Industry guide
Restaurant bookkeeping
Restaurant bookkeeping connects daily POS sales, tips, delivery platforms, payroll, food and beverage costs, merchant deposits, and cash activity.
Reviewed by the Booksmrt bookkeeping teamLast reviewed 2026-07-27
What the monthly close has to prove
- Reconcile POS tenders to processor and bank deposits.
- Separate sales, discounts, comps, refunds, tips, and sales tax.
- Track food, beverage, packaging, delivery, and labor costs consistently.
- Tie payroll journals and tip liabilities to provider reports.
Documents to collect
- POS monthly summary
- Merchant settlement reports
- Delivery-platform statements
- Bank and card statements
- Payroll registers
- Inventory counts and vendor bills
Common failure points
- Delivery payouts recorded net of commissions
- Tips recorded as revenue
- Cash sales missing from deposits
- Food purchases mixed with operating supplies
- Payroll withdrawals posted as one expense
Example
A delivery-platform payout is the net result of customer sales, tax, refunds, promotions, and platform fees; each component must be mapped before the bank deposit is reconciled.
Sources
Keep learning
Gross profitGross profit is revenue minus the direct cost of producing the goods or services sold.Bank reconciliationBank reconciliation explains the difference between the book balance and an external bank statement for the same date.Accounts payableAccounts payable is money a business owes vendors for goods or services already received.Cash receivedCash received is money deposited or otherwise collected, regardless of whether it is current-period revenue.Reviewed bookkeepingReviewed bookkeeping adds a documented quality-control step before records and reports are delivered.
Educational information only. Booksmrt provides bookkeeping services, not tax, legal, audit, or investment advice. Confirm material accounting and tax decisions with the appropriate professional.