Episode 6: Taming the "Unique Beast": Steven Mamis on Why Specialized Accounting Software Is Non-Negotiable for Multi-Unit Restaurants
Guest: Steven Mamis, Restaurant365 Expert & Founder of FORCS
Episode: 86 Reason Ep. 6 | Steven Mamis (FORCS): Taming the "Unique Beast" of Restaurant Accounting
Episode Duration: 45m 15s
Published: October 29, 2025
Topics: Restaurant Accounting Software, Multi-Unit Operations, Financial Management, Restaurant365, Cost Control
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Episode Summary
The restaurant industry thrives on passion and plates, but beneath the surface lies a complex financial and operational backbone that can make or break multi-unit success. Steven Mamis, a Restaurant365 Expert and Founder of FORCS, calls restaurant accounting a "unique beast", and he knows from experience.
As Senior Controller of Five Guys New York with over 20 years of accounting experience, Steven has seen it all. In this insightful episode of 86 Reason, he pulls back the curtain on the intense challenges of restaurant accounting and reveals his non-negotiable solutions for success. His message is clear: for multi-unit operators, specialized restaurant accounting software for multi-unit operations isn't optional, it's essential for survival and growth.
Key Takeaways
The "Unique Beast" of Restaurant Accounting
Steven asserts that restaurant accounting is particularly intense and challenging compared to other industries. The complexity stems from managing multiple interconnected systems, POS, time tracking, payroll, and accounting—alongside numerous sales channels and a multitude of vendors across single and multi-unit locations.
"I think that people have this misconception that restaurants are easy to deal with... but it really is sort of a unique beast."
This generates an enormous amount of data that requires specialized tools and expertise to manage effectively. Understanding this fundamental difference is the first step toward implementing proper financial management systems.
Restaurant365: The Non-Negotiable Solution
For multi-location, multi-unit restaurant groups, Steven is unequivocal: Restaurant365 (R365) is "almost non-negotiable" as a software solution. He explains that R365 uniquely manages the extensive data and inherent complexities of the industry in ways other solutions simply don't.
Host Xavier Mariezcurrena concurs, calling it an "incredible platform" essential for multi-unit operators. As Steven puts it: "If there's one thing though that I would say almost non-negotiable would be Restaurant 365 for restaurant account."
The platform's ability to integrate data from multiple sources, provide real-time insights, and handle the specific accounting needs of restaurant operations makes it indispensable for serious multi-unit growth.
Mastering Your Systems: From Car to Jet
Implementing powerful software like R365 is only half the battle—knowing how to use it effectively is crucial. Steven likens the transition to R365 from other systems to upgrading from a car to a jet, highlighting its advanced capabilities that demand proper training and dedicated time to learn.
This emphasizes that investing in comprehensive training and system proficiency for your team is paramount. The most powerful restaurant accounting software for multi-unit operations only delivers value when your team knows how to leverage its full capabilities.
Beyond R365: Complementary Tools and Hidden Costs
While R365 excels at overall accounting, Xavier recommends Cogwell for robust Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) management. Cogwell's ability to map data, ingest POS information, provide recent pricing, and assist with inventory sheets alleviates common operational headaches.
Steven also sheds light on often-overlooked "sneaky" expenses in operations like Five Guys, such as bank charges and commissions for third-party delivery sales. These hidden costs can significantly impact profitability if not monitored vigilantly.
Meet Our Guest: Steven Mamis
Steven Mamis
Steven Mamis is a Restaurant365 Expert, Multi-Unit Restaurant Controller, and Founder of FORCS (Financial and Operations Restaurant Controller Services), an East Coast-based company providing complete accounting and operations services for restaurants. He currently serves as Senior Controller of Five Guys New York.
With over 20 years of accounting experience and seven years focused specifically on restaurants, Steven helps owners save money and improve their accounting and operations functions through clear financial reporting and analysis, process improvement, and automated workflows.
