Restaurant Bookkeeping
Monthly bookkeeping, bank and credit-card reconciliation, merchant-deposit reconciliation, delivery-platform accounting and restaurant financial statements.
Explore Restaurant BookkeepingRestaurant Accounting and Payroll
Restaurant Accounting Built Around Your POS, Labor and Locations
Restaurant finances become difficult to manage when POS sales, merchant deposits, delivery platforms, payroll, sales tax and financial reporting all operate separately.
Evening Star brings those numbers together through coordinated restaurant bookkeeping, payroll support, sales-tax reconciliation and financial reporting.
Serving businesses since 1985 · Schoharie headquarters and NYC meeting location · Secure remote service
- POS Sales
- Merchant Deposits
- Delivery Platforms
- Payroll and Tips
- Sales Tax
- Multiple Locations
- Restaurant Reporting
Restaurant accounting is not only about categorizing transactions. Sales must reconcile to deposits, payroll must reconcile to the books, and liabilities must be visible before they become problems.
Does This Sound Familiar?
- Your POS reports one sales number, but a different amount reaches the bank.
- Merchant-processing fees are difficult to identify or reconcile.
- DoorDash, Uber Eats, Grubhub or other platforms deposit net amounts that do not match gross sales.
- Payroll is processed, but payroll expenses and liabilities do not reconcile to the general ledger.
- Sales-tax liabilities are unclear or do not agree to filed returns.
- Financial statements arrive too late to help manage the restaurant.
- Food and beverage purchases are not categorized consistently.
- You cannot compare performance across locations.
- Your books are behind or need cleanup.
- Your current accountant does not understand restaurant operating systems.
If the numbers from your POS, payroll system, bank account and financial statements do not tell the same story, the accounting process needs to be rebuilt around the restaurant's actual operations.
Request a Restaurant Accounting ReviewOne Accounting Relationship for the Restaurant's Financial Back Office
Restaurant Payroll
Payroll processing and coordination for hourly and salaried employees, multiple pay rates, tips, locations, payroll taxes and year-end reporting.
Explore Restaurant PayrollSales Tax
Sales-tax liability reconciliation and filing support based on the restaurant's books, POS activity and applicable filing requirements.
Discuss Sales Tax SupportTax and Advisory
Business tax preparation, owner tax coordination, entity planning, budgeting, cash-flow analysis and restaurant financial review.
Discuss Restaurant Tax and AdvisoryHow Restaurant Transactions Become Reliable Financial Reporting
- 1
POS and Sales Data
Collect sales information by category, location and relevant operating segment.
- 2
Merchant and Delivery Settlements
Identify gross sales, fees, adjustments and net deposits from processors and delivery platforms.
- 3
Bank and Credit-Card Reconciliation
Reconcile operating accounts, credit cards, deposits and transfers.
- 4
Payroll Reconciliation
Record payroll expense, taxes, tips and payroll liabilities consistently.
- 5
Sales-Tax Reconciliation
Reconcile taxable sales, collected tax, payments and remaining liabilities.
- 6
Monthly Close
Review balance-sheet accounts, income-statement classifications and unresolved exceptions.
- 7
Restaurant Reporting
Deliver financial statements and appropriate restaurant operating indicators.
Restaurant Numbers You Should Be Able to Trust
Available from normal accounting records
- Net sales
- Sales growth
- Labor percentage
- Food and beverage purchases percentage
- Merchant-processing fees
- Delivery commissions
- Occupancy cost
- Operating expenses
- Store-level profit
- Cash balance
- Sales-tax liability
- Accounts payable
- Cash runway where appropriate
Available when reliable inventory information exists
- Food cost
- Beverage cost
- Actual cost of goods sold
- Prime cost
- Inventory turnover
- Days of inventory
- Waste or usage analysis where sufficient source data exists
Food cost, actual cost of goods sold and prime cost require reliable inventory information. When inventory counts are unavailable, ESBS can report purchases as a percentage of sales but should not present that figure as actual food cost.
Restaurants and Hospitality Businesses We Work With
- Full-Service Restaurants
- Fast Casual
- Bars and Taverns
- Cafés and Bakeries
- Caterers
- Breweries
- Small Restaurant Groups
- Multi-Location Operators
Accounting That Works With the Systems Restaurants Already Use
- Toast
- Square
- Clover
- QuickBooks Online
- Common payroll providers
- DoorDash
- Uber Eats
- Grubhub
- Common banking and merchant-processing systems
ESBS can work with information exported or integrated from commonly used restaurant systems. Integration availability and workflow depend on the client's specific platforms and access. Platform names are listed for reference only and do not indicate a partnership.
