Chasing the Numbers at Famous Dave's
The video opens with a line many restaurant operators will recognize: "Before Plum, accounting felt like something I was always chasing. Now I have a clear view of the business."
The restaurant is Famous Dave's in Rancho Cucamonga. Its general manager, Jimmy Luebs, runs the operations day to day and oversees 40 to 50 employees. He is joined by Mike, a CPA with more than 20 years in the accounting sector. In just over five minutes, the two explain how Plum Accounting changed the way the restaurant handles invoices, reconciliations and the numbers behind its decisions.
What Invoices Used to Cost in Time
The old process was manual. Before Plum, staff had to stamp invoices and sort them into categories such as food, operations and supplies. They sent the invoices to accounting, then went back to confirm the vendors were paid.
That process was slow enough to cause problems. Vendors sometimes contacted the restaurant because payment was taking longer than they wanted.
The time cost was steady. On the operator side, the team estimates they spent 5 to 6 hours a week on invoices, and sometimes up to 10, depending on how many needed to be processed.
A CPA on Why Restaurants Are Hard
Mike calls restaurants one of the more challenging sectors to work with. He points to how many parts are moving at once:
- Sales and the labor force
- Vendor interactions and payroll
- Bank deposits and reconciliations
- State and federal reporting
The most common struggle he sees is the administrative, manual side of the work. Bank reconciliations and hand-processed invoices create delays, and those delays keep operators from getting accurate, consistent financial information.
"In a restaurant, numbers matter quickly," the video notes. Food costs, labor, deposits and reconciliations can all change fast. An operator without current financial information is already behind.
How Plum Works From a Phone
The new process starts with a photo. Staff upload pictures of invoices from a cell phone, a tablet or another device they are comfortable with. "You forget about it. You're done," Luebs says. The invoice goes into Plum, and Plum handles it from there.
The team describes the platform as working like an app. Invoices can be entered on a phone, a tablet or a computer. Plum adjusts the device's camera and captures the image automatically, so there is no button to press.
From the accounting side, Mike likes that Plum brings invoices, cash flow, labor and reconciliations into one central place. It organizes the information and produces a clean ledger for him to work from.
Accounting Before the Decision, Not After
Mike says he cares about three things as a CPA: accuracy, consistency and timely financial information. In his view, Plum helps with all three.
His larger point is about timing. Restaurants do not only need accounting after the fact. They need financial visibility while decisions are still being made. For operators, he says, Plum turns accounting from a reactive process into a proactive management tool.
The video also notes that restaurants handle thousands of transactions every week. Without the right systems, it becomes hard to track profitability and control expenses.
On the learning curve, the restaurant's answer is direct: no accounting knowledge is needed. The process takes two or three steps, and any manager at any level can be trained on it. Asked what he would tell another restaurant owner, the operator side says they would be honest about two things: how easy it is to use and how much time it saves. "We want to reclaim our time."
Who Should Watch
This video is for restaurant owners, general managers and multi-unit operators who still process invoices by hand. It is also useful for accountants and bookkeepers who serve restaurant clients and want a cleaner way to get current numbers. Business owners planning a customer story or testimonial video can also use it as an example of a short, specific case study. Video Cartel filmed and edited it.
Watch the full video above.
