Restaurants
Thin margins and long days. You don't have time for bookkeeping, but your restaurant can't afford to go without it.
The Margins Don't Forgive
Most restaurants operate on margins between three and nine percent. That means for every dollar that comes in the door, you keep somewhere between three and nine cents after food, labor, rent, and everything else. There is almost no cushion.
At those margins, small problems become big ones fast. A vendor raises prices by 8% and you don’t catch it for three months. A delivery app takes 25% of every order but you never total up the annual cost. Food waste ticks up a few percentage points and nobody notices until the bank account feels light.
You opened this place because you love the craft. The cooking, the hospitality, the energy of a full dining room. But the financial side of running a restaurant is relentless, and it doesn’t wait until you have a free afternoon to deal with it.
Money Comes In From Everywhere
Cash register. Credit card terminal. DoorDash. UberEats. Grubhub. Catering invoices. Gift card redemptions. Each one deposits differently, reports differently, and takes its cut differently. If you just look at total bank deposits, you have no idea what actually happened.
We reconcile every revenue stream separately. We break out the delivery app commissions, the processing fees, the tip amounts, and the actual net revenue so you can see what each channel is really bringing in. Then we handle the payroll, the sales tax filings, and the vendor bills so you can stop spending your one day off buried in paperwork.
Delivery App Reconciliation
Delivery App Reconciliation
The deposit from DoorDash or UberEats is not your revenue. It is your revenue minus their commission, minus adjustments, minus marketing fees. We untangle every deposit so your books reflect the real numbers.
Tip and Payroll Compliance
Tip and Payroll Compliance
Tipped employees have specific wage rules, tip credit calculations, and reporting requirements. We run payroll correctly, handle the tax deposits, and make sure you are not accidentally out of compliance with the IRS or the state.
What Quietly Eats Your Profit
The obvious costs are easy to track. Rent, utilities, the big equipment purchase. The profit killers in restaurants are the ones that creep. Your food cost percentage drifts from 28% to 34% over six months and you feel it in the bank account but can’t point to the reason. Vendor prices shift. Portions get generous. Waste adds up.
Then there is the cash side. Restaurants still handle a lot of cash, and the gap between what the register says and what makes it to the bank needs to be tracked and explained. Without clean daily records, you are guessing. And guessing at these margins is how restaurants close.
Food Cost Creep
Food Cost Creep
We track your cost of goods sold against revenue on a regular basis. When your food cost percentage moves in the wrong direction, you see it early enough to adjust pricing, renegotiate with vendors, or tighten up the kitchen.
Cash Controls
Cash Controls
Cash needs a paper trail. We reconcile register reports to bank deposits and flag discrepancies. This is not about suspicion. It is about having a system that keeps the numbers honest and gives you visibility into where every dollar goes.
Run the Restaurant
When your books are clean and current, you make better decisions. You price the menu based on actual food costs instead of gut feeling. You know which nights are profitable and which ones barely cover labor. You see whether that catering side of the business is worth expanding or quietly losing money.
We handle the monthly bookkeeping, payroll, sales tax filings, and vendor payments. Your CPA gets a complete, organized file at year end. You spend your energy on the kitchen, the staff, and the guests. That is the part only you can do. The books are the part we can take off your plate.
Menu Pricing With Real Data
Menu Pricing With Real Data
Stop guessing what to charge. When you know your actual cost per dish and your overhead per cover, you set prices that protect your margin. Small adjustments based on real numbers add up over thousands of plates.
Growth You Can Measure
Growth You Can Measure
Thinking about a second location or adding catering? We give you the financial picture to evaluate that decision clearly. You will know what your current operation actually produces before you take on the risk of expanding.
Orange County's Small Business Bookkeeper
The Next Step:
A Short Conversation
Tell us about your business and what you need help with. We'll listen, ask a few questions, and give you a straightforward quote with no surprises.