Connect with Steven:
LinkedIn: in/smamis/
Website: www.useforks.com
Company: FORCS (Financial and Operations Restaurant Controller Services)
The Story: From Culinary Dreams to Financial Reality
An Unconventional Path to Restaurant Accounting
Steven's journey into restaurant accounting began with a love for food and culinary arts. Like many young people passionate about restaurants, he initially envisioned a career in the kitchen or front of house. However, his parents offered wise counsel: combine that love for food with a universally needed skill—accounting.
This advice proved transformative. Rather than choosing between passion and practicality, Steven found a way to merge both, creating a career path that allows him to work in an industry he loves while leveraging skills that are always in demand.
Finding His Calling
After years working in diverse industries, Steven found his true calling in restaurant finance in 2018. This wasn't just another accounting job—it was the convergence of his interests and expertise in a sector that desperately needed specialized financial talent.
He quickly recognized that restaurant accounting demands a completely different approach than other industries. The complexity, pace, and unique challenges require dedicated focus and industry-specific knowledge that general accountants often lack.
Building FORCS: A Mission to Help Operators
Steven founded FORCS (Financial and Operations Restaurant Controller Services) to address a critical gap in the market: multi-unit restaurant operators struggling with financial management and lacking access to specialized accounting expertise.
Through FORCS, Steven provides full-service support that goes beyond basic bookkeeping. He helps owners save money, improve their accounting and operations functions, and gain the clear financial reporting and analysis needed to make informed strategic decisions.
Key Insights: Why Restaurant Accounting Is Different
The Misconception of Simplicity
One of the most damaging misconceptions about restaurant accounting is that it's straightforward. From the outside, restaurants might seem like simple retail operations: you buy food, sell food, track the difference. But this oversimplification misses the intense complexity beneath the surface.
Steven encounters this misconception regularly, and it often leads operators to underinvest in proper systems and expertise until problems become critical. Understanding that restaurant accounting is genuinely different—not just slightly more complex but fundamentally distinct—is essential for multi-unit success.
The Data Complexity Challenge
What makes restaurant accounting a "unique beast"? The sheer volume and variety of data that must be tracked, reconciled, and analyzed:
Multiple POS systems across locations with different configurations
Time and attendance tracking for hourly employees with varying schedules
Complex payroll with tips, service charges, and compliance requirements
Numerous vendors with different payment terms and delivery schedules
Multiple sales channels including dine-in, takeout, delivery, and third-party platforms
Inventory management across perishable and non-perishable items
Recipe costing that changes with ingredient price fluctuations
Location-specific performance metrics that must roll up to consolidated reporting
Each of these elements generates data that must be accurately captured, properly categorized, and intelligently analyzed. When multiplied across multiple units, the complexity grows exponentially rather than linearly.
Why Generic Accounting Software Fails
General accounting software like QuickBooks works fine for many businesses, but it wasn't designed for restaurant-specific workflows and data structures. Trying to force restaurant operations into generic accounting software is like trying to use a car when you need a jet—technically possible for short distances, but completely inadequate for your actual needs.
The workarounds required to make generic software function for restaurants create inefficiencies, increase error rates, and ultimately cost more in time and lost insights than investing in specialized restaurant accounting software for multi-unit operations from the start.
Restaurant365: The Multi-Unit Imperative
Why Steven Calls It "Non-Negotiable"
Steven's assertion that Restaurant365 is "almost non-negotiable" for multi-unit operations isn't marketing hyperbole—it's based on extensive experience seeing what works and what doesn't.
R365 was purpose-built for restaurant operations, with native features that handle industry-specific challenges without workarounds:
Integrated POS data ingestion from major systems
Recipe and menu costing with real-time ingredient pricing
Multi-location consolidation with location-specific insights
Inventory management designed for restaurant workflows
Labor scheduling integrated with payroll and accounting
Vendor management with invoice processing and payment automation
Financial reporting tailored to restaurant KPIs and metrics
This comprehensive approach eliminates the need for multiple disparate systems and manual data transfers that create errors and inefficiencies.
