Restaurant accountant in Langford
Langford’s restaurants feed a young, growing population: families from the newer neighbourhoods, crowds after weekend games and tournaments, and summer traffic heading out to the Sooke coast. Many of them opened in ground-floor units of new buildings, with a fit-out still on the books. EverStone keeps the sales tax, the tips and the nightly close straight.
EverStone is a restaurant and hospitality accountant and a Langford small business accountant, at fixed fees, online.
Quick answer: Langford restaurants charge 5% GST on meals and generally collect BC PST on liquor, so the point-of-sale has to split them. Tips the employer controls run through payroll, and the POS, card deposits and cash need reconciling every week at least. EverStone handles bookkeeping, payroll, GST and PST returns and the year-end T2 at a fixed fee. For a one-owner restaurant, monthly bookkeeping, payroll and the T2 with statements usually cost from $450 to $650 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.
GST on the plate, PST on the glass
A restaurant bill in BC carries two taxes that apply to different lines. GST at 5% applies to prepared food and drinks. BC PST generally does not apply to the food, but it does apply to liquor, so a family dinner with a round of beer carries both on one receipt. The POS applies whatever tax code each menu item was set up with. A cocktail coded as food under-collects PST; a dessert coded as liquor over-charges the guest.
Each tax goes on its own return to its own government: GST to the CRA on the GST34, PST to the BC Ministry of Finance. Both should agree with the POS sales report for the same period. Check the menu codes after every menu change, not once a year. The BC PST guide covers registration.
Tips, part-time staff and payroll
Most guests tip on a card, so the tip passes through the restaurant’s bank account before it reaches the server. Where the employer controls the tips, by pooling them or deciding the split, they are generally employment income run through payroll with the deductions that follow. Where tips pass directly from guest to server, the treatment differs. The tip reporting guide explains the line.
Westshore kitchens lean on part-time staff and students, which means irregular hours, statutory holiday pay for those who qualify, 4% vacation pay and a lot of turnover. Each departure needs final pay within 48 hours if you end the job, and a record of employment. CPP, EI premiums and income tax are remitted on schedule, WorkSafeBC is reported separately, and T4s are due by the last day of February. See payroll in Langford.
The nightly close
A restaurant’s books are built from one report a day. The POS closing report shows sales by category, taxes, tips, comps and payment type. Card settlements arrive a day or two later, net of processor fees. Cash goes to a drawer, a safe and eventually the bank. If those three do not tie to each other every week, the monthly figures are guesses.
We set up the bookkeeping so each day’s POS summary posts as one entry, card deposits are matched to it with fees recorded gross, and cash differences show up by shift. Delivery apps get the same treatment: the full sale and the commission recorded, not the net payout. See bookkeeping in Langford.
Families, game days and summer traffic
Langford’s trade follows the calendar of the people who live there. Weeknights are families from Westhills, Happy Valley and the city centre. Weekends bring crowds after games and tournaments at the city’s sports fields. Summer adds visitors on their way to Goldstream, the lakes and the Sooke coast. A patio that is full in July can be quiet in a wet February, while the rent and the loan payments stay the same.
That swing makes cash timing the thing to watch. GST, PST and source deductions collected in a busy month belong to government, not working capital, and moving them to a separate account as they are collected is the simplest protection there is. The payroll remittance calendar shows when each deduction is due. Food and beverage cost, with a stock count at least monthly, is the number an operator can move week to week. The menu pricing and margin page shows how cost and price fit together.
Fit-outs in new buildings
Many Langford restaurants opened in new mixed-use buildings, where the landlord hands over a bare shell. Kitchen equipment and the dining-room build-out are capital, not expenses. Equipment is claimed through capital cost allowance by class; leasehold improvements in a space you rent follow their own rules over the lease. A tenant allowance from the landlord also has a tax treatment of its own, and it should be decided when the lease is signed rather than at the first year-end. The CCA classes guide covers the basics.
The trades who build those fit-outs have their own page at trades accounting in Langford, and the GST charged on their invoices comes back to you as input tax credits.
If you are changing accountants partway through a lease or a renovation, the asset schedules move with the file. We request the prior working papers and the last filed return so the opening balances are right. See switching accountants.
What EverStone handles for you
One CPA, one fixed fee agreed up front:
- Daily POS, card and cash reconciliation
- GST and BC PST returns tied to the POS
- Payroll with tip treatment, WorkSafeBC and year-end slips
- Food and beverage cost reported monthly
- Equipment, leasehold and tenant allowance schedules
- T2 corporate return and year-end statements
Fixed fees, fully online
EverStone is an Abbotsford CPA firm serving Langford operators entirely online: video and a secure upload link, on Pacific time. Questions sent after close are usually answered before the next lunch service. Monthly bookkeeping starts from $300 a month with GST and PST filing included; payroll and the year-end are added to a fixed monthly fee. See what it costs.
Written and reviewed by a Chartered Professional Accountant at EverStone CPA, an Abbotsford CPA firm working remotely with small businesses and incorporated owners across British Columbia. Updated . About the firm · Send an enquiry
What a restaurant has to get right
| Item | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Tips | Card tips shared by the employer generally run through payroll |
| Liquor sales | BC PST generally applies to liquor, not to the food |
| Nightly close | POS, card deposits and cash must tie out |
| Food and beverage cost | The margin figure the operation is managed against |
| Sales tax where you operate | 5% GST plus 7% BC PST: two registrations, two returns |
Source: Restaurant and hospitality accounting. General information, not advice.
Langford accounting for restaurants and hospitality businesses FAQ
Do Langford restaurants charge PST on food?+
How should card tips be handled?+
Why don’t our card deposits match sales?+
Is the landlord’s tenant allowance taxable?+
Are delivery app commissions deductible?+
How often should we count stock?+
What does an accountant cost for a Langford restaurant?+
Do you work with businesses outside Langford itself?+
Related services and local guides
Nearby cities, the rest of what we do for Langford businesses, and the reference pages behind this one.
Fees are fixed and agreed in writing before the work starts; the published fee page shows the starting points.
Running a restaurant in Langford?
One CPA for your sales tax, payroll, books and year-end. Fixed fee, fully online. Send an enquiry.
Remote restaurant accounting from Abbotsford
EverStone is a one-CPA firm based in Abbotsford, serving Langford owners entirely online. There is no Langford office and no local staff. Meetings are held by video, documents come in through a secure upload link and are signed electronically, and no visit is required at any point. Daily sales, tips and food cost are handled from the POS and payroll systems you already run.
