The challenges of the hospitality sector and how WLM can help
As well as the medical sector and insurance, WLM Financial has particular experience in food and hospitality. This sector is marked by having more invoices than any other, and a challenging rostering system whereby multiple staff could be working on different award rates during the same shift.
Some of the ways in which we’ve helped restaurants, pubs and bars is to automate invoice processing and payroll. Modern automated payroll systems ensure that staff are paid at the appropriate level, simply after recording their shift start and end times using thumb-prints.
The hospitality industry can be fickle, so we always ensure our clients are structured to allow for both upturns and downturns. We ensure business risks are separated from personal, and the risks of poorly performing locations are separated from high-performing ones.
We also set up KPI reporting systems using live data to give business owners visibility on their locations, and meet regularly to discuss. These up-to-date financial and KPI reports help owners make valuable management decisions, keeping them focused on what is working and what is not.
Other decisions we’ve helped with include refinancing (or finding alternative options to this), maintaining close relationship with banks to make sure they are meeting covenants, completing scenario analysis if the business is considering a large fitout or opening a new premises, and tax planning given the cyclical nature of the industry and complying with requirements of 457 visa workforce. We’ve also dealt with demerging and purchasing businesses.
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