Bookkeeping for Restaurants – Why It’s Different (And What You Need to Track)
Restaurants have slim margins, high transaction volume, and constantly changing inventory. That makes bookkeeping more complex than most businesses. Here’s what makes restaurant accounting unique—and what you should be tracking every month.
Download Our Free Brochure →Why Restaurant Bookkeeping Is Different
1. Daily Sales Reconciliation
- Pull and reconcile daily Z-tape/POS totals
- Split sales by category: dine-in, takeout, delivery
2. Tip Tracking and Payroll
- Tips must be tracked and reported accurately
- Distinguish between employee wages and tip-outs
3. COGS and Inventory Control
- Monitor ingredient costs, waste, spoilage, and shrinkage
- Reconcile vendor bills with deliveries weekly
4. Vendor and Invoice Management
- Track food, beverage, and supply invoices by category
- Match invoice totals to deliveries and bank payments
5. Sales Tax and Local Compliance
- Restaurant taxes vary by state/county
- Ensure daily sales data supports monthly or quarterly sales tax filings
Test Case
A 3-location café group came to RemoteBooksOnline struggling with vendor bills and tip reporting. We:
- Standardized vendor tracking across all locations
- Integrated POS data with QuickBooks
- Improved tip and wage reconciliation, avoiding IRS issues
Need help managing books for your restaurant? Our restaurant bookkeeping service is built for food and beverage businesses.
Restaurant Bookkeeping Services Across States
Download Our Free Brochure →Restaurant Bookkeeping Services Across Key ZIPs
FAQs
Do you work with Square, Toast, or Clover POS systems?
Yes. We reconcile daily sales and tips from most popular POS platforms.
Can you break out COGS by food, beverage, and other categories?
Absolutely. We create itemized COGS tracking for better margin analysis.
Do you help with tip pooling or IRS tip reporting?
Yes. We track and categorize tips to stay compliant.
Restaurant bookkeeping is about more than revenue-it’s about control. Let RemoteBooksOnline help you run lean, profitable operations.
