--- title: "Restaurant and Hospitality Accounting in Kelowna" url: https://www.everstonecpa.com/restaurant-accountant-kelowna description: "Accounting for Kelowna restaurants: a summer that funds the winter, tips and seasonal staff, GST on meals and PST on liquor, and POS reconciled. Ask us." type: service-in-a-city updated: 2026-10-08 summary: "Kelowna restaurant files turn on four things: a summer that has to fund the rest of the year, and tips and seasonal staff running through payroll correctly. The other two are a bill where the food carries GST but the liquor carries GST and PST, and point-of-sale totals that have to agree with what the card processors and delivery platforms actually deposit." faq_count: 5 publisher: EverStone CPA Inc., a Chartered Professional Accountant firm registered with CPA British Columbia and CPA Alberta service_area: British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario and Manitoba language: en-CA contact: info@everstonecpa.com · https://www.everstonecpa.com/book-online --- [Home](https://www.everstonecpa.com/) [Accountant in Kelowna](https://www.everstonecpa.com/accountant-kelowna) Restaurants and hospitality Restaurants & hospitality · Kelowna # Restaurant accountant in *Kelowna* A lakeside patio in July and the same room in February are two different businesses with one set of fixed costs. EverStone handles [restaurant and hospitality accounting](https://www.everstonecpa.com/restaurant-hospitality-accounting) for Okanagan operators and is a [Kelowna small business accountant](https://www.everstonecpa.com/accountant-kelowna), at fixed fees, online. [Get My Fixed Quote](https://www.everstonecpa.com/book-online)[Ask a Free Question](https://www.everstonecpa.com/quick-question) **Quick answer:** Kelowna restaurant files turn on four things: a summer that has to fund the rest of the year, and tips and seasonal staff running through payroll correctly. The other two are a bill where the food carries GST but the liquor carries GST and PST, and point-of-sale totals that have to agree with what the card processors and delivery platforms actually deposit. EverStone handles all four alongside the corporate return, at a fixed fee agreed before work starts. Published fees start at $325 a month for bookkeeping and $125 for a personal return. For a one-owner Kelowna restaurant, monthly bookkeeping, payroll and the year-end T2 with statements usually cost from $500 to $700 a month all-in. The year-end covers the T2 with Schedule 1 and Schedule 50, the CCA schedule, the small business deduction, T4 or T5 slips for the owner’s pay, and the instalments for the year ahead. If you pour your own wine rather than someone else’s, the [Kelowna winery page](https://www.everstonecpa.com/winery-accountant-kelowna) covers the excise and inventory side. ## A summer that has to pay for the winter Lake-country hospitality earns much of its year between the long weekends. Tourists, boaters, wedding parties and festival crowds fill patios and dining rooms from late spring into September, and then the valley goes quiet. The fixed costs do not: rent, insurance, equipment leases, the core staff and the loan payments run twelve months a year. A restaurant can be comfortably profitable over the year and still be short of cash in March. The accounting answer is to treat the summer as a reserve, not a windfall. GST and PST collected in July, and source deductions withheld from July’s payroll, are held for the government and should sit in a separate account until the returns are filed. A monthly figure for the fixed costs, measured against a realistic winter, tells you what the summer has to leave behind. A bad smoke season or a wet June hits the peak months, so the reserve has to allow for a summer that does not go to plan. [Cash flow for a seasonal business](https://www.everstonecpa.com/blog/managing-cash-flow-seasonal-business-canada) sets out the method. The off-season is also when the renovation happens. A new patio, a rebuilt bar or a kitchen line bought in the winter is a capital cost recovered over time through [capital cost allowance](https://www.everstonecpa.com/blog/capital-cost-allowance-cca-classes-canada), and improvements to a leased space follow their own schedule. The timing against your year-end changes the first year’s deduction, so it is worth a conversation before the deposit is paid. Seasonality also argues for a year-end in the quiet months. A count and a close in the middle of August compete with service; the same work in the winter gets done properly. ## Tips and a staff that turns over every season Summer hiring brings a wave of new servers, cooks and bussers each spring, and many of them leave in the fall. Each one needs to be set up correctly before the first pay, and each departure needs a record of employment. Tips add a second layer. Tips the employer controls and distributes, such as a pooled tip-out run through the till, generally