--- title: "Oshawa Restaurant Accounting — Tips, POS and Food Cost" url: https://www.everstonecpa.com/restaurant-accountant-oshawa description: "Accounting for Oshawa and Durham restaurants: tips and payroll, daily POS and cash reconciliation, food cost and 13% HST on meals. Ask for a fixed quote." type: service-in-a-city updated: 2026-10-02 summary: "An Oshawa restaurant has to reconcile its point-of-sale reports to card settlements and cash every day. It has to handle tips so the payroll treatment matches who controls them, charge 13% HST on meals and drinks, and keep food cost measured often enough to act on. EverStone keeps those books, runs or reviews the payroll and prepares the year-end remotely, at a fixed monthly fee." faq_count: 6 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 Oshawa](https://www.everstonecpa.com/accountant-oshawa) Restaurants Restaurants & hospitality · Oshawa # Restaurant accountant in *Oshawa* From downtown Oshawa near the college and university campuses to the plazas along the 401 in Whitby and Ajax, Durham restaurants run on margins where a sloppy week of bookkeeping shows up as a lost month. EverStone handles [restaurant accounting](https://www.everstonecpa.com/restaurant-hospitality-accounting) and is an [Oshawa small business accountant](https://www.everstonecpa.com/accountant-oshawa), 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:** An Oshawa restaurant has to reconcile its point-of-sale reports to card settlements and cash every day. It has to handle tips so the payroll treatment matches who controls them, charge 13% HST on meals and drinks, and keep food cost measured often enough to act on. EverStone keeps those books, runs or reviews the payroll and prepares the year-end remotely, at a fixed monthly fee. Published fees start at $325 a month for bookkeeping and $125 for a personal return. For a one-owner Oshawa restaurant, monthly bookkeeping, payroll and the year-end T2 with statements usually cost from $500 to $700 a month all-in. ## Food cost is the number that decides the year Food and beverage cost is the largest line a restaurant controls, and it moves quickly. A supplier price increase, a portion that drifted, a walk-in that lost power, a menu item priced before costs rose: each shows up first as food cost creeping up as a share of sales. Measured once a year, that tells you what went wrong last year. Measured monthly, from supplier invoices posted as they arrive and a count at month-end, it tells you what to change this month. We post purchases by category, food, alcohol, non-alcoholic drinks, packaging, so the cost of each can be set against its own sales. Alcohol in particular is worth watching on its own line, because its margin and its shrinkage behave differently from the kitchen’s. When the numbers say a dish is not paying its way, [pricing review](https://www.everstonecpa.com/pricing-and-margin-analysis) helps decide whether to reprice, re-portion or drop it. Cash is the other number to watch. Rent, payroll and the HST remittance land on fixed dates, while sales swing with the season, the weather and the university calendar. A restaurant that sets HST aside from each deposit, rather than finding it at filing time, avoids the month where everything falls due at once. [Managing seasonal cash flow](https://www.everstonecpa.com/blog/managing-cash-flow-seasonal-business-canada) and [cash flow management](https://www.everstonecpa.com/cash-flow-management) cover the approach. ## The POS and the cash drawer, every day A restaurant’s books start with the point-of-sale end-of-day report. That report has to be split into card sales, cash, gift cards, tips owed to staff and HST collected, then matched to what actually reached the bank. Card settlements arrive a day or two later, net of processing fees. Delivery app payouts arrive weekly, net of commissions and promotions. Cash is deposited on its own schedule, sometimes after petty cash purchases have come out of it. If the deposits are posted as sales, the fees vanish, HST is misstated, and cash shortages hide. If the POS report is posted and reconciled to deposits, every gap has a name. That is also what the CRA looks for in a restaurant review, where unreported cash is the standard concern. See [why reconciliation matters](https://www.everstonecpa.com/blog/bank-reconciliation-why-it-matters) and the [month-end close](https://www.everstonecpa.com/month-end-close). ## Tips, payroll and who controls the money Tips are the payroll question every restaurant has to get right. The treatment turns on control. Tips a customer hands directly to a server, and that the employer never touches, are generally not pensionable or insurable, although the server still reports them as income. Tips that pass through the employer, collected on the card terminal and distributed by a formula the employer sets, are generally treated as controlled tips, subject to CPP and EI, and reported on the T4. A tip pool can fall on either side depending on who runs it. Ontario employment standards also limit what an employer can do with employees’ tips, including deductions from them, and owners generally cannot share in a pool except in limited circumstances. We set up the payroll to match how your tips actually move. [Tip reporting and payroll](https://www.everstonecpa.com/blog/restaurant-tip-reporting-payroll-canada) explains the distinction, and [payroll services in Oshawa](https://www.everstonecpa.com/payroll-services-oshawa) covers the rest of the pay run. ## HST on the bill, and on what you buy Restaurant meals and drinks in Ontario carry 13% HST, collected on the bill and remitted on the HST return. On the purchase side, HST paid on supplies, equipment, rent, utilities and repairs is recoverable as input tax credits. Many groceries, the basic ingredients of a kitchen, are zero-rated when you buy them, so there is no HST on those invoices to recover, while packaging, cleaning supplies and alcohol carry tax. Coding each supplier invoice correctly is what keeps the credits accurate. Once taxable sales pass $30,000 over four consecutive calendar quarters, registration is mandatory, which a busy restaurant does quickly. Some smaller operators consider the quick method; whether it helps depends on how much taxable input the kitchen buys. See [the quick