For many retailers, expanding their business and opening a second or third location is a dream come true. But with this added revenue comes a whole new set of headaches, namely, accounting. If you are using Retail Man Hero (RMH) at the front of your business and QuickBooks in the back, you are using two of the most powerful tools in the business. How do you consolidate sales from three different cash registers? manage inventory across different locations without double-counting? keep your General Ledger clean? Here is your guide to how to simplify your multi-store retail accounting and bridge the gap between RMH and QuickBooks.
The Multi-Store Challenge
When you only have one store, it’s easy to synchronize your Point-of-Sale system with your accounting system. You just push the data at the end of the day, and that’s it.
But what happens when you have two stores? Suddenly, things are much more complicated:
Data Silos: You have your own data in Store A, and your own data in Store B. Trying to bring this data together manually is a real pain, requiring hours of copying and pasting.
Inventory Issues: You sell an item in Store A, but this information does not automatically appear in QuickBooks. How can you expect your balance sheet to be accurate?
Tax Issues: You may have different tax jurisdictions in different stores.
Trying to do this manually is a recipe for disaster, and this is where integration can help.
Why RMH and QuickBooks Need a “Bridge”
RMH is a leader in dealing with all the intricacies associated with a retail business: inventory matrices, rewards programs, etc. QuickBooks is the industry leader in financial reporting, payroll, and tax preparation.
The problem is that they “speak different languages.” RMH and QuickBooks don’t “hold hands” in a multi-store environment without a middleware solution.
By utilizing a middleware solution (an automated connector), you can think of it as a “bridge” connecting your RMH database with your QuickBooks file. It receives information from your stores, maps it correctly to send it directly into QuickBooks.
Best Practices for Multi-Store Accounting
To effectively manage accounting for multiple stores with these two systems, the following are some essential best practices to keep in mind:
1. Utilize QuickBooks “Classes” or “Locations”
One of the largest mistakes a multi-store retailer can make with QuickBooks is to lump all sales into a single, generic “Sales” account. This allows you to make no determination of which store is profitable, and which store is losing money.
The Fix: Use QuickBooks Classes, also known as “Locations “, in QuickBooks Online. Configure your integration so all sales are automatically sent to a specific Class in QuickBooks, such as “Store 01 – Downtown” or “Store 02 – Mall”.
Result: You can generate a Profit & Loss report per Class with a single click of a button and know exactly what’s going on at each store!
2. Consolidate Daily Sales Journals
You don’t want to import each coffee cup or t-shirt sale individually into QuickBooks. It will make your file messy and slow it down.
The Fix: You can set up your integration to create a Daily Sales Journal in QuickBooks. RMH will summarize the day’s transactions (Total Sales, Total Tax, Total Discounts, Payment Methods) and send it to QuickBooks as one record.
Result: Your QuickBooks file will stay clean and easily auditable, and RMH will still have the detailed records of each item sold.
3. Automate Inventory Syncing
In a multi-store business, your inventory is your biggest asset. If you sell a dress in red at Store A, your QuickBooks inventory count should go down.
The Fix: Two-way syncing will do the trick.
RMH to QuickBooks: Sends sales data to QuickBooks to reduce your inventory counts and record your Cost of Goods Sold (COGS).
QuickBooks to RMH: (Optional) Sends item cost data from the office to the stores in RMH.
Result: Your Balance Sheet will always reflect the true value of your inventory assets in QuickBooks.
4. Handle Payment Methods Correctly
We accept cash, credit, gift cards, and store credit as payment methods in the retail industry. In QuickBooks, these must be deposited into different accounts.
The Fix
We need to map our RMH tender types to the corresponding QB account types in our integration settings.
Data Collection
Our integration software wakes up and collects the summarized sales data from the RMH central database/cloud.
Mapping & Formatting
Our integration software knows that the data is from Store 1 and that it is part of the “Class: Store 1.” The payment methods will be formatted accordingly.
Posting
Our integration software posts the sales receipts and the corresponding inventory changes directly into QB.
Reconcile
We wake up the next morning and fire up QB, and our General Ledger is beautifully organized. All we have to do is reconcile our bank deposits with the “Undeposited Funds” account.
Conclusion: Stop Data Entry, Start Analysis
You didn’t get into the retail industry to be a data entry clerk. If you’re spending hours entering sales data from multiple RMH locations into QuickBooks, then you’re wasting time.
By integrating RMH and QuickBooks, you’re not “putting out fires” anymore; you’re “growing your business.” You’re able to have real-time visibility into cash flow, correct inventory valuations, and make decisions based on facts rather than guesses.
