in-case you missed the sexy INTRO to this topic
Let’s digress for a moment and define the “Back-office.” – n. slang for location in brewery where the paperwork magic happens. (digression end)
So what goes on in the back office?
Hiring, firing, ordering, loitering, receiving, shipping, counting, Accounting, costing, payroll, utilizing, collaborating, reporting, tracking, paying, inventory and love.
There is great technology out there to help you with all these tasks. Typically, a startup brewery uses QuickBooks and Excel to handle most the back-office. This is great, because that is what I use as well. However, there comes a time when a brewery out-grows Excel, but NEVER QuickBooks. (yes my therapist tells me “never” and “always” are fighting words, but stay with me for a minute.) The graduation from Excel to a manufacturing software is vital to the growth of the brewery. Why? Because a good manufacturing software is going to keep the brew house Organized and Accountable.
Organized: You will be able to track the grains coming in up to your liquid gold leaving the premise. You will be able to manage reorder points and collaborate with distributors to determine what they want to pick up.
Accountable: You will be able to track/assign the progress of the brewhouse in a systematic manner as they get your liquid gold to market. Get your team accountable!
As for the specifics on software. I am proponent of QuickBooks and BeerRun. For the brewing processes that I have seen, it works. Its critical you understand your process before you allow a “salesman” to dictate them to you. I also like QuickBooks because there are many workarounds which can be implemented. Lastly, assuming you are using QuickBooks and want to keep the “back-office” person happy, don’t slap them with some super complex software to learn. Find someone to answer their questions and teach them how to use it to the max.
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What if my friend/potential client is a brewpub, not just a brewery. Their chosen POS is TOAST and their current accounting software is QB. They’re starting with a 15 bbl system.
Is BeerRun necessary? Is it duplicitous with TOAST. Though an accountant, I’m as new to the brewpub industry as they are and am trying to steer them in the proper direction.
Dave,
This is a really old post. So BeerRun would not apply. Actually BeerRun does not work, I learned that the hard way. Your customer does need a brewery management software such as Ekos to run the brewery side. Toast can not handle the manufacturing operations.
Beerrun and Ekos Brewmaster all look nice but come with additional monthly fees. What about Quickbooks for Manufacturing 2015? Is it possible to make it work as with only a one-time fee it is appealing for a startup.
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