method](https://www.everstonecpa.com/blog/gst-hst-quick-method-canada). ## Equipment, leaseholds and the renovation question Opening or refitting a restaurant means spending on things that last: kitchen equipment, furniture, point-of-sale hardware and the build-out of a leased space. None of it is expensed on purchase. Equipment goes into capital cost allowance classes, and leasehold improvements are claimed over the term of the lease, so a renovation cheque is a deduction spread over years rather than a loss this year. Repairs that restore something to its original condition are different, and are generally deductible when made. Separating the two on the invoices at the time saves an argument later. [CCA classes](https://www.everstonecpa.com/blog/capital-cost-allowance-cca-classes-canada) covers the categories. ## What EverStone handles for you One CPA, one fixed fee agreed up front: - Daily POS reports reconciled to card settlements, cash and delivery payouts - Purchases coded by category for monthly food and beverage cost - Tip treatment set up to match how tips move - HST returns with input tax credits coded invoice by invoice - Equipment and leasehold CCA schedules - T2 corporate return and year-end financial statements - T4 slips by the end of February ## Fixed fees, fully online EverStone is a CPA firm, and Oshawa runs ahead of us on Eastern time, so questions sent after the lunch rush are answered the same afternoon. Everything runs by video, phone and secure upload, and the POS and bank feeds connect directly to cloud accounting software you own. Monthly bookkeeping starts at $325 a month with HST filing included, and the fee is fixed 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 an Oshawa restaurant has to get right What an Oshawa restaurant has to get right The items that decide a restaurant’s year — for a business operating in Oshawa, Ontario | Item | Why it matters | | Daily POS reconciliation | Sales, fees, tips and HST matched to deposits | | Tip control | Controlled tips are generally subject to CPP and EI; direct tips generally are not | | Food and beverage cost | Measured monthly, by category, from invoices and counts | | Renovations | Leasehold improvements claimed over the lease, repairs deducted when made | | Sales tax where you operate | 13% HST, a single registration and a single return | Source: [Restaurant and hospitality accounting](https://www.everstonecpa.com/restaurant-hospitality-accounting). General information, not advice. Other services for Oshawa businesses: [personal tax](https://www.everstonecpa.com/personal-tax-accountant-oshawa). Common questions ## Oshawa accounting for restaurants and hospitality businesses FAQ **Are tips paid through the card terminal subject to CPP and EI?** Generally yes, where the employer controls how they are distributed. Tips paid directly by customers to staff, without the employer’s involvement, generally are not, though staff still report them as income. [Ask about your case →](https://www.everstonecpa.com/quick-question) **What HST does an Oshawa restaurant charge?** 13% HST on meals and drinks. The HST you pay on supplies, equipment and rent is recoverable as input tax credits, while many basic grocery ingredients carry no HST to recover. **How often should food cost be measured?** Monthly at least, from invoices posted as they arrive and a month-end count. Once a year is too late to act on. If the books are behind, [a bookkeeping catch-up](https://www.everstonecpa.com/catch-up-bookkeeping) comes first. **How are delivery app payouts recorded?** At the gross sale, with the commission and fees recorded as expenses and the HST on them claimed. Posting only the net deposit understates sales and loses the credits. **Is a kitchen renovation deductible right away?** Usually not. Equipment and leasehold improvements are claimed over time. Repairs that restore something to its original condition are generally deductible when made. **Do you work with restaurants across Durham Region?** Yes, in Oshawa, Whitby, Ajax, Pickering and Clarington, and elsewhere in BC, Alberta, Ontario and Manitoba, entirely by video, phone and secure upload. ## Related services and local guides Nearby cities, the rest of what we do for Oshawa businesses, and the reference pages behind this one. [Bookkeeping in Oshawa Daily sales and purchases posted and reconciled monthly.](https://www.everstonecpa.com/bookkeeping-oshawa) [Payroll services in Oshawa Tips, vacation pay and public holiday pay for Durham staff.](https://www.everstonecpa.com/payroll-services-oshawa) [Corporate tax accountant in Oshawa The restaurant’s T2 and year-end statements.](https://www.everstonecpa.com/corporate-tax-accountant-oshawa) [Accounting & CPA services in Oshawa CPA services for Oshawa businesses](https://www.everstonecpa.com/accountant-oshawa) [Restaurant accounting in Toronto The same specialty, serving Toronto](https://www.everstonecpa.com/restaurant-accountant-toronto) [Restaurant accounting in Barrie The same specialty, serving Barrie](https://www.everstonecpa.com/restaurant-accountant-barrie) [Restaurant accounting in Hamilton The same specialty, serving Hamilton](https://www.everstonecpa.com/restaurant-accountant-hamilton) [Accountants across Ontario Remote CPA service throughout Ontario](https://www.everstonecpa.com/accountant-ontario) [Ontario tax facts Current rates and thresholds for Ontario](https://www.everstonecpa.com/ontario-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 ★★★★★ “…He is very knowledgeable and has saved me tons in taxes by restructuring my group of companies — the best accountant I've worked with in the last 10 years, after switching from three different firms.” Matt Hildebrandt 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 Oshawa? One CPA for your books, tips, HST and the year-end. 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 Restaurant accounting for Oshawa clients is delivered remotely. **There is no Oshawa office and no local team.** Meetings are virtual, documents are signed electronically, and you deal with the CPA directly. Sales, purchases and tips are reconciled as they happen rather than reconstructed at year end. ## 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-oshawa Prices: https://www.everstonecpa.com/pricing · Contact: info@everstonecpa.com · https://www.everstonecpa.com/book-online