Restaurant operators face unique financial pressures—rising costs, tight margins, and complex regulations—that basic accounting cannot solve. Financial performance in 2024 saw median revenue and operating income growth, but maintaining profitability remains a challenge across the industry.
To scale from 15 to 50 locations, you need more than compliance; you need strategic financial leadership. In this article, we’ll cover the top questions every Restaurant CFO should ask and how proactive financial strategy drives sustainable growth.
Restaurant CFOs are essential because they provide the strategic financial leadership needed to navigate rising costs, labor challenges, and growth opportunities in the restaurant industry. Effective financial processes are essential for operational efficiency and cost control in restaurants. The unique challenges of the restaurant industry require specialized financial leadership to manage inventory, payroll, and cash flow.
Unlike basic accounting, a CFO anticipates change, models scenarios, and drives decisions that protect and grow your bottom line. Restaurant accounting goes beyond standard bookkeeping by incorporating industry-specific metrics and integrating with POS systems to deliver tailored financial management for restaurants.
A Restaurant CFO is a strategic partner who uses financial data to guide future decisions, not just report on the past. For multi-unit groups, a CFO analyzes profitability, standardizes processes, and builds models that turn your growth vision into reality. They don’t just close the books—they open new doors for your business by helping shape and execute your overall business strategy.
A restaurant CFO brings specialized knowledge to address the unique needs of restaurant owners, ensuring financial management is tailored to the specific challenges of the industry.
A strategic CFO focuses on high-impact activities that drive profitability and growth. Their core responsibilities should include monitoring key factors that influence profitability and the restaurant’s performance, such as menu pricing, portion control, and purchasing decisions.
These responsibilities go beyond basic accounting and require a proactive, growth-focused mindset.
The ability to answer questions like the ones above indicates that you have successfully transitioned from day-to-day accounting and operational concerns to acting as a true strategist.
Strategic thinking isn’t something you do when you are successful, it is something you do to become successful. Making data-driven decisions and informed decisions empowers you to overcome the biggest challenges in the restaurant industry, such as managing cash flow and ensuring financial stability.
You don’t get from 3% to 10% profit by getting better accounting; you do it by getting beyond accounting.
What does that look like?
Let me paint you my vision for what the CFO should be. I’ll break it into three parts.
Leveler: At the end of the day, everything from the food you sell, to the vendors you use, to the marketing campaigns you implement either make you money or lose it.
Numbers are objective, and if a CFO can get above managing day-to-day accounting, no one is better suited to (1) discover constraints to your growth and (2) work with the applicable teams to solve them.
A CFO can level the playing field and keep everyone honest about economic returns.
Enabler: Why can’t you grow 200% this year? Let me guess – a lack of capital. This problem isn’t insurmountable with a pragmatically strategic CFO. Knowing how to increase profit margins, work with banks and lenders to acquire capital, and effectively manage debt should be one of the core responsibilities of a CFO. Developing robust business plans and financial strategies is also essential for long term growth, ensuring your restaurant is prepared to secure financing and navigate future challenges.
Transformer: Occasionally, in times like these, CFOs can be transformers in an organization playing a key role in shifting the overall business model, product line, and more towards a more profitable end. A flexible solution, such as interim or part-time CFO support, can successfully assist restaurants in adapting to new business models and responding to changing market conditions.
Here’s the problem – a CFO can’t do any of this if they are always cleaning up accounting.
A strategic CFO translates financial data into operational results. They don’t just report on high food costs; they collaborate with the culinary team tore-engineer the menu for better margins without sacrificing quality. By analyzing sales data and menu items, they identify opportunities to reduce waste and increase revenue through data-driven decisions. They don’t just manage bank accounts; they build strong relationships with lenders to secure favorable terms for your next five locations. By modeling the financial impact of M&A versus organic growth, they provide the clarity needed to make confident, high-stakes decisions.
Empowered CFOs help your restaurant group:
Restaurant accounting services leverage historical data to forecast for seasonal fluctuations and streamline operations to improve efficiency, ensuring your business is prepared for changing demand and optimized for profitability.
The CFO’s greatest value is showing your team what’s possible and how to achieve it.
For most multi-unit restaurant groups, the $175K-$300K+ annual cost of a full-time, experienced CFO is prohibitive—CFOs in companies with annual revenue ranging from $21 to $99 million make anaverage base salary of $237,983. This creates an impossible choice: hire an expensive executive or struggle without strategic financial leadership. Outsourced CFO services solve this problem. You gain access to Fortune 500-level expertise and a full financial team for a fraction of the cost of a single executive hire. For hospitality businesses and fast casual restaurants, hiring a part time CFO or engaging on a contract basis provides the flexibility to access high-level financial guidance without a full-time commitment. It’s the most effective way for operators with 15-50 locations to get the sophisticated guidance they need to scale profitably.
Outsourced and fractional CFOs offer restaurant-specific expertise and proven systems, adapting as your business evolves, and can be a cost-effective solution given howCFO salaries vary depending on company size and market conditions. These services can be engaged on an as needed basis, allowing businesses to access the expertise needed to hit the ground running and address financial challenges immediately. You gain flexibility to scale support up or down, without long-term contracts or high overhead.
Global Shared Services offers high-level financial strategy without the overhead. Try our 30-day walk-away assessment risk-free and focus on growth, not spreadsheets.
The answer isn’t a better accountant. Good accounting istable stakes. What you need is a partner who can bridge the gap between accounting and strategic thinking.
Yes, that partner can handle day-to-day accounting, but more importantly, they provide proactive financial analysis, budget forecasting, compliance risk-mitigation, reliable reporting, and more.
This foundation is what a CFO needs to become a pragmatic strategist and take your organization to the next level.
That’s where we come in. We are not here to replace your CFO, we are here to enable your CFO to be a pragmatic strategist.
We help restaurant business owners, franchisees, and holding groups create accounting order and access strategic insight.
If you are looking for someone to check the boxes you need for taxes and compliance, call your local bookkeeper.
If, however, you’re exploring what stepping into a more strategic role might look like for your organization, you might benefit from understanding howCFO services support that transition—reach out. Strategic CFO services can help restaurant owners achieve their business goals by providing financial leadership that aligns with your objectives. I’d love to talk with you.
A full-time Restaurant CFO usually earns $175,000 to $300,000 annually, plus benefits, although the average salary for Chief Financial Officer at major restaurant groups is even higher. Many restaurant groups choose outsourced or fractional CFO services to access this expertise at a lower cost.
Controllers manage historical accounting, but a CFO uses financial data to drive future strategy. Restaurants focused on growth and proactive decision-making benefit most from a CFO’s guidance.
| Type | Description |
| Full-time CFO | Dedicated employee managing all financial strategy and operations. |
| Fractional CFO | Part-time expert providing strategic guidance as needed. |
| Outsourced CFO | Team-based service offering comprehensive financial management and strategy. |
