RDMS Group is a restaurant-focused accounting firm rooted in a shared passion for hospitality and a deep understanding of the industry’s challenges. Founded by Tom Rutledge and Sean Olson, two longtime restaurant operators who met while working at another accounting firm, RDMS was created to offer more than bookkeeping. Their mission: empower restaurants with the tools, insights, and systems needed to optimize performance and boost profitability.
RDMS is headquartered in San Francisco and now supports 75 restaurant companies across 125+ locations in Northern California and beyond, ranging from food trucks to Michelin-starred dining rooms. With a client-first mindset and a commitment to workflow optimization, RDMS has become a trusted partner for restaurants seeking accurate data, faster reporting, and scalable growth.
As RDMS Group expanded its client base, it faced the same uphill battle many restaurant-focused accounting firms know all too well: manual processes, fragmented systems, and slow access to the insights clients needed to drive profitability. Rutledge called their solutions at the time “duct tape” because of its intensely manual offering. While they had an effective, sophisticated accounting system. it couldn’t deliver actionable data to clients as fast as needed. Moreover, these challenges restrained RDMS’s ability to grow.
We were manually processing payroll, making journal entries, reconciling every bank system known to mankind, handling AP on a weekly basis, payroll biweekly, and then it was just a sprint to get to the end of the period. If you really wanted to talk about your numbers, we would need at least 10 days after the close of a period.
Tom Rutledge, Co-Founder
RDMS Group
Among RDMS’s biggest challenges were:
To move beyond “duct-tape” solutions and deliver faster, smarter, and more scalable accounting support, RDMS turned to Restaurant365.
After testing multiple systems, RDMS chose Restaurant365 for its integrated, all-in-one approach to restaurant accounting and operations. From day one, the platform gave RDMS the flexibility and efficiency it was looking for, eliminating manual processes and dramatically speeding up reporting cycles.
After making R365 an integral part of the firm and its client’s operations, RDMS streamlined dozens of back-offices, reducing clients’ workloads and providing accurate, actionable, real-time information, based on accurate inventory, that started boosting bottom lines. RDMS also used the data and reporting gleaned via R365 to create a group purchasing organization to pass even more savings onto its clients. Finally, the efficiency of R365 is empowering RDMS to provide its clients with better service at a lower cost while enabling the firm to grow.
We wouldn’t be the size we are now or operating as well as we are now if it wasn’t for Restaurant365.
Tom Rutledge, Co-Founder
RDMS Group
With Restaurant365 powering its workflows, RDMS Group dramatically improved operational efficiency — for both its internal teams and the clients it serves. Manual tasks like payroll processing, AP, and bank reconciliations that once consumed hours were automated, freeing up RDMS to scale its services and deliver faster, more accurate financials. What used to take five weeks now only takes 24 hours, enabling the firm to serve more clients at a higher level and a lower cost.
Barrio, a Latin kitchen and agave bar overlooking the San Francisco Bay, exemplifies the impact of this transformation. Barrio opened during the height of the pandemic in early 2021 and launched with RDMS and R365 embedded at its core. The result was a business foundation built on real-time visibility and reliability. With integrated data driving operations, the restaurant could monitor performance daily, react to fluctuations, and make informed decisions that protected margins — even during uncertain times. As a result, Barrio achieved a standout 21% food cost in recent quarters, despite industry-wide inflationary pressures.
For Barrio’s Director of Operations, Derek Belanger, the difference RDMS make for Barrio is night and day compared to his past experience. In previous roles, Belanger recalled going months without seeing a P&L, only to find out too late that what looked like a strong month on paper had actually ended in a loss. Now, that uncertainty is gone, replaced by confidence and control.
Before, I would feel like we’re overscheduled, but it was only a feeling, not data. Today, we can forecast more accurately, we can schedule more accurately, and our operations are getting tighter.
Derek Belanger, Director of Operations
Barrio
Beyond individual client gains, RDMS has also used the insights gathered from R365 to create broader business advantages, including a group purchasing organization that aggregates buying power across its client base. With more than 100 locations in its purchasing group, RDMS helps clients negotiate better vendor pricing, creating another layer of value and cost savings. Faster insights, optimized operations, group buying power has translated into higher margins and sustainable growth for both RDMS and the restaurant brands it supports.
The advantages RDMS Group provides with economies of scale are only the beginning. The company became increasingly efficient as RDMS became even more of a Restaurant365 expert. This allows it to better serve clients at a lower cost due to the fewer hours needed to produce work that once took weeks, and it also allows the firm to service more clients.
By partnering with Restaurant365, RDMS Group has transformed from a traditional accounting firm into a strategic partner and performance accelerator for its restaurant clients. Armed with real-time insights, streamlined processes, and powerful data tools, the firm is helping restaurants like Barrio not only survive but thrive in a complex, fast-moving industry. Whether it’s reducing food costs, improving labor efficiency, or scaling smarter, RDMS and R365 are proving that the right technology and expertise can unlock remarkable growth—without sacrificing the service and hospitality at the heart of every great restaurant.
50% reduction in workload
due to R365 automations
21% food cost achieved by client
despite rising inflation
125+ restaurant locations supported
with real-time insights & strategic guidance
Discover how you can start achieving savings like these for your business
500 Technology Drive, Suite 200
Irvine, CA 92618
Westech 360
8911 N Capital of Texas Hwy
Building 1, Suite 1200
Austin, TX 78759
Restaurant365 bridges the gap between accounting and operations by centralizing all data, helping restaurant operators to become more efficient, accurately forecast, and tackle any challenge or opportunity with speed and accuracy.
