POS Sales
- Sales categories
- Discounts and comps
- Refunds and voids
- Gift-card activity where information is available
- Sales-tax components
Restaurant Bookkeeping (518) 295-8066
Restaurant Bookkeeping That Reconciles Sales to the Cash You Actually Receive
The amount reported by a POS system is rarely the same amount deposited into the bank. Merchant fees, tips, delivery commissions, gift cards, refunds, discounts and settlement timing all affect the numbers.
ESBS organizes those transactions into books that restaurant owners can use.
Restaurant Bookkeeping Is a Reconciliation Process
Every restaurant's sales pass through several hands before they reach the bank. Bookkeeping has to walk that path backward, line by line, so the income statement shows what was actually sold and what it cost to collect.
Illustrative only. The components differ by POS, processor and delivery platform.
- POS Gross Sales
- −Refunds and Discounts
- −Merchant Fees
- −Delivery Commissions
- ±Tips, Gift Cards and Timing
- =Expected Deposits and Recorded Activity
What ESBS Handles
Merchant Processing
- Gross activity
- Processing fees
- Chargebacks
- Adjustments
- Settlement timing
- Net deposits
Delivery Platforms
- Gross customer activity where reports provide it
- Platform commissions
- Promotional adjustments
- Taxes and fees
- Net settlements
Payroll Accounting
- Payroll expense
- Employer payroll taxes
- Tips
- Payroll liabilities
- Payroll clearing and reconciliation
Sales Tax
- Taxable sales
- Collected tax
- Sales-tax payments
- Remaining liability
- Reconciliation to applicable filings
Monthly Close
- Bank reconciliation
- Credit-card reconciliation
- Balance-sheet review
- Income-statement review
- Unresolved exceptions
- Monthly financial statements
Systems Restaurants Already Use
We work with the systems restaurants already run on. Platform names are examples of what we commonly see in restaurant books — not partnerships or endorsements.
Point of sale
- Toast
- Square
- Clover
- Other common POS systems
Bookkeeping
- QuickBooks Online
- Other accounting platforms
Payroll
- ADP
- Paychex
- Gusto
- Other payroll providers
Delivery
- DoorDash
- Uber Eats
- Grubhub
- Direct online ordering
If the Restaurant Books Are Behind, Start With the Cleanup
When months have gone unreconciled, the recurring process cannot start cleanly. Cleanup is scoped after we see the records; there is no fixed cleanup price.
- 1Reconstructing prior months
- 2Correcting bank reconciliations
- 3Separating sales from net deposits
- 4Recording merchant fees
- 5Correcting payroll entries
- 6Reviewing sales-tax liabilities
- 7Correcting owner activity
- 8Reviewing balance-sheet accounts
- 9Establishing the recurring monthly process
Bookkeeping Works Better When Payroll, Sales Tax and Tax Preparation Are Coordinated
Restaurant PayrollPayroll that posts cleanly to the ledger, including tips and location labor.Restaurant AccountingThe full restaurant back-office picture, including reporting and pricing.Business Tax PlanningYear-end planning built on books that are already reconciled.Switching Payroll ProvidersHow a payroll transition is reviewed and scheduled.
Restaurant Bookkeeping Questions
Why do POS sales not match bank deposits?
Processors deduct fees before depositing, tips may be paid out, refunds and chargebacks reduce settlements, delivery platforms pay net, and batches often settle a day or more later. Each difference needs to be identified rather than written off.
How are merchant-processing fees recorded?
Sales are recorded gross and processing fees are recorded as a separate expense, using the processor's statements, so the true cost of card acceptance is visible.
How are delivery-platform settlements recorded?
Where the platform's reports provide the detail, customer sales, commissions, promotions, taxes and fees are recorded separately and reconciled to the net payout.
Can ESBS clean up prior restaurant books?
Yes. Cleanup is scoped after we see how many months are affected and what records are available. We do not quote a fixed cleanup price in advance.
Can ESBS reconcile sales tax?
Yes. We reconcile taxable sales and tax collected from the POS to the books, payments made and the remaining liability.
Can you handle cash transactions?
Yes, when cash sales, payouts and deposits are documented consistently. We reconcile recorded cash activity to deposits and flag unexplained differences.
Do you require QuickBooks Online?
QuickBooks Online is the most common platform we use, but we discuss your current software before recommending any change.
Can you report by location?
Yes. Classes or separate entities can be set up so each location has its own profit and loss alongside combined reporting.
Can you calculate restaurant food cost?
Only when reliable inventory counts are provided. Otherwise we report purchases as a percentage of sales and label it that way.
How frequently will the books be closed?
Most restaurants close monthly. More frequent sales and deposit reconciliation is available for higher-volume operations.
Get the Restaurant Books Under Control
Tell us where the books stand today and which systems feed them. We'll follow up to talk through what a monthly process or cleanup would involve.
- 1. Contact
- 2. Your restaurant
- 3. Systems and needs