecake brings increased visibility into one of Cotti’s biggest expenses: their leases.
Reducing Tech Stack Complexity:
By combining Restaurant365 and Leasecake, Cotti Foods achieves a streamlined and integrated financial ecosystem. The reduction in the tech stack not only simplifies operations but also enhances efficiency by eliminating manual processes, reducing errors, and providing a consolidated platform for financial management.
Key Benefits of Leasecake:
- Automating Rent Calculations:
- Leasecake assists in automating the calculation of percentage rent, relieving the CFO from this relatively straightforward journal entry.
- CPI Calculations:
- Ensuring accuracy in Consumer Price Index (CPI) calculations is crucial for Cotti Foods. Leasecake allows the validation of CPI increases defined in leases, providing transparency and trust in the information received from landlords.
- Proactive Lease Management:
- Leasecake enables a proactive approach to managing lease defaults. Cotti Foods gains the ability to validate and communicate payment calculations, ensuring all financial obligations are met promptly.
- Visibility into High-Cost Payments:
- As rent payments constitute the third-highest cost for Cotti Foods, the integration of R365 and Leasecake offers the CFO a consolidated view, maintaining visibility into this critical aspect of the business.
“Our rent payments represent our 3rd highest cost payments, so using R365 and Leasecake helps me maintain visibility into that high-cost part of my business.”
Key Benefits of Restaurant365:
- Speed and Efficiency:
- The “Big 3” financial components – sales, food cost, and labor cost – can now be disseminated to the field within 5-7 days.
- Critical business information reaches the team much quicker, aiding in proactive decision-making.
- Flexibility:
- R365’s flexibility allows seamless integration with other systems, eliminating the need for manual entry of PDF invoices.
- Accurate and timely numbers can be shared with operators, fostering credibility and trust in financial data.
- Detailed Analysis:
- The ability to drill down into account details during P&L reviews enhances credibility and trust in financial reporting.
“The system is flexible, and I’ve been very happy with R365.”
Conclusion
By adopting both Restaurant365 and Leasecake, Cotti Foods has accelerated financial reporting, and automated critical rent-related processes. Now the team at Cotti has the tools needed to make informed decisions, enhance credibility, and protect the company’s profits. Cotti Foods stands as a testament to the power of utilizing specialized, industry-focused solutions to drive business success in the competitive restaurant landscape.
