Restaurant Bookkeeping Services for Owners and Groups Prime Cost Under Control, Every Week
Restaurant bookkeeping services for independent restaurants, cafes, bars and multi unit groups. We reconcile daily sales and delivery app payouts, track food, beverage and labor costs, handle tips correctly and report prime cost every week.
- Daily sales reconciledPOS to deposits
- Prime cost weeklyFood, beverage and labor
- Tips handled rightPayroll and tax ready
- POSNet salesDine in, takeout and cateringRecorded
- APPDelivery app payoutsCommissions split outMatched
- FOODFood costInvoices and inventory countCounted
- BEVBeverage costBar inventory countedCounted
- LABLabor costFrom payroll and schedulesPosted
Weekly flash report sent
Big Accountants provides restaurant bookkeeping services to US restaurants, cafes, bars, ghost kitchens and multi unit groups. We reconcile your point of sale and delivery platforms to the bank, keep food and beverage costs current, handle tips and payroll entries correctly and give you a weekly view of prime cost.
Restaurants run on margins that move every week. Food prices shift, delivery commissions eat into sales and labor drifts with every schedule. Monthly books that arrive three weeks late are too slow to act on. We give you weekly numbers you can use to adjust menus, ordering and staffing.
- Sales by channel: dine in, takeout, delivery
- Delivery app commissions and fees
- Food and beverage cost percentages
- Labor cost and tips, recorded correctly
- Prime cost and profit by location
Restaurant Tip Rules We Keep You Ready For
Food and beverage businesses where tipping is customary may be able to claim a credit for the employer share of Social Security and Medicare taxes paid on certain tips, using Form 8846. It depends on accurate tip records.
Employees may also deduct up to $25,000 of qualified tips under the new no tax on tips deduction, subject to income limits. Clean tip reporting in payroll protects both you and your staff. Your tax preparer confirms what you can claim.
- Tip recordsCash and card tips tracked
- Tip credit supportRecords ready for Form 8846
- Payroll entriesWages, tips and taxes posted correctly
- Sales taxCollected by location and channel
- 1099 trackingContractors and vendors recorded
What Our Restaurant Bookkeeping Services Include
A weekly routine that matches how restaurants buy, sell and staff.
Daily sales reconciliation
POS sales, discounts, comps and voids tied to card and cash deposits.
Delivery app payouts
DoorDash, Uber Eats and Grubhub payouts split into sales, commissions and fees.
Food and beverage cost
Vendor invoices coded and inventory counts reflected in cost of goods sold.
Labor and tips
Payroll, tips and employer taxes posted by location.
Sales tax
Tax collected by location and channel kept ready for filing.
Vendor bills and payables
Food, liquor and supplies bills entered, approved and paid on time.
Weekly flash reports
Sales, prime cost and labor percentage each week.
Multi unit reporting
Profit and loss for every location, side by side.
Restaurant KPIs We Report Every Week
The numbers owners and chefs use to make decisions this week, not next month.
Prime cost
Your two biggest costs combined.
(Food + Beverage + Labor) / Sales
Food cost percentage
How much of food sales goes to ingredients.
Food COGS / Food sales
Beverage cost percentage
How much of bar sales goes to product.
Beverage COGS / Beverage sales
Labor cost percentage
Wages, taxes and benefits as a share of sales.
Labor cost / Sales
Delivery commission rate
The real cost of each delivery platform.
Platform fees / Platform sales
Sales per labor hour
How productive each scheduled hour is.
Sales / Labor hours
How a Delivery App Payout Should Be Recorded
Recording only the deposit hides what each platform really costs you.
| Line in the payout report | Where it goes in your books | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Gross food and drink sales | Sales, by platform | Shows true demand by channel |
| Platform commission | Delivery commission expense | Reveals channel profitability |
| Marketing and promotion fees | Marketing expense | Shows the cost of promotions |
| Customer refunds and adjustments | Refunds and allowances | Prevents overstated sales |
| Sales tax remitted by the platform | Tracked, not your revenue | Keeps sales tax reporting accurate |
| Net payout to bank | Cleared against the deposit | Proves the books tie to the bank |
Restaurant Bookkeeping Problems We Fix
If any of these sound familiar, your prime cost is probably higher than you think.
- Delivery app deposits booked as sales
- Food cost only known at year end
- Tips missing or wrong in payroll records
- No weekly view of labor percentage
- Cash over and short never investigated
- Each location’s profit hidden in one set of books
How We Set Up Restaurant Bookkeeping
Live within weeks, then a steady weekly rhythm.
- Week 1
Connect
POS, delivery platforms, payroll, bank and vendor portals connected.
- Weeks 1 to 2
Structure
Chart of accounts by sales channel, cost category and location.
- Weeks 2 to 3
Baseline
Opening inventory and recent months reconciled.
- Every week
Flash and close
Weekly flash report, with a full monthly close and statements.
Restaurant Bookkeeping Pricing
Price depends on the number of locations, sales channels, invoice volume, payroll and how often you want reports. Every quote is fixed in writing after a free call, and our pricing is competitive. See how our pricing models work.
Ongoing restaurant books
Sales, costs, payroll entries and weekly reports for an agreed fee.
Setup and cleanup
Opening a new location or rebuilding past months at a set price.
Advice on demand
Menu pricing and cost questions as they arise.
More Services for Restaurants
Accounts payable
Bills coded, approved and paid on time.
Tax preparation and filing
Business returns prepared and e-filed.
Business intelligence
KPI dashboards built on clean books.
Catch up bookkeeping
Overdue books rebuilt and reconciled.
See all our accounting and bookkeeping services for US businesses.
Restaurant Bookkeeping FAQs
What do restaurant bookkeeping services include?
Restaurant bookkeeping services include reconciling daily POS sales and delivery app payouts, coding food, beverage and supply invoices, recording payroll and tips, tracking sales tax and reporting prime cost and profit by location.
What is prime cost in a restaurant?
Prime cost is the total of food cost, beverage cost and labor cost. It is usually shown as a percentage of sales and is the main number restaurant owners watch, because it covers the costs they can control most directly.
How do you record DoorDash, Uber Eats and Grubhub payouts?
We break each payout into gross sales, commissions, marketing fees, refunds and any tax remitted by the platform, then match the net amount to your bank deposit.
How should tips be handled in the books?
Tips received by employees are recorded through payroll, with the related employer taxes. Accurate tip records support the FICA tip credit on Form 8846 and your employees’ own tax reporting.
Can you give us weekly numbers?
Yes. We provide a weekly flash report on sales, food, beverage and labor cost, alongside a full monthly close and financial statements.
Do you work with multi location restaurant groups?
Yes. We set up each location as its own class or entity, so every restaurant has its own profit and loss and you can compare them side by side.
Which systems do you work with?
We work with POS systems such as Toast, Square and Clover, delivery platforms, payroll providers and QuickBooks Online, Xero or Zoho Books.
How much do restaurant bookkeeping services cost?
Cost depends on locations, channels, invoice volume, payroll and reporting frequency. We offer a competitive fixed monthly fee, hourly billing or per task pricing, quoted in writing after a free call.
Get Prime Cost Under Control
Tell us your locations, systems and channels. We will recommend a setup and send a clear written quote.