Background
Since 1880, Commander’s Palace has been a New Orleans landmark known for the award-winning quality of its food and outstanding service. Today, Commander’s is not only a New Orleans staple but also one of the most recognizable restaurants in the nation. Commander’s chef, Tory McPhail won the James Beard Award for Best Chef in the South and also appeared on the hit television show, Top Chef. Commander’s is one of Compeat’s (now R365) original customers and has been utilizing Compeat Advantage for their back office and accounting since 2002.
Challenge
Prior to Compeat, Commander’s used an old AS/400 system to manage their accounting. This system was extremely outdated and not Y2K compliant. They also outsourced their payroll to ADP. They knew they needed a change and began looking for a system that could not only handle the accounting side of their restaurant operation but also their back office.
Solution
Commander’s researched Compeat along with three other accounting software companies. Compeat Advantage was the only solution that was restaurant specific and included a robust back office and payroll component. It was also the only software that seamlessly integrated with their POSitouch POS system – a critical feature that allows them to more efficiently run their operation. They implemented Compeat Advantage in May 2002.
Results
Commander’s immediately benefited from having all of their POSitouch POS information polled into Compeat Advantage for Daily Sales Reporting, thus eliminating any need for manual work. “All of our data is automatically polled over from POSitouch to Compeat. Once that data is in Compeat, we can drill down on virtually anything to quickly get the information we’re looking for. This is a huge time saver in our daily operations,” says Arlene Nesser, CFO at Commander’s.
Commander’s has been able to improve their daily accounting operations with Compeat’s scanning feature. Prior to Compeat, Commander’s spent a lot of money on paper and storage, and their accountants spent a lot of time sorting through invoices and filing them away. Now they simply scan all accounts payable into Compeat and anybody who would like to pull an invoice can simply do so from any computer. “Compeat allows us to operate lean and mean!” says Nesser.
Commander’s has also been able to reduce costs and increase efficiency by switching from ADP to Compeat Payroll in 2009. Prior to the switch, Commander’s collected payroll information out of their POS system, reviewed it, and sent it to ADP. “We soon realized that these were the same tasks required to process payroll with Compeat; we were paying another company simply to print checks,” says Pegggy Boutte, Human Resource Executive at Commander’s.The history and philosophy that has sustained Commander’s Palace for over a century will continue to sustain it for years to come. They plan to utilize Compeat Advantage as their back office and accounting software as their legacy continues.
“In Compeat, we can drill down on virtually anything to quickly get the information we are looking for. This is a huge time savor in our daily operations.”
– Arlene Nesser Chief Financial Officer