go through payroll with CPP and EI deducted; tips passed directly from guest to server are treated differently. BC employment standards also limit what an employer can take from tips, so the tip-out policy should be written down and applied the way it is written. Staff meals and shift drinks are the other quiet payroll issue. Whether a free or discounted meal is a [taxable benefit](https://www.everstonecpa.com/blog/taxable-vs-non-taxable-benefits-canada) depends on the circumstances, and the policy should be decided rather than left to habit. When the season ends, [records of employment](https://www.everstonecpa.com/blog/roe-record-of-employment-canada) have to go out promptly, because they are what a laid-off server relies on through the winter. [Controlled versus direct tips](https://www.everstonecpa.com/blog/restaurant-tip-reporting-payroll-canada) explains where the line falls, and the [Kelowna payroll page](https://www.everstonecpa.com/payroll-services-kelowna) covers seasonal hiring and ROEs. ## GST on the meal, PST on the drink BC splits sales tax in a way that shows up on almost every restaurant bill. GST applies to prepared food and drink. PST generally does not apply to food, but it does apply to liquor, so the beer, wine and cocktails on a bill carry both taxes while the meal carries one. Packaged goods sold to take home, gift cards, catering, private events and merchandise each need their own setting as well, and a gift card is not a sale until it is redeemed. All of this is decided in the point-of-sale system, item by item. A menu category set up with the wrong tax code charges it wrongly on every transaction until someone notices, and the error compounds across a summer of volume. We review the tax settings at the start of an engagement and every time the menu changes. The [BC PST guide](https://www.everstonecpa.com/blog/bc-pst-small-business-guide) covers registration and returns. ## Point-of-sale totals, card deposits and delivery payouts A night’s sales in the point-of-sale system never match what lands in the bank the next day. Card processors deduct fees and deposit in batches. Delivery platforms pay weeks later, net of commission and sometimes of promotions the restaurant agreed to fund. Cash goes into a float or a safe before it goes to the bank. Voids, comps and refunds move the totals again. The bookkeeping records gross sales from the daily reports, records every fee as an expense, and reconciles each processor and platform account to zero every month. The unexplained difference is then a handful of timing items rather than a year-end mystery. Platform fees recorded only as a smaller deposit are deductions lost. The [Kelowna bookkeeping page](https://www.everstonecpa.com/bookkeeping-kelowna) covers the monthly close. ## What EverStone handles for you One CPA, one fixed fee agreed up front: - T2 corporate return and year-end financial statements - Point-of-sale, card processor and delivery platform reconciliations - Payroll for a seasonal team, including tip treatment, ROEs and year-end slips - GST and PST set up correctly across food, liquor and everything else on the till - Food, liquor and labour cost reported monthly against sales - Equipment, patio and leasehold improvement schedules ## Fixed fees, fully online EverStone is a CPA firm working with Kelowna operators entirely online — video, phone and secure upload link. The fee is fixed and agreed before work starts. See [what it costs](https://www.everstonecpa.com/pricing). About this article **EverStone CPA** Prepared and reviewed by a Chartered Professional Accountant at EverStone CPA, a CPA firm working with small and midsized businesses in BC, Alberta, Ontario and Manitoba. Updated September 2026 . [About the firm](https://www.everstonecpa.com/about) · [Send an enquiry](https://www.everstonecpa.com/book-online) ## What a restaurant has to get right What a restaurant has to get right The items that decide a hospitality year-end — for a business operating in Kelowna, British Columbia | Item | Why it matters | | Tips | How tips are collected and distributed changes their payroll treatment | | Seasonal cash | A summer’s sales have to carry a year of fixed costs | | Payroll | Seasonal hiring and turnover make remittances, ROEs and T4s the biggest admin load | | Sales tax on food and liquor | Meals carry GST; liquor carries GST and PST | | Sales tax where you operate | 5% GST plus 7% BC PST: two registrations, two returns | Source: [Restaurant and hospitality accounting](https://www.everstonecpa.com/restaurant-hospitality-accounting). General information, not advice. Common questions ## Kelowna accounting for restaurants and hospitality businesses FAQ **Do restaurant meals carry PST in BC?** Generally no. Prepared food carries GST, and PST generally does not apply to it. Liquor is different: beer, wine and spirits sold with the meal carry both GST and PST, so the point-of-sale system has to tell the two apart. [Ask about your case →](https://www.everstonecpa.com/quick-question) **How should tips be handled on payroll?