Restaurant accountant in Vancouver

For the national picture on tips, food cost and leaseholds, see the restaurant and hospitality accounting hub. Operators in Ontario can compare the Toronto restaurant page, where one harmonised tax replaces the two BC taxes.

GST on the meal, PST on the wine

In BC the tax on a restaurant bill is split. 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 table that orders dinner and a bottle carries two taxes on one receipt. The POS has to know which menu item is which. A cocktail coded as food under-collects PST; a dessert coded as liquor over-charges the guest.

Each tax is reported on its own return to its own government. GST goes to the CRA, and PST goes to the BC Ministry of Finance. Both need to agree with the POS sales report for the same period. Check menu categories after every menu change, not once a year. See the BC PST guide.

Card tips and the payroll that follows

Most Vancouver guests tip on a card, so the tip passes through the restaurant’s bank account before it reaches the server. How it is shared then decides the payroll treatment. Where the employer controls the tips, setting the pool or deciding who gets what, they are generally treated as employment income run through payroll with the withholdings that follow. Where tips pass directly from guest to server, the treatment differs. The tip reporting guide explains the line.

Getting it wrong leaves source deductions unremitted, and penalties attach to the deduction itself. BC payroll adds WorkSafeBC premiums and, above the exemption, the Employer Health Tax. Turnover multiplies the records of employment and T4s due by the last day of February. See payroll services in Vancouver.

The nightly close: POS, cash and card deposits

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 a bank. If those three do not tie to each other every week, the monthly books are guesses.

EverStone sets up the bookkeeping so each day’s POS summary is posted as one entry, card deposits are matched to it with fees recorded gross, and cash variances show up by shift. Delivery platforms need the same treatment: record the gross sale and the commission, not the net payout. See bookkeeping in Vancouver.

Food cost in a city with high rent

Vancouver rents leave little room for waste. Food and beverage cost is the number an operator can actually 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. A cost figure that first appears at year-end cannot change a single order. The job and product margin work page shows how menu pricing and cost fit together.

High fixed costs also make cash timing tight. Rent, payroll and supplier terms each run on their own cycle, and a wet, quiet February lands on a cost base that does not shrink. GST, PST and source deductions collected during a busy month are held for government, not working capital. 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.

Fit-outs, equipment and the lease

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, spread over the lease. A renovation timed just before or just after year-end changes the first year’s claim, so talk to your accountant before signing the contractor. The CCA classes guide covers the basics.

If you are changing accountants partway through a lease or a renovation, the asset schedules move with the file. EverStone requests 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 and leasehold improvement schedules
• T2 corporate return and year-end statements

Fixed fees, fully online

EverStone is an Abbotsford CPA firm serving Vancouver operators entirely online: video, phone 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 filing included; payroll and the year-end are added to a fixed monthly fee. See what it costs.

Remote restaurant accounting from Abbotsford

EverStone is a sole practitioner CPA firm based in Abbotsford, serving Vancouver owners entirely online. There is no Vancouver office and no local staff. Meetings are held by video or phone, 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.