Xavier's Experience: An "Incredible Platform"
Host Xavier Mariezcurrena's endorsement of R365 as an "incredible platform" carries weight from someone who has worked extensively with restaurant technology through Over Easy Office. The platform's ability to provide visibility across operations, streamline workflows, and deliver actionable insights makes it indispensable for serious multi-unit operators.
The integration between R365 and solutions like Over Easy Office's AP automation creates even more powerful synergies, streamlining the entire financial workflow from invoice receipt through payment and accounting.
The Investment Mindset
R365 represents a significant investment in both software costs and implementation time. Some operators balk at this upfront commitment, especially if they've been managing with simpler tools. But Steven's perspective is clear: this isn't an expense—it's infrastructure investment that pays dividends through better decision-making, reduced errors, and operational efficiency.
The cost of not having proper systems—lost insights, missed opportunities, compliance issues, and operational inefficiencies—far exceeds the investment in implementing R365 correctly.
The Training Imperative: From Car to Jet
Understanding the Transition
Steven's analogy of moving from a car to a jet perfectly captures the R365 transition experience. A jet offers dramatically more capability—speed, altitude, range—but it also demands significantly more training and expertise to operate safely and effectively.
Many operators implement R365 expecting immediate results without investing adequately in training. They're essentially trying to fly a jet with a driver's license, then wondering why they're not getting the promised performance.
The Learning Curve Is Real
R365's power comes from its comprehensive feature set, but this same comprehensiveness creates a substantial learning curve. Teams need dedicated time to:
Understand the data flow between systems
Master the reporting tools to generate actionable insights
Learn best practices for data entry and reconciliation
Configure location-specific settings appropriately
Develop workflows that leverage automation capabilities
Rushing through training or treating it as a checkbox exercise rather than genuine skill development undermines the entire investment.
Building Internal Expertise
The most successful R365 implementations create internal champions who develop deep platform expertise. These individuals become force multipliers, helping teammates leverage the system effectively and serving as first-line support for questions and issues.
Investing in sending key team members to formal R365 training, allocating time for practice and experimentation, and creating internal documentation tailored to your specific workflows pays enormous dividends in system adoption and value realization.
Complementary Tools: Building the Complete Stack
Cogwell for COGS Management
While R365 handles overall accounting comprehensively, Xavier highlights Cogwell as a powerful complement for Cost of Goods Sold management. Cogwell's specialized capabilities include:
Data mapping that simplifies complex inventory structures
POS data ingestion for accurate usage tracking
Recent pricing to reflect current ingredient costs
Inventory sheet assistance that reduces counting errors and time
For operators where COGS represents a major profitability driver (which is most restaurants), Cogwell's focused capabilities can deliver significant value alongside R365's broader platform.
The Importance of Integration
The key to building an effective restaurant technology stack isn't just selecting best-in-class tools—it's ensuring they integrate smoothly. Data should flow seamlessly between systems without manual transfers that create errors and inefficiencies.
When evaluating complementary tools, prioritize those with proven R365 integrations or robust APIs that enable custom connections. The additional implementation complexity of non-integrated tools often negates their functional advantages.
The Sneaky Expenses Hiding in Plain Sight
Bank Charges and Processing Fees
Steven highlights often-overlooked "sneaky" expenses that can significantly impact profitability, particularly in high-volume operations like Five Guys. Bank charges and credit card processing fees might seem minor on individual transactions, but they compound across thousands of daily transactions.
Regular audits of processing statements can reveal opportunities to negotiate better rates or switch providers, potentially saving thousands or tens of thousands annually across a multi-unit operation.
Third-Party Delivery Commissions
The rapid growth of third-party delivery platforms introduced new revenue channels but also substantial commission expenses that many operators underestimate. These commissions—often 15-30% of order value—can quickly erode profitability if not carefully managed.
Steven emphasizes the importance of accurately tracking these costs by location and analyzing whether delivery channel profitability justifies continued participation. Some locations might be better served by building proprietary delivery capabilities or reducing reliance on certain platforms.