** It depends whether they are controlled or direct. Tips the employer collects and distributes are generally employment income running through payroll with the deductions that follow; tips passed directly from guest to server are treated differently. We set the treatment correctly at the start. **Are delivery platform fees deductible?** Yes. Fees a platform deducts before paying you are still business expenses, but they are easy to lose if you record only the net deposit. The gross sale and the fee should both be recorded. **When should a seasonal restaurant set its year-end?** Usually in the quiet months. A winter year-end means the count and the close happen when there is time for them, and the summer’s results are complete. **Do you work with restaurants across the Central Okanagan?** Yes — restaurants, cafes, pubs and hospitality operators in Kelowna, West Kelowna, Lake Country, Peachland. Everything runs online, which fits a schedule built around service rather than office hours. ## Related services and local guides Nearby cities, the rest of what we do for Kelowna businesses, and the reference pages behind this one. [Winery accountant in Kelowna Excise returns, the vineyard as a farm, and inventory that ages for years before it is sold.](https://www.everstonecpa.com/winery-accountant-kelowna) [Contractor accountant in Kelowna T5018 slips, progress billing, WorkSafeBC and GST on new housing.](https://www.everstonecpa.com/contractor-accountant-kelowna) [Restaurant & hospitality accounting Tips, food cost and payroll](https://www.everstonecpa.com/restaurant-hospitality-accounting) [Accounting & CPA services in Kelowna CPA services for Kelowna businesses](https://www.everstonecpa.com/accountant-kelowna) [Corporate tax (T2) in Kelowna Corporate tax for Kelowna businesses](https://www.everstonecpa.com/corporate-tax-accountant-kelowna) [Personal tax (T1) in Kelowna Personal tax for Kelowna residents](https://www.everstonecpa.com/personal-tax-accountant-kelowna) [Realtor accounting in Kelowna Commission income and the BC PREC](https://www.everstonecpa.com/realtor-accountant-kelowna) [BC stat holiday pay calculator Holiday pay for one employee, worked out](https://www.everstonecpa.com/bc-stat-holiday-pay-calculator) [Accountants across British Columbia Remote CPA service throughout BC](https://www.everstonecpa.com/accountant-british-columbia) [BC tax facts Current rates and thresholds for British Columbia](https://www.everstonecpa.com/bc-tax-facts) ### What clients say Rated 5.0 on Google across 21 client reviews. [Read all reviews](https://www.everstonecpa.com/reviews) ★★★★★ “Personal. Professional. Responsive. Plus he saved me a bundle!” Corrin Skalbeck Verified Google Local Guide ★★★★★ “…We switched to him last year for both our personal and small-business taxes — responsive, knowledgeable and quick.” Heather Powers Verified Google review ### Starting fees Every fee is fixed in writing before any work begins. - **Monthly bookkeeping, GST/PST filing included** from $325 a month - **Payroll, remittances, T4s and ROEs** included in monthly bookkeeping - **Books, payroll and the year-end T2 together** $500–$700 a month - **Corporate year-end and T2 return** fixed fee, quoted in writing - **Personal tax return (T1)** from $125; self-employed or rental $275–$500 - **Catch-up bookkeeping** from $2,200 per year of records - **Controller or CFO support** controller from $1,650, CFO from $2,750 a month - **One-off advice call with a CPA** $225 plus GST [Get My Fixed Quote](https://www.everstonecpa.com/book-online?service=monthly#enquiry-form) ## Running a restaurant in Kelowna? One CPA for your corporate tax, books and planning. Fixed fee, fully online. Send an enquiry. [Get My Fixed Quote](https://www.everstonecpa.com/book-online)[Ask a Free Question](https://www.everstonecpa.com/quick-question) ## Remote restaurant accounting EverStone is a sole practitioner CPA firm working with Kelowna clients entirely online. **There is no Kelowna office and no local staff.** Meetings are held by video or phone, documents are exchanged through a secure upload link and e-signature, and no visit is required at any point. Daily sales, tips and cost tracking are handled from the systems you already run, not from a filing cabinet. ## Talk to a CPA about this One Chartered Professional Accountant, start to finish. Fixed fees, quoted in writing before any work begins, and no obligation from a first conversation. [Get My Fixed Quote](https://www.everstonecpa.com/book-online) [Ask a Free Question](https://www.everstonecpa.com/quick-question) Email info@everstonecpa.com --- Source: https://www.everstonecpa.com/restaurant-accountant-kelowna Prices: https://www.everstonecpa.com/pricing · Contact: info@everstonecpa.com · https://www.everstonecpa.com/book-online