Twice in a Blue Moon: Pizza Joint Thrives with Two Systems
It’s twice as nice, technologically speaking, at Blue Moon. Blue Moon Pizza thrives to ‘Give people an everyday place that still feels special.’ To create more time for making guests feel special, Blue Moon implemented Compeat Advantage back office and accounting software; Blue Moon also utilizes Aloha as its POS system. Recently, Blue Moon Pizza’s Founder, Kelvin Slater, described the Atlanta restaurant chain’s positive experience with the two systems.
You are using two restaurant system companies – Aloha for POS and Compeat for back office and accounting. How is that working out for you?
Kelvin Slater: The two systems work well for us. The POS systems I’ve worked with in the past required us to manually enter data into our accounting software. This doesn’t happen with Aloha and Compeat.
Are you getting all the information you need from your Aloha system into Compeat? Are you experiencing reliable communication?
KS: Aloha and Compeat work well together. Compeat pulls sales and product mix nightly from Aloha, which allows us to utilize Compeat to its full potential.
Is Compeat making it easier for you to audit your Aloha POS financial information and post it directly to accounting?
KS: Absolutely, it makes it easier and more accurate. A huge benefit is the Compeat back office software is also an accounting software. Your accountant can view your books at any time in real time.
What did you do prior to Compeat for back office and accounting, and what did you like or dislike about it?
KS: Prior to Compeat, we used QuickBooks to manage our accounting and did not utilize back office software. We, therefore, had limited inventory and food cost control with no integration to accounting.
Why did you choose Compeat over the competition?
KS: SS&G, an independent accounting and business consulting firm, recommended Compeat Advantage to us in 2011 at their Restaurant CFO conference. We purchased Compeat in the fall of 2011 and could not be happier with our decision.
Has Compeat allowed you to increase control over daily operations?
KS: Absolutely. Compeat has increased our control significantly by calculating theoretical inventory costs and usage and then comparing them to actuals so we can isolate variances. This gives us a clear view of exactly where our numbers should be as opposed to where they are. Compeat also assists us in planning and budgeting for each period in a year.
Since implementing Compeat, have you reduced food, beverage or labor costs?
KS: Yes, we have reduced our food and beverage costs by two to three percent since implementing Compeat software.
Has Compeat allowed you to save time in your daily operations?
KS: Yes; we used to have to manually create a Daily Sales Journal utilizing data from our Point of Sale and then we had to manually post that information into QuickBooks. Now, all of that information is automatically polled over from our Aloha POS, then balanced and reported in the Compeat DSR, and then automatically posted to Compeat’s General Ledger. These features have saved us a tremendous amount of time in our daily restaurant operations.
Have you saved time in daily accounting operations with Compeat?
KS: Yes, the scanning feature in Compeat has saved us an immense amount of time in our daily accounting operations. We scan in all invoices as well as all DSR’s. Our accountants can pull up any invoice or DSR at any time, so if something comes up that’s questionable, it can easily be resolved.
You are using two restaurant system companies – Aloha for POS and Compeat for back office and accounting. How is that working out for you?
Kelvin Slater: The two systems work well for us. The POS systems I’ve worked with in the past required us to manually enter data into our accounting software. This doesn’t happen with Aloha and Compeat.
Are you getting all the information you need from your Aloha system into Compeat? Are you experiencing reliable communication?
KS: Aloha and Compeat work well together. Compeat pulls sales and product mix nightly from Aloha, which allows us to utilize Compeat to its full potential.
Is Compeat making it easier for you to audit your Aloha POS financial information and post it directly to accounting?
KS: Absolutely, it makes it easier and more accurate. A huge benefit is the Compeat back office software is also an accounting software. Your accountant can view your books at any time in real time.
What did you do prior to Compeat for back office and accounting, and what did you like or dislike about it?
KS: Prior to Compeat, we used QuickBooks to manage our accounting and did not utilize back office software. We, therefore, had limited inventory and food cost control with no integration to accounting.
Why did you choose Compeat over the competition?
KS: SS&G, an independent accounting and business consulting firm, recommended Compeat Advantage to us in 2011 at their Restaurant CFO conference. We purchased Compeat in the fall of 2011 and could not be happier with our decision.
Has Compeat allowed you to increase control over daily operations?
KS: Absolutely. Compeat has increased our control significantly by calculating theoretical inventory costs and usage and then comparing them to actuals so we can isolate variances. This gives us a clear view of exactly where our numbers should be as opposed to where they are. Compeat also assists us in planning and budgeting for each period in a year.
Since implementing Compeat, have you reduced food, beverage or labor costs?
KS: Yes, we have reduced our food and beverage costs by two to three percent since implementing Compeat software.
Has Compeat allowed you to save time in your daily operations?
KS: Yes; we used to have to manually create a Daily Sales Journal utilizing data from our Point of Sale and then we had to manually post that information into QuickBooks. Now, all of that information is automatically polled over from our Aloha POS, then balanced and reported in the Compeat DSR, and then automatically posted to Compeat’s General Ledger. These features have saved us a tremendous amount of time in our daily restaurant operations.
Have you saved time in daily accounting operations with Compeat?
KS: Yes, the scanning feature in Compeat has saved us an immense amount of time in our daily accounting operations. We scan in all invoices as well as all DSR’s. Our accountants can pull up any invoice or DSR at any time, so if something comes up that’s questionable, it can easily be resolved.