cohesionforrestaurants.com

What It Is

Cohesion for Restaurants is a restaurant-industry SaaS product from MaherWare Corporation. Its core positioning is not as a general-purpose ERP, but as a tool for connecting data flows between restaurant POS systems, accounting platforms, and payroll services. It collects transactions from POS systems, runs them through workflows such as submission, review, acceptance, or rejection, and then publishes them as balanced and approved accounting or payroll transactions.

Key Features and Integrations

The product covers sales journals, daily sales reconciliation, accounts receivable, vendor purchases, payroll/time entry, payroll journals, and labor-rule calculations such as California Meal Period, Split Shift, and New York Spread of Hours. Integrations are its main value proposition: on the POS side, it supports Toast POS, Qu Beyond POS, POSitouch, and others; on the accounting side, it integrates with QuickBooks Desktop/Online, Microsoft Dynamics NAV, Sage 300, and Sage Intacct; and on the payroll side, it supports ADP Workforce Now, Ceridian Dayforce, Paychex Flex, Paycom, Paycor, Paylocity, and more. Some SkyTab and Stampli-related connections are still under development.

Pricing and Trial

Pricing is calculated by selected Workflow, per restaurant, per month. Most workflows cost $30 per restaurant per month, while add-ons such as Daily Labor Accrual Journal cost $10 per month. The service supports monthly or annual auto-renewal and offers a 30-day free trial. No permanently free plan is disclosed. Fees exclude taxes, and the terms state that paid fees are non-refundable.

Pros and Cons

Its strengths are a clear focus on restaurant operations and well-defined workflow boundaries, making it suitable for multi-location businesses that need to standardize POS data before sending it into accounting and payroll systems. Per-item pricing is also relatively straightforward. The drawbacks are limited disclosure around permission management, audit logs, compliance certifications, and open APIs. Phone support costs extra, and the terms of service explicitly state that the service may only be accessed and used in the United States and Canada, which creates significant limitations for cross-border or China-based teams.

Best Fit and Access from China

It is best suited to restaurant businesses in the United States and Canada, especially stores or chains already using systems such as Toast, POSitouch, QuickBooks, Sage, Intacct, or ADP/Paychex. Access and use from China should be considered partially restricted: the terms limit use of the service to the United States and Canada, and prohibit processing PII for individuals outside the US and Canada. Chinese restaurant businesses may want to consider local restaurant ERP solutions, accounting software integration services, or North American alternatives such as Restaurant365, MarginEdge, and xtraCHEF.