Many owners spend their whole lives preparing for the day when they can finally open their own restaurant. Unfortunately, it won't take long for the dream of being your own boss to meet the reality of becoming a small business owner. The daily duties of managing a restaurant include numerous routine tasks, including everything from payroll to tax planning.

While few owners enjoy these aspects of running a business, they're essential to keeping any restaurant afloat. Fortunately, working with a good certified public accountant (CPA) can take most of the stress and complexity out of these financial necessities. If you think you can handle your first year in operation alone, check out these three ways a full-service CPA can help your restaurant survive and thrive.

1. You'll Avoid Costly End-of-Year Delays

Quarterly tax filing is one of the largest hurdles many first-time business owners face. Paying estimated taxes has numerous benefits, including helping you avoid penalties and preventing massive end-of-year tax bills. However, tax filing for restaurant owners can be complex. Restaurants typically need to deal with standard payroll taxes, sales taxes, and even withholding obligations on tips.

Dealing with these taxes typically requires keeping detailed records, making estimated quarterly payments all the more crucial. Unfortunately, your first year in operation can often be hectic, which may mean leaving your filing until the end of the year. Sorting through a mass of paperwork and records while looking for inconsistencies can lead to costly end-of-year delays and extensions.

Working with a CPA from the start can help you avoid nearly all these issues. A public accountant will help you collect and manage your records throughout the year, alerting you to problems or inconsistencies as they arise. As a result, you can focus on running your restaurant without worrying that a major tax hurdle will leave you struggling at the end of the year.

2. You'll Catch Payroll Mistakes Quickly

Payroll is often one of the most complex aspects of any restaurant, even relatively small ones. While payroll is a challenging task for new business owners in any industry, dealing with tipped employees can add additional layers of complexity. Tips are subject to FICA (Federal Insurance Contributions Act) taxes, so you should have a good system for reporting and recording employee tips.

Mistakes relating to tipped income or other aspects of your business's payroll can have a long-term impact on your tax obligations and can negatively impact your employees. If your first restaurant is also your first business, the learning curve involved with managing payroll can often be steep. Relying on payroll software isn't always enough and may even provide a false sense of confidence.

An experienced CPA can provide critical back-end services, including support with payroll. While working with a CPA will be more expensive than handling payroll yourself, you will save money by reducing your workload and minimizing the potential for serious errors. You can even avoid costly fines or penalties resulting from common mistakes such as misclassifying employees or miscalculating FICA limits.

3. You'll Receive Crucial Advice Beyond Tax Planning

A full-service CPA is more than just a tax preparer. While bookkeeping and tax management services are essential, especially for first-time business owners, the advice that an experienced CPA can provide may be even more important. Since your CPA will have access to most of your business's financial records, they have a unique position to provide counseling and advice.

Although working with an accounting professional is essential for businesses at any stage, it can be especially crucial in the first year. Your CPA can identify problems with cash flow, look for ways to minimize or plan for your tax burden, and help you develop good record-keeping habits that you can carry forward through many years of operation.

The Bliss & Tuttle Certified Public Accountants team has experience working with a wide range of small businesses. Our staff can help you get your restaurant off on the right foot, ensuring you'll continue serving happy customers for many years. Contact us today.