Here’s How Philly’s Restaurants Could Bounce Back Post-Pandemic

Kevin Ryan is a partner with more than 25 years of experience providing audit, tax, and business consulting services, with a special focus on restaurant and hospitality clients. He also helps clients with services such as profitability consulting, budgeting, internal controls, assisting in finance procurement, contract negotiations, and tax compliance. Here, he answers your questions about how restaurants are recovering post-pandemic.

What are hospitality businesses doing to boost morale?

A successful hospitality business needs engaged employees to thrive. In today’s workplace culture, employee wellness is vital. Hospitality businesses understand that a happy and healthy employee is more apt to come to work and do their job well. At the same time, staffing issues have necessitated shorter work weeks for some restaurants that now close one or two days per week. Some innovative ideas that are building restaurant culture and employee morale on off days include bringing in wellness resources like yoga instructors, masseuses, and providing access to therapists, which allows employees to speak about workplace issues or challenges in their personal life.

How are restaurant businesses overcoming omnipresent staffing issues?

Forward-thinking businesses are relying on technology to improve operations more than ever before. In addition to implementing robust point-of-sale (POS) systems, it has become more common to outsource the finance department, as it is easier for owners to rely on third parties to do the work. Hiring, training and retaining staff often takes time away from running the business and focusing on the customers. The investment in automation allows a business to cope with labor shortages, improve efficiency and consistency, and reduce labor costs. Technology is helping with product preparation. For instance, automation is now being used more in pizza making. Mobile and online ordering apps reduce labor costs while also satisfying customer demands. If your business does not have an easy way to order, your customers will go to your competitor.

How do hackers compromise a POS system and how can business owners protect themselves?

Many POS attacks begin when a cybercriminal gains access to a target system by leveraging a weakness in the victim’s defenses or by employing social engineering tactics. Once they have established control of the POS system or terminal, the criminal deploys a malicious payload that allows them to scrape payment card information. Attackers can replicate the malware to other POS terminals and establish a hidden storage location to house the information before exfiltrating it. Defending against these attacks requires a multi-layered approach that includes implementing devices that have end-to-end encryption, inspecting systems daily to identify tampering, cybersecurity awareness training, keeping equipment and systems on a secure POS-dedicated network, and maintaining compliance with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS).

How Citrin Cooperman Can Help

Citrin Cooperman’s dedicated Restaurants and Hospitality Practice professionals are here to help you keep your business thriving and secure. Kevin Ryan can be reached at 215.545.4800 or kryan@citrincooperman.com.

About Citrin Cooperman

“Citrin Cooperman” is the brand under which Citrin Cooperman & Company, LLP, a licensed independent CPA firm, and Citrin Cooperman Advisors LLC serve clients’ business needs. The two firms operate as separate legal entities in an alternative practice structure. Citrin Cooperman is one of the nation’s largest professional services firms. Clients are in all business sectors and leverage a complete menu of service offerings. The entities include more than 275 partners and over 1,600 employees across the U.S.