Gross profit measured weekly
Sales, purchases and stock movement in one system produce a GP figure while the trading period can still be influenced.
ERP for Hospitality
Why an ERP is best practice for hospitality businesses
A practical look at what an ERP does for a multi-site hospitality operator, where the value sits, and how to choose a platform that connects purchasing, stock, labour and site profitability.
Overview
What an ERP does for a hospitality business
Hospitality margins are made and lost in two places: the cost of goods and the cost of labour. Both move daily, and both are usually reported far too late to act on.
An ERP (enterprise resource planning system) brings EPOS sales, purchasing, stock and payroll cost into one system so gross profit by site is a weekly number rather than a monthly surprise.
It sits behind the operational systems. EPOS, booking and rota tools keep running; the ERP consolidates what they produce into a financial picture the operations team can act on.
For most hospitality operators, an ERP is where the following live:
Benefits
Why your hospitality business needs an ERP
The value is speed. Knowing GP and labour cost this week rather than six weeks after trading.
Recipe and menu costing that's current
Supplier price changes flow into dish cost automatically, so menu engineering happens on today's prices rather than last year's.
Every site comparable
Standard coding and reporting across the estate turn site performance into a genuine league table instead of a formatting argument.
Purchasing brought under control
Approved supplier lists, contract pricing and delivery checking stop off-contract buying and price creep at the point of order.
Labour cost against live sales
Rota cost measured against actual sales by daypart shows overstaffing while it's still Tuesday, not at month end.
Central overhead allocated honestly
Head office cost spread across sites gives a true site profit, which changes decisions about which venues to keep.
ERP stats
Why your hospitality business needs an ERP
Data taken from a survey we commissioned in December 2024. Click here to view
0%
of businesses are utilising an ERP
0 in 0
businesses are dissatisfied with their current ERP
0%
of businesses say using an ERP has contributed to achieving business outcomes
In practice
What this looks like in hospitality
Six everyday situations where one connected system changes the outcome.
01
A delivery arrives
Goods received are checked against the order and contract price, so invoice discrepancies are caught at the door rather than in accounts.
Example use cases
ERP for hospitality operators: optimising multi-site operations
An Enterprise Resource Planning system empowers multi-site hospitality operators to streamline financial management, procurement, and stock control, enhancing profitability and operational efficiency across their estate.
A chain of independent restaurants
- The challenge
- They struggled with inconsistent stock levels, varying supplier pricing across locations, and lacked a consolidated view of each restaurant's financial performance.
- The approach
- An ERP was implemented to centralise procurement, manage inventory accurately at each site, and provide real-time profitability analysis for the entire group.
- The outcome
- The chain achieved better control over food costs, optimised stock holding, and gained clear insights into the financial health of every outlet.
A growing pub group
- The challenge
- Managing purchasing, labour costs, and revenue reconciliation across an expanding estate of venues created significant administrative challenges.
- The approach
- They adopted an ERP system to unify financial processes, integrate with point-of-sale systems, and provide detailed reporting on site-specific profitability.
- The outcome
- The group streamlined its back-office operations, gained instant access to financial performance data, and improved strategic decision-making for expansion.
A contract catering company
- The challenge
- Tracking ingredient costs, managing supplier relationships, and ensuring accurate invoicing for various client contracts was becoming overly complex.
- The approach
- An ERP was deployed to manage recipes and costings, automate purchase orders based on demand, and streamline the client billing process.
- The outcome
- The company improved its gross profit margins through precise costing, enhanced supplier negotiations, and ensured accurate, timely invoicing to clients.
Illustrative, anonymised examples based on typical scenarios in this sector.
Choosing an ERP
What to look for when comparing ERP platforms
Multi-site hospitality has specific reporting demands. These are the questions worth asking before you shortlist.
Does it cover the whole operation?
Finance, purchasing, stock, projects and reporting should sit in one system. Anything left in a spreadsheet quickly becomes the version everybody argues about at month end.
Does it fit how you actually work?
A system designed for a different sector rarely suits hospitality operators. The platform should reflect your real processes, approvals and cost structures rather than forcing a rewrite of how you operate.
Can you close and report faster?
Consolidation, reconciliation and management reporting should be routine rather than a fortnight of manual work. Ask to see a month end demonstrated, not described.
Does it stand up to audit?
Role-based permissions, approval workflows and a complete audit trail should be built in, so compliance is a by-product of daily work rather than a separate exercise.
How long until it is live?
Cloud platforms with standard processes go live in weeks rather than years. A long implementation is usually a sign the system is being bent into shape.
Will it grow with you?
New sites, entities, currencies or product lines shouldn't need a replacement system. Check licensing and functionality for where you expect to be in five years.
Our recommendation
Introducing Business Central - the perfect ERP for hospitality
Once you know what an ERP should do, the question becomes which platform fits how your teams already work. Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central brings finance, purchasing, stock and reporting into one cloud system connected to the Microsoft tools you already use.
For hospitality operators that means dimension-based reporting by site and daypart, purchasing with contract pricing and goods receipt checking, stock and recipe costing, and Power BI dashboards showing GP and labour cost against sales.
Standard APIs connect it to EPOS, booking and rota systems, so sales and labour data flow in automatically rather than being rekeyed each week.
Why Business Central
The features that make Business Central the right fit
It isn't just an accounting package. These are the capabilities teams tell us make the biggest difference day to day.
Finance and reporting in one place
Ledgers, budgets, cash flow and management reporting run from the same data, with Power BI dashboards leadership can open themselves rather than waiting for a pack.
Copilot built in
AI drafts descriptions, reconciles bank entries, chases anomalies and answers questions about your data, taking a chunk of routine admin off the finance team.
Native Microsoft 365 connection
Approvals, quotes and reports work inside Outlook, Teams and Excel, so people use the tools they already know instead of learning another interface.
Automation without developers
Approvals, alerts and handovers can be automated with Power Automate using low-code tools your own team can maintain.
Security and audit trails
Role-based access, approval limits and full traceability protect the financial and operational data hospitality operators are accountable for.
Modular and scalable
Start with finance and operations, then add supply chain, projects, service or Dynamics 365 CRM as you grow - without another migration.
New to ERP outside hospitality? Start with our guide to what an ERP system is and how it works, then read how to choose an ERP system for the requirements, shortlisting and cost questions worth settling before you talk to any vendor.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
No. EPOS stays at the till. The ERP takes sales data from it and combines it with purchasing, stock and labour cost to produce the financial picture.
Yes, either through core stock and assembly functionality or a hospitality extension, giving dish level cost that updates with supplier prices.
Comparing theoretical usage from sales against counted stock shows the gap by site and product, which is where wastage and loss become visible.
Yes. New sites are added as dimensions or companies depending on structure, and consolidate automatically into group reporting.
It's licensed per user per month, and most operators need relatively few named users because site managers consume reporting through dashboards.
An ERP provides real-time visibility into stock levels across all locations, automating ordering processes and tracking usage. This helps minimise waste, prevent stockouts, and manage ingredient expiry efficiently.
Yes, an ERP consolidates all revenue and expenditure data for each site, allowing for accurate calculation of gross profit and operating expenses. This provides clear insights into the profitability of individual venues.
An ERP centralises procurement, enabling bulk purchasing, consistent pricing across sites, and streamlined invoice processing. It also helps manage supplier contracts and performance effectively.
Enquiry form
Not sure which ERP is right for your hospitality business?
Tell us how you report GP and labour cost today and we'll talk through what an ERP would change, which capabilities matter most and where to start. No obligation, just a straight conversation.