Restaurant accountant in North Vancouver
North Shore hospitality runs on the waterfront and the trails. Lower Lonsdale kitchens and craft brewery taprooms fill up on summer evenings, Deep Cove cafés feed hikers and paddlers, and a wet February tests every cost line. EverStone keeps the ledger, both sales taxes and the payroll in order.
EverStone works as a hospitality accountant for North Shore kitchens and taprooms, alongside its North Vancouver accounting service.
Quick answer: A North Vancouver restaurant or taproom collects 5% GST on what it serves and, in most cases, 7% BC PST on alcohol, which means every menu item needs the right tax setting. Pooled card tips belong in payroll. The daily sales report, the card processor and the cash bag should agree week by week. EverStone handles the bookkeeping, payroll, GST and PST returns and the corporate year-end remotely. Monthly bookkeeping starts from $300 a month.
The year-end covers the T2 with Schedule 1 and Schedule 50, the CCA schedule for kitchen equipment and leaseholds, and the small business deduction. It also covers T4 slips for staff, the owner’s T4 or T5, and instalments for the year ahead.
GST on the plate, PST on the pint
Fish and chips with a pint after a Lynn Canyon hike is a two-tax receipt. The meal and the beer both carry 5% GST. Only the beer carries BC PST, at 7%, because prepared food is generally outside PST and alcohol generally is not. The till cannot work that out by itself; each button on the POS carries a tax setting someone chose.
Those settings drift. Seasonal menus, a new spritz on the patio list, a dessert wine pairing: each new item is a chance to pick the wrong category. GST goes to the CRA and PST goes to the BC Ministry of Finance, on separate returns, and both should reconcile to the POS. A quick tax check whenever the menu changes prevents a year of under-collected PST. The BC PST guide lists what is taxable.
Taprooms, growlers and to-go sales
A brewery with a taproom is two businesses in one building: a manufacturer and a hospitality room. Beer poured in the taproom, cans and growlers sold to go, and kegs sold to other venues each need their own sales category, because the tax treatment and the margin differ. Ingredients, packaging and brewing equipment belong in inventory and on the CCA schedule rather than in the kitchen’s food cost.
The same thinking applies to a café that sells packaged coffee or a kitchen that sells sauces at the counter. Packaged goods sold for consumption elsewhere can carry different tax treatment from food served at the table. Setting categories up once, correctly, saves a year of manual corrections.
Tips, turnover and final pay
Card tipping means tip money lands in the business account first and is paid out later. Who decides the split matters for tax. If management sets the pool or the percentages, the tips are generally treated as pay, so withholdings apply. If guests hand tips straight to the server and the business never controls them, the answer changes. The tip reporting guide draws the line.
Hospitality turnover multiplies the paperwork. Each departure needs a record of employment, vacation pay owing, and final pay within 48 hours if the employer ends the job. Summer hires on the patio and the end-of-season layoff make that a twice-a-year event. BC payroll also brings WorkSafeBC premiums and statutory holiday pay. See payroll services in North Vancouver.
The nightly close: POS, card deposits and cash
Every service ends with an end-of-day summary from the till. It is the source document for the whole ledger: sales split by food, liquor and retail, GST and PST collected, tips, voids and the tender mix. Processor deposits arrive later and lighter, because fees are deducted first. Cash takes its own route to the bank.
The bookkeeping posts the daily summary once, then matches the processor deposits against it, recording fees as an expense. Shift-level cash differences are flagged while staff still remember the night. Delivery platforms are handled the same way: gross order value in, platform commission out. Monthly inventory counts, with liquor counted more often, keep the year-end count from being a surprise. See bookkeeping in North Vancouver.
A summer patio, a wet February and the fit-out
North Shore hospitality is seasonal. Long summer evenings, trail traffic and waterfront events lift sales; the rainy months do not, while rent and payroll carry on. GST, PST and source deductions collected in July belong to government, not to the January rent. A separate tax account, topped up each week, keeps them out of reach. The payroll remittance calendar shows when each deduction falls due.
The fit-out is the other large number. Leasehold improvements, kitchen equipment, furniture and the POS hardware each go on the CCA schedule in their own class, generally with the half-year rule in the first year. A landlord allowance reduces the cost of the improvements rather than counting as sales. Getting the classes right in year one shapes the deductions for the life of the lease, and the half-year rule explains the first-year cut. See CCA classes explained.
What EverStone handles for you
One CPA, one fixed fee agreed up front:
- End-of-day sales, processor deposits and cash matched weekly
- Separate GST and PST returns reconciled to sales reports
- Payroll covering pooled tips, seasonal hires, ROEs and T4s
- Monthly food, beverage and brewing cost percentages
- CCA schedules for the fit-out and kitchen equipment
- The T2 and year-end financial statements
Fixed fees, fully online
The engagement runs by email, with video meetings when they help and POS exports sent through a secure upload link. Restaurant bookkeeping starts from $300 a month, which includes the GST and PST returns. Payroll and the year-end T2 are priced into the same monthly figure, set in writing before work starts. See what it costs.
Prepared 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 |
|---|---|
| Pooled tips | Treated as pay when management controls the split |
| Alcohol | Carries 7% PST as well as GST; prepared food generally carries GST only |
| End-of-day report | The source document every deposit is matched against |
| Final pay | Due within 48 hours when the employer ends the job |
| Sales tax where you operate | 5% GST plus 7% BC PST: two registrations, two returns |
Source: Restaurant and hospitality accounting. General information, not advice.
Other services for North Vancouver businesses: corporate tax and personal tax.
North Vancouver accounting for restaurants and hospitality businesses FAQ
Do North Vancouver restaurants charge PST on food?+
Do pooled card tips go through payroll?+
Why is the processor deposit lower than the day’s card sales?+
How should a brewery taproom split its sales?+
Is a landlord’s fit-out allowance income?+
Do you work with businesses outside North Vancouver itself?+
Related services and local guides
Nearby cities, the rest of what we do for North Vancouver 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 North Vancouver?
One CPA for your corporate tax, books and planning. Fixed fee, fully online. Send an enquiry.
Remote restaurant accounting from Abbotsford
EverStone is a sole practitioner CPA firm based in Abbotsford, serving North Vancouver owners entirely online. There is no North Vancouver location and no local staff. Owners send questions by email and meet by video when needed. Reports and invoices arrive through a secure upload link, approvals are signed electronically, and the work runs from the POS and payroll exports you already produce.
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.
