Toast’s xtraCHEF Takeover Bolsters Eatery AP Spend Management

Toast has purchased restaurant management software company xtraCHEF, which equips eateries with tools such as accounts payable (AP) automation in addition to inventory management, according to a Thursday (June 10) announcement. The acquisition comes on the heels of a successful partnership rolled out in June 2020.

xtraCHEF, which was created for all different sized eateries, lets operators digitize accounts payable, manage increasing inventory spend, and simplify back-office work to bolster total profitability.

“Restaurant operators work far too hard to waste time and money,” xtraCHEF CEO and Co-founder Andy Schwartz said. “xtraCHEF’s automated tools and dynamic, interactive dashboards make it easy for busy restaurateurs to track, compare and control costs.”

Restaurateurs will be able to use automation and intelligence tools that simplify work such as controlling inventory, bookkeeping and monitoring margins when xtraCHEF’s line-item spend data is combined with Toast’s sales data.

“Together with xtraCHEF, we immediately deepen our capabilities in automating cost management for restaurants, helping restaurateurs reclaim time previously spent navigating complex, manual processes and better understand their profitability, down to the menu item,” Toast CEO Chris Comparato said in the announcement.

The news comes as Toast rolled out a bolstered collection of “contactless and guest-facing solutions” to help restauranters revamp their businesses and decrease overhead amid their recovery from the pandemic.

“Guest behaviors are changing faster than ever in direct response to the COVID-19 pandemic; ordering and paying for food via smartphone might have felt foreign to some a few years ago. Today, many people expect this convenience in an effort to reduce contact with others and increase efficiency,” Toast President and Co-Founder Aman Narang said in an announcement.

A published report in February said that Toast is mulling over a potential initial public offering (IPO) in 2021 and that such an offering could value as high as $20 billion.

Toast, which rolled out in 2013, said its “democratizing technology for restaurants of all sizes,” according to the xtraCHEF announcement from today.