Why systems matter more than effort

Most operators don’t lack effort — they lack structure.

Back Office Foundations replaces:

  • reactive admin

  • duplicated work

  • inconsistent checks

  • reliance on “the one person who knows how it works”

with systems that:

  • hold up under pressure

  • work when key staff are away

  • scale as the business grows

This isn’t about doing more.
It’s about doing the right things consistently.

Who this framework is designed for

Back Office Foundations is ideal for:

  • café and restaurant owners

  • multi-site operators

  • growing hospitality businesses

  • venues transitioning from founder-led admin to delegated systems

It’s particularly valuable for businesses that:

  • feel profitable but cash-tight

  • experience regular payroll or compliance stress

  • suspect margins are drifting but can’t pinpoint why

How Back Office Foundations is typically implemented

There’s no one-size-fits-all rollout.

Some businesses start with a single system to stabilise a pressure point.
Others implement multiple systems together as part of a broader reset.

What matters is:

  • clarity of roles

  • realistic cadence

  • consistency over time

Progress always beats perfection.

What changes when foundations are in place

Businesses with strong back-office foundations typically experience:

  • fewer surprises in payroll and compliance

  • clearer wage and cost visibility

  • more confident supplier and staffing decisions

  • improved cash-flow predictability

  • reduced reliance on specific individuals

  • less mental load for owners and managers

The business feels calmer — even when it’s busy.

How Daou Consulting supports this work

Back Office Foundations can be:

  • implemented system by system

  • supported through hands-on setup and refinement

  • adapted to existing software and team structures

The focus is always on practical systems that stick, not theoretical models.

If this sounds like what your business needs, here’s how Back Office Foundations typically begins.

Back Office Foundations

The systems that keep hospitality businesses running calmly and profitably

Most hospitality businesses don’t struggle because of food, service, or demand.

They struggle because the back office isn’t built to support growth.

Payroll, purchasing, compliance, and cash flow are often handled as separate tasks — managed by different people, at different times, with no shared rhythm. That’s when mistakes creep in, margins drift, and admin starts running the business instead of supporting it.

Back Office Foundations brings structure to the operational essentials that sit behind every successful venue.

What Back Office Foundations means

Back Office Foundations is Daou Consulting’s framework for managing the non-negotiable parts of hospitality operations — the systems that must work consistently for a business to grow without stress.

Rather than relying on memory, goodwill, or last-minute checks, these foundations create:

  • clear ownership

  • repeatable processes

  • predictable timing

  • early visibility of issues

Each system is practical, hospitality-specific, and designed to work in real venues.

The core systems within Back Office Foundations

Current core systems include:

A structured, weekly approach to payroll that improves accuracy, award compliance, approvals, and wage cost visibility — before errors become expensive or habitual.

A disciplined purchasing system that brings structure to suppliers, ordering, receiving, invoicing, and payments — protecting margins without adding unnecessary admin.

A weekly decision framework that gives owners clear visibility over cash movement, upcoming obligations, and short-term pressure points — so payroll, tax, and suppliers are never reactive.

A clear system for managing superannuation, PAYG, payroll tax, and reporting obligations with confidence, consistency, and no last-minute pressure.

While each system can stand alone, the real strength of Back-Office Foundations comes from how payroll, purchasing, and cash flow work together each week.

Getting Started

  • 1. Start with a conversation

    A short, no-pressure discussion to understand your business, where the pressure is sitting, and whether I’m the right fit to help.

  • 2. Foundations Review

    A structured review of your back-office foundations — payroll & compliance, cash flow visibility, purchasing controls and systems — to identify risks, gaps and quick wins.

  • 3. Clear recommendations & next steps

    You’ll receive a practical roadmap outlining priorities, system improvements and support options — whether that’s targeted fixes or deeper implementation work.

Start a conversation

Ready to strengthen your foundations?

If your business has grown but the back office hasn’t kept pace, Back Office Foundations provides the structure needed to move forward with confidence. Implementation typically begins with a Foundations Review, ensuring priorities are clear and systems are introduced in the right order.