The Challenge: No Financial Visibility and a Troubling Experience

In addition to being President of the franchisee, Jonathan also maintains a demanding career in financial technology, working for a Wall Street company that provides wealth-management infrastructure to firms across the investment lifecycle. Because he understands the importance of financial data, he knew early on that choosing the right technology stack would be critical.

“We had to make decisions quickly,” recalls Jonathan. “Toast, OpenTable, inventory control – and one of the systems we selected was Restaurant365.”

Implementing R365 proved more complex than expected. Fortunately, Restaurant365 corporate referred RRFMG as their implementation partner, where senior R365 expert John LaPorte guided The Melting Pot’s setup.

“It wasn’t trivial,” says Jonathan. “John was amazing. He provided countless hours of support, responded immediately when we needed help, and made the whole process manageable.”

After the implementation, John introduced Jonathan to RRFMG’s CEO Wayne Lipschitz, who explained that RRFMG also provided restaurant-specific accounting services. The introduction was timely, because though Jonathan had already chosen a nationally known bookkeeping provider that specialized in franchises, he had begun regretting the choice.

His decision was largely driven by cost. “It was about $500 a month cheaper,” Jonathan says.

That decision quickly became expensive.

After months of waiting, the Reeves still had no reliable financial statements, no balance sheet, no P&L, and little insight into whether the restaurant was profitable.

“I had promises that eventually I’d get my books, but they never materialized.”

Worse, someone at the accounting firm gained access to the restaurant’s bank accounts and payroll system, then fraudulently issued paychecks to themselves. Although the bookkeeping firm ultimately reimbursed the losses, the damage to Jonathan’s confidence had already been done.

After enduring nine months of frustration, the Reeves decided enough was enough.

In January 2025, they turned to RRFMG.

By the time RRFMG stepped in, the situation was daunting.

“At that point, I still didn’t know if we were profitable. I didn’t have a balance sheet. I didn’t have anything.”

RRFMG first tackled the enormous job of reconstructing the restaurant’s prior year’s financials from scratch.

“It wasn’t a small task,” Jonathan says.

Within a few months, the restaurant finally had complete books and records “…down to the most minute details.”

Today, Jonathan says RRFMG continuously reviews transactions, follows up on questionable activity, and proactively ensures the books remain accurate.

“I get lots of emails asking about this transaction or that transaction. They’re super patient with us, super diligent, detailed, and hyper-collaborative. They really righted our ship back on course.”

Bringing Inventory Under Control

Inventory accuracy was another area where RRFMG made a significant impact.

Restaurant inventory can be unforgiving. Small errors compound quickly and create distorted food cost numbers. RRFMG worked closely with the Reeves to ensure transactions were correctly recorded and inventory issues addressed promptly.

“They hold us accountable to ourselves,” Jonathan says. “When they catch transactions that don’t make sense or didn’t go through, they’re just on it from a business perspective. They help us run the business.”

As a result, Jonathan now feels confident that the restaurant’s costs are aligned with benchmarks established by Melting Pot’s corporate office.

“We feel pretty good about our expenses because we really understand them, and corporate has confirmed we’re in line with other Melting Pots. So our costs are good now.”

Beyond bookkeeping, Jonathan values the monthly review meetings with RRFMG CEO Wayne Lipschitz.

Each month, Wayne walks through the restaurant’s performance and shares ideas gleaned from working with operators across the country.

“The monthly reviews are really valuable because Wayne shares what’s working well for other clients and kind of cross-pollinates best practices with us.”

That broader perspective has become an important source of operational insight for the Reeves.

A Team Built for Partnership

Jonathan credits RRFMG’s combination of U.S.-based expertise and offshore support teams for delivering a consistently high level of service.

“They have great talent both here in the U.S. and in their offices in the Philippines. Everybody I’ve interacted with at RRFMG is actually really good.”

More importantly, he appreciates the confidence that comes from knowing every transaction receives scrutiny.

Jonathan adds, “We have neither the skills nor the time to do what they do for us. The fact that they’re reviewing and questioning every transaction gives me confidence in our books.”

Today, the New Haven Melting Pot enjoys:

• Complete, accurate books and financial records.
• Reliable monthly balance sheets and P&Ls.
• Improved inventory accuracy and confidence in food costs.
• Ongoing transaction oversight and accountability.
• Monthly financial reviews and access to industry best practices.
• Greater confidence in operating performance and profitability.

Looking back, Jonathan sees one clear lesson.

“I made the wrong call trying to save $500 a month. Now I know what my numbers are, and you can’t run a business without knowing your numbers. If I had to do it all over again, I would have started with RRFMG from day one. It would have saved me a world of pain.”

Perhaps his strongest endorsement is also the simplest: “They do what they promise. After the experience I had with our prior accounting firm, I was hoping for good – but I ended up with great.”