Restaurant accountant in Penticton

Restaurant bookkeeping starts from $300 a month, including the GST and PST filings. The work feeds the T2, the GST34 return and its input tax credits, the CCA on the kitchen and fit-out, and the T4 slips for every server and cook who worked the season.

GST on the plate, PST on the glass

Restaurant meals carry 5% GST. BC PST generally does not apply to prepared food, but it does apply to liquor, at its own rate, so a single bill can carry two taxes on some lines and one tax on others. The point-of-sale system has to code beer, wine and spirits apart from food, and the PST return has to match what the system collected. Getting the item codes right once is much cheaper than unwinding a season of wrong returns. The BC PST guide sets out the registration rules.

Tips, tip-outs and the payroll that follows

How tips are taxed depends on who controls them. Tips that the employer collects and redistributes, including most card tips run through a pooled system, are generally treated as employment income paid by the employer, with source deductions taken. Tips a customer hands directly to a server are reported by the server. Tip-outs to the kitchen and the bar need the same clear rule. A written tip policy, applied the same way every shift, is what makes the T4 slips right. Tip reporting for restaurants covers the distinction.

The nightly close

Every night the point-of-sale report says what was sold, how much tax was collected, what came in as card, cash and gift card, and what was tipped. The bank says something different a day or two later, because card processors settle in batches and net out their fees. Delivery apps pay weekly, after commission. We reconcile all of it through clearing accounts, so sales are booked at their gross amount and fees show as expenses. When the clearing account does not return to nil, the difference is found the same week, not in the following spring.

Gift cards and event deposits need the same care. A gift card sold in December is not a sale until it is redeemed, and GST is generally accounted for when it is used, not when it is bought. A deposit for a rehearsal dinner or a private patio booking in July is a liability until the event happens. Both sit in their own accounts so the month’s sales reflect meals actually served.

A season that pays for the winter

The summer brings tourists, wedding parties and wine-country visitors to the South Okanagan, and the dining rooms fill. Then the shoulder season arrives, and fixed costs carry on: rent, insurance, equipment loans and the core staff kept on through winter. A smoky week in August or a cool, wet June can take a bite out of the year with no warning. We plan the cash from the busy months forward, setting aside GST, PST and payroll remittances as they are collected rather than when they are due. Cash flow for a seasonal business sets out the method.

Food cost and the menu

Food and beverage cost is the number most owners watch, and the one most often wrong in the books. Purchases are expensed when bought, so a month-end with a full walk-in cooler looks worse than it is, and a month with an empty one looks better. A simple monthly count of food, liquor and wine fixes that. For a restaurant pouring local wine, liquor inventory alone can be worth counting carefully. Pricing and margin analysis covers turning those counts into menu decisions.

Fit-outs, kitchen equipment and the lease

Opening or renovating a restaurant means spending on leasehold improvements, a hood and fire suppression, refrigeration, furniture and the patio. None of it is deducted in full at once. Each item goes into a CCA class and is written off over time, and leasehold improvements follow the lease term. A tenant inducement from the landlord has its own treatment. Planning major purchases around the year-end, and keeping invoices that show what each payment bought, keeps the claim clean. If the restaurant closes or moves, the undepreciated balance of the fit-out is dealt with on the final return for that location, so the records are worth keeping for as long as the lease runs. CCA classes lists the common rates.

What EverStone handles for you

One CPA, one fixed fee quoted up front, everything below covered:

• Daily sales, card settlements and delivery-app payouts reconciled
• GST and BC PST returns, with liquor coded separately
• Seasonal payroll, tips handled under a written policy, T4 slips and ROEs
• Monthly food and liquor counts reflected in the books
• T2 corporate return and year-end financial statements

Remote restaurant accounting from Abbotsford

EverStone is a sole practitioner CPA firm based in Abbotsford, serving Penticton owners entirely online. There is no Penticton office and no local staff. Questions go by email first, with a video meeting when it helps, documents come in through a secure upload link and are signed by e-signature, 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, not from a filing cabinet. Book a free consultation to start.