Restaurant accountant in New Westminster

GST on the plate, PST on the drinks

A restaurant bill in BC carries two taxes for two governments. GST at 5% applies to prepared food and drinks and goes to the CRA. BC PST generally does not apply to the food, but it does apply to liquor, and it goes to the BC Ministry of Finance on its own return.

That makes the menu set-up in the POS a tax document. A cocktail coded as food under-collects PST. A dessert coded as liquor overcharges the guest. Each new menu, seasonal special or happy-hour item needs checking against the tax codes, not once a year but whenever the menu changes. The BC PST guide covers the categories.

On the purchase side, the GST you pay on food, supplies and repairs comes back as input tax credits. PST you pay on equipment and supplies for your own use is generally a cost. Keeping the two in separate codes is what lets the GST return tie to the books. See input tax credits for what is recoverable.

Tips that pass through the business

On a busy Friday most tips arrive on cards, which means they are deposited to the business first and paid out later. The question for payroll is control. If management decides the tip pool, the split between front and back of house, or who is included, those amounts are generally treated as wages: CPP, EI premiums and income tax are withheld, and the totals appear on each T4.

If guests hand cash directly to a server and the business never touches it, the treatment changes and the server reports it personally. Most rooms run a mix. Write the tip policy down, apply it the same way every shift, and make the pay runs follow it. Unremitted deductions carry penalties of their own. The tip reporting guide sets out the line, and payroll services in New Westminster covers the pay runs.

Tying the till to the bank

Three records have to agree. The POS end-of-day report gives gross sales split by food, liquor, tax and tip. The card processor pays out in batches, a day or more behind, after taking its fee. Cash is counted, dropped and banked on its own timetable. When the three are compared weekly, a missing deposit or a short drawer turns up while someone still remembers the shift.

In the books, each trading day becomes one journal entry from the POS report. Processor fees are booked as an expense instead of being netted out of sales. Delivery apps are handled the same way: gross order value as revenue, the app’s cut as a cost. That keeps sales honest for GST and keeps margins visible. See bookkeeping in New Westminster.

Weekday trade, weekend trade and the cash in between

New Westminster sits near the middle of Metro Vancouver, with rapid transit running through Downtown and Sapperton. A restaurant near a station sees a different week from one on a quieter block. Weekday lunch may carry one spot, while another depends on weekend evenings and warm days on the riverfront.

Uneven weeks make cash timing matter. Rent, payroll and supplier terms each run on their own cycle, and a slow month in winter lands on costs that do not shrink. GST, PST and source deductions collected in a busy month belong to government, not to working capital. Sweeping that money into its own account each week keeps it from being spent on produce and rent. The remittance calendar shows when each is due.

Kitchens in older buildings

Many New Westminster dining rooms sit in older storefronts, especially along Columbia Street. A fit-out there can mean ventilation, plumbing and electrical work on top of the kitchen equipment. All of it is capital, not an expense.

Equipment is claimed through capital cost allowance by class. Leasehold improvements in a rented space follow their own rules, spread over the lease. A renovation timed just before or just after year-end changes the first year’s CCA claim, so talk it through before signing the contractor. The CCA classes guide covers the basics.

Food cost, counted on a schedule

Food and beverage cost is the number an operator can move week to week, through purchasing, portioning and menu pricing. It only helps if purchases are coded to the right category and inventory is counted on a schedule: monthly at least, with liquor and proteins more often. A food-cost figure that first appears at year-end cannot change a single order. The margin analysis page shows how menu pricing and cost fit together.

If you are changing accountants partway through a lease or a renovation, the asset schedules and inventory records move with the file. EverStone requests the prior working papers and the last filed return so opening balances are right. See switching accountants. Where the owner also has a rental or investment income, the personal return is prepared alongside.

The scope, in one list

A New Westminster restaurant engagement covers:

• Weekly matching of POS reports, card batches and cash drops
• The GST return and the BC PST return, each tied to sales reports
• Pay runs with the tip policy applied, WorkSafeBC reporting, T4s and records of employment
• A monthly food and beverage cost figure
• CCA and leasehold schedules for the kitchen and dining room
• The T2, the small business deduction claim and year-end statements

Monthly bookkeeping starts from $300 a month with GST and PST filing included. Payroll and the year-end are added to the same fixed monthly fee. See what it costs.

Remote restaurant accounting from Abbotsford

EverStone is a one-CPA firm based in Abbotsford, serving New Westminster operators entirely online. There is no New Westminster office and no local staff. Meetings are held by video, documents come in through a secure upload link and are signed by e-signature, and no visit is required at any point. The work runs from the POS, payroll and bank feeds you already have.