Restaurant Accounting Pricing
Restaurant accounting engagements generally begin around $1,250 per month. Final pricing depends on the number of locations, transaction volume, payroll frequency, POS and merchant systems, sales-tax jurisdictions, bookkeeping condition and reporting requirements. Primary restaurant engagements commonly combine bookkeeping, POS and deposit reconciliation, payroll coordination, sales-tax support and financial reporting.
Restaurant Core
Starting around $1,250 per month per location
Potential scope
- Monthly bookkeeping
- Bank and credit-card reconciliation
- POS-to-bank deposit reconciliation
- Merchant and delivery-platform accounting
- Payroll journal and reconciliation
- Monthly financial statements
- Sales-tax liability reconciliation
- Restaurant KPI summary
- Year-end tax-ready accounting package
Restaurant Control
Starting around $2,000 per month per location
Potential scope
- Everything in Restaurant Core
- More frequent sales and deposit reconciliation
- Accounts-payable workflow
- Sales-tax filing support
- Payroll coordination
- Location or department reporting
- Budget-versus-actual reporting
- Monthly financial review
- Faster monthly close
Restaurant Group
Pricing based on locations and complexity
Potential scope
- Separate and consolidated location reporting
- Intercompany accounting
- Shared-overhead allocation
- Location comparisons
- Weekly financial flash reporting where appropriate
- Cash and working-capital analysis
- Group payroll coordination
- Management review
These are starting points, not automatic quotes. ESBS confirms scope and pricing after reviewing the restaurant's systems and accounting requirements.
Restaurant Accounting Backed by a Complete Accounting Firm
- Serving clients since 1985
- Bookkeeping, payroll, tax and advisory under one relationship
- Schoharie headquarters
- NYC meeting location
- Secure remote service
- Experienced accounting professionals
- Published in CPA Practice Advisor
Restaurant Accounting Questions
What does restaurant bookkeeping include?
Recording POS sales, reconciling merchant and delivery-platform deposits, bank and credit-card reconciliation, payroll journals, sales-tax liability tracking and a monthly close that produces financial statements. The exact scope is confirmed after we review your systems.
Can ESBS reconcile Toast, Square or Clover sales to bank deposits?
Yes. We work from the sales and settlement reports those systems produce and reconcile them to what reached the bank, identifying fees, refunds, tips and timing differences. How the data reaches us depends on your platform and the access you provide.
Can ESBS account for DoorDash, Uber Eats and other delivery platforms?
Yes. Platforms usually deposit a net amount. Where their reports provide it, we record gross sales, commissions, promotional adjustments and fees separately so delivery costs are visible.
Can ESBS handle restaurant payroll and reported tips?
We process payroll for hourly and salaried staff, including multiple pay rates and reported cash and credit-card tips, and file payroll taxes. Your tip-pooling and wage policies are yours to set; legal questions belong with employment counsel.
Do you work with restaurants with multiple locations?
Yes. Books can be structured to report each location separately as well as combined, with shared costs allocated on a basis agreed with you.
Can you clean up restaurant books that are behind?
Yes. Cleanup is scoped separately after we see how far behind the records are and what source data is available, then the recurring monthly process begins.
Can ESBS help reconcile and file sales tax?
We reconcile taxable sales, tax collected and payments to your books and POS reports, and can support filing based on your applicable requirements.
Can we keep our existing POS system?
In most cases, yes. We work with information exported or integrated from commonly used systems rather than requiring a change.
Can we keep our existing payroll provider?
Yes. We can reconcile an outside provider's payroll to the books, or discuss moving payroll to ESBS if coordinating both would help.
Can ESBS calculate food cost and prime cost?
Only when reliable inventory counts exist. Without them we report food and beverage purchases as a percentage of sales and label it as purchases, not actual food cost.
How much does restaurant accounting cost?
Engagements generally begin around $1,250 per month per location. Final pricing depends on locations, transaction volume, payroll frequency, systems, sales-tax requirements and the condition of the books.
Do you work with restaurants outside New York?
We serve restaurants in New York and North Jersey most often and can work remotely elsewhere, subject to the applicable state requirements.
What happens after we submit the form?
An accountant reviews your answers and contacts you to discuss your systems and needs. If it looks like a fit, we outline scope and pricing before any engagement begins.
Request a Restaurant Accounting Review
Tell us how your restaurant currently handles bookkeeping, payroll, POS reporting and sales tax. You do not need to diagnose the accounting problem before contacting us.
- 1. Contact
- 2. Your restaurant
- 3. Systems and needs