Industries
Restaurant Bookkeeping
Sales tax, payroll, and monthly books for restaurants and food service in the East Bay or remote.
Restaurants and food businesses usually need sales tax, payroll for the floor and the kitchen, and a monthly look at food cost. We prepare those filings from your point-of-sale exports and bank activity.
Meet us by appointment in San Pablo or Concord, or work remotely. Business insurance, including a conversation about liability or workers compensation, is offered from Concord.
Services that usually fit
Documents to start
- Point-of-sale sales reports
- Sales tax returns already filed
- Payroll reports and tip records you keep
- Vendor invoices and bank statements
- Seller’s permit, if you have one
Your chart of accounts, built for restaurants and food service
Stanza creates and maintains a chart of accounts so the deductions you are allowed to claim are identified and documented.
We set up income, cost of goods or job costs, and expense accounts organized around this industry’s deductible categories and the tax form lines they map to (Schedule C, or Form 1065 or Form 1120-S when the business files as a partnership or an S corporation). Sub-accounts separate items with a special tax treatment, so a repair is not mixed with a capital purchase and a liability is not booked as an expense.
Food cost
Food you buy to sell is cost of goods, not a general expense. It maps to the cost-of-goods lines and supports the gross-profit figure.
Beverage cost
Beverage purchases stay apart from food so cost of goods, and any sales-tax review, can follow each category.
Tips paid and reported
Tips you pay and tips employees report are payroll items. An employer may qualify for the FICA tip credit on reported tips when the credit’s rules are met. The credit is not automatic.
Uniforms
Uniforms required for the job and not suitable for everyday wear are generally deductible. A separate account keeps them apart from personal clothing.
Smallwares and equipment
Smallwares such as dishes and glassware are often a current expense. Larger equipment is usually capitalized and depreciated, or reviewed for Section 179. Mixing them loses that distinction.
Delivery app fees
Fees a delivery app keeps reduce the cash you actually receive. Recording the fee apart from gross receipts shows both the sales and the fee.
Sales tax payable
Sales tax you collect is a liability you remit to the state. It is not an expense and it is not extra income.
Linen and laundry
Laundry and linen for the restaurant are ordinary operating expenses when they are for the business.
How it is managed
- Each month we categorize transactions and reconcile the accounts to the bank.
- Receipts and mileage stay with the transactions they support.
- Personal spending stays out of the business accounts.
- Capital purchases are reviewed against repairs before anything is expensed.
- Vendors are tracked so a Form 1099 can be prepared when a form is required.
- A quarterly review of profit can be used to adjust estimated tax payments when those payments apply.
- At year end we review the accounts with the preparer so deductions are captured and the records support them.
Whether a deduction is allowed depends on your facts and on IRS and FTB rules. We help you claim what you are entitled to and keep records that support it. We do not guarantee savings or a dollar amount.
Book bookkeeping and QuickBooks setup with Lucia Leiva, Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisorCommon questions
- Yes. The return follows the sales reports you provide. The rate for a city comes from the CDTFA table, and the exact address can differ, so we still verify the location.
- Bring the tip records your point of sale or staff already keep. We do not invent a tip amount.
- Yes. Josephine Leiva can take a quote request for the Concord insurance service. A conversation is not a binder and not a savings promise.
- Sales tax you collect from customers is a liability you remit. It is not a restaurant expense and it is not extra income. A separate account keeps it off the deduction lines. Tips you report are tracked apart from that, because the FICA tip credit has its own rules and is not automatic.
Offices in San Pablo (510-778-1579) and Concord (925-349-6924). Remote work is available in California.
Ready when you are
Ready to get organized? Book an appointment today.
Pick a time that works for you — in person at San Pablo or Concord, or fully remote.