The Vigilance Requirement
The common thread across these sneaky expenses is that they require ongoing vigilance to manage effectively. They're easy to set up initially and then forget about while they quietly drain profitability month after month.
Building regular reviews of these expense categories into your financial processes—quarterly at minimum—ensures you're catching issues before they become major problems.
Advice for Restaurant Technology Salespeople
Avoid the Generic Cold Pitch
Steven offers invaluable advice for restaurant tech salespeople based on countless pitches he's received: avoid generic, impersonal cold outreach. He's immediately turned off by generic emails or LinkedIn messages that could have been sent to anyone in any industry.
This approach wastes everyone's time and immediately signals that the salesperson hasn't done their homework or doesn't value the prospect's time enough to personalize their outreach.
Demonstrate Clear Value
The pitches that work show clear value from the first interaction. They demonstrate understanding of the specific challenges Steven faces, articulate how their solution addresses those challenges, and provide concrete examples or data showing results.
Steven and Xavier agree the key is showing value that benefits multiple stakeholders across the operation—not just making the CFO or CEO happy, but genuinely making life easier or more profitable for the entire team.
Do Your Homework First
Effective outreach requires research. Before reaching out:
Understand the operator's current systems and challenges
Identify specific pain points your solution addresses
Prepare relevant case studies from similar operators
Articulate ROI in concrete, measurable terms
Respect their time by being concise and focused
Steven's philosophy: "Show value before asking for time." Demonstrate you understand his challenges and have something genuinely useful to offer, and he'll make time for the conversation.
The Personal Ingredient
Merging Passion with Practicality
Steven's journey demonstrates that you don't have to choose between following your passion and building practical skills. By combining his love for the restaurant industry with accounting expertise, he created a career that's both personally fulfilling and professionally valuable.
This integration makes him more effective at his job—his genuine enthusiasm for restaurants means he approaches accounting challenges with operator empathy rather than just technical expertise.
The Mission to Elevate the Industry
Through FORCS, Steven isn't just running an accounting service—he's on a mission to elevate financial management standards across the restaurant industry. He recognizes that many operators struggle not because they lack intelligence or dedication, but because they lack access to specialized expertise and proper tools.
By making that expertise accessible and helping operators implement systems that provide clear visibility into their finances, Steven is helping build more sustainable, profitable restaurant businesses.
Actionable Insights for Restaurant Operators
What You Can Apply Today
Audit Your Current Systems - Are you using generic accounting software for multi-unit operations? Calculate the time spent on workarounds and the cost of limited insights. The ROI of specialized restaurant accounting software for multi-unit operations often becomes obvious through this exercise.
Invest in R365 Training - If you already use Restaurant365 but feel you're not leveraging its full capabilities, invest in comprehensive training for key team members. The platform's power is only accessible through proper training.
Review Sneaky Expenses - Conduct an immediate audit of bank charges, processing fees, and third-party delivery commissions across all locations. Identify opportunities for negotiation or optimization.
Build Your Technology Stack Strategically - Evaluate complementary tools like Cogwell for COGS management. Prioritize solutions that integrate smoothly with your core systems rather than best-in-class tools that require manual data transfers.
Create Internal Champions - Identify team members with aptitude and interest in financial systems. Invest in their development as internal experts who can drive adoption and provide ongoing support.
Consider Specialized Accounting Partners - If you lack internal expertise, explore outsourced solutions like FORCS that provide specialized restaurant accounting knowledge without full-time hire commitments.
Share Your Thoughts
What's your biggest challenge with restaurant accounting across multiple locations? Have you struggled with implementing or mastering Restaurant365? Connect with us and share your experiences.
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Ready to tame the "unique beast" of restaurant accounting? Over Easy Office's has a vast experience with Restaurant365 to streamline your financial workflows and provide the visibility you need for strategic decision-making. Contact us today to discover solutions tailored for multi-unit restaurant groups.