Restaurant Accounting Guide: Best Practices, Tools & Tips [+ Free Checklist]

Running a restaurant means juggling fast-moving sales, perishable inventory, shifting labor needs, and tight margins, so the accounting behind it has to be just as sharp. This guide breaks down restaurant accounting in a way that fits how kitchens and dining rooms actually operate. You’ll learn how to track costs, manage cash flow through busy and slow seasons, set up a chart of accounts that reflects your menu and revenue streams, and use tools like budgeting, variance analysis, and inventory methods to stay in control. 

And if you want to simplify the work even further, QuickBooks Online can tie your sales, expenses, payroll, and inventory together so your financial picture stays accurate from one shift to the next. Subscribe to QuickBooks Online for 70% off for three months for new subscribers.

Free restaurant accounting checklist

Download our free restaurant accounting checklist to stay on top of restaurant accounting on a daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annual basis.

How restaurant accounting differs

Restaurant accounting stands apart because financial activity shifts constantly throughout the day, ingredients expire quickly, and staffing and sales patterns rarely stay stable for long. These conditions create accounting needs that are far more specialized than those of most small businesses.

Unique industry challenges

Restaurant operations present accounting challenges stemming from the nature of food service, staffing patterns, and multi-channel sales.

• Perishable inventory management: Restaurants rely on ingredients that spoil quickly, making tight tracking, frequent counts, and first-in, first-out (FIFO) valuation essential. When inventory slips through the cracks, spoilage and food cost overruns immediately affect profitability.
• Fluctuating daily sales patterns: Sales rise and fall sharply depending on days of the week, seasons, and events. This volatility makes forecasting harder and requires reporting periods that reflect real service patterns rather than generic monthly cycles.
• High employee turnover: Restaurants experience frequent staffing changes, leading to constantly shifting payroll data. Constant onboarding and offboarding lead to repeated wage adjustments, changes in tax submissions, and higher chances of payroll errors, making accurate tracking a persistent challenge.
• Multiple revenue streams: Dine-in, takeout, delivery, and catering each carry different tracking needs and sometimes different tax treatments. Reconciling third-party delivery sales, fees, and refunds with POS records requires extra review, creating a heavier reconciliation workload than single-channel businesses face.

Compliance requirements

Regulatory expectations for restaurants involve detailed, channel-specific, and labor-specific rules that must be tracked correctly.

• Sales tax obligations: Tax rules can vary by type of sale, such as dine-in versus takeaway. Every transaction must be recorded with the right treatment, and missteps can accumulate into significant liabilities.
• Payroll tax management: Shifts, hourly rates, overtime rules, and tip credits require precise payroll handling. Wages, tips, staff classification, and tax contributions must be recorded accurately to avoid compliance issues.
• Labor regulations: Restaurants operate under strict wage, overtime, scheduling, tip pooling, and safety rules. Any errors can lead to fines or legal disputes, so aligning labor tracking with accounting systems supports stronger compliance.

Daily bookkeeping tasks

Daily bookkeeping in a restaurant centers on fast-moving sales activity, constant purchasing, and steady labor tracking. These tasks keep financial data accurate from one shift to the next and help prevent minor errors from turning into bigger issues later.

Recording all sales transactions immediately

Restaurants need every sale entered through the POS with details like payment type, revenue category, and sales channel.

• Recording sales in real time or at shift close prevents revenue leakage.
• Separating taxable and non-taxable items keeps tax reporting accurate.

QuickBooks supports this flow by pulling sales directly from the POS, already separated by cash, card, tips, and service channel. It also lets restaurants categorize sales into food, beverages, catering, and other groups, so reporting and tax tracking stay clean.

Reconciling daily sales at the end of the shift

End-of-shift reconciliation checks that POS totals match cash on hand and expected card deposits.

• This includes reviewing voids, discounts, and refunds for errors or suspicious activity.
• Accurate nightly deposits depend on this process.

QuickBooks makes reconciliation easier by syncing bank deposits in real time, ensuring they align with POS activity. Its reporting tools surface exceptions, letting managers spot mismatches or unusual adjustments quickly.

Reviewing voids, discounts, and refunds

These adjustments happen often, so restaurants need a routine check to catch mistakes and patterns that may indicate misuse.

• Logs should show who approved each change and why.
• Consistent review protects against loss and incorrect reporting.

QuickBooks automatically builds this audit trail, recording the user, amount, time, and reason for each void, discount, or refund. Role-based permissions further limit who can perform these transactions, strengthening internal controls.

Logging all expenses

Restaurants face a steady stream of expenses from ingredients, supplies, petty cash, repairs, and utilities, and entering them daily keeps COGS and overhead accurate.

• Recording each bill or invoice on time prevents gaps in reporting.
• Matching invoices with purchase orders and deliveries avoids overpayments and discrepancies.
• Proper categorization supports budgeting and vendor management.

QuickBooks simplifies this by letting users upload receipts or enter bills, then automatically categorizes them. Its accounts payable tools also match invoices to purchase orders and deliveries, helping restaurants approve payments confidently and avoid duplicates.

Tracking employee hours

Labor costs shift constantly, so time tracking must be accurate from day to day.

• Records should include clock-ins, clock-outs, breaks, overtime, and tip allocations.
• Missing or incorrect time data often leads to payroll errors and compliance issues.

QuickBooks Payroll pulls hours from POS or time-tracking systems, calculates wages, tips, overtime, and deductions automatically, and produces labor cost reports that show trends by shift or department.

Matching vendor invoices with purchase orders

A three-way match between invoices, purchase orders, and delivery receipts keeps accounts payable accurate.

• This helps prevent duplicate charges, incorrect billing, and fraud.
• Documenting each step supports vendor relations and audit readiness.

QuickBooks connects digital purchase orders directly to invoices and deliveries, making mismatches easy to spot. Its expense-matching tools also check for alignment before a payment is approved, helping restaurants protect cash flow.

Accrual vs cash accounting

Restaurant owners must choose between cash and accrual accounting, and that choice shapes how clearly they see profitability, inventory use, and operational trends. Each method tells a different financial story, so the explanation needs to stay rooted in restaurant-specific timing issues, such as when sales are recorded, when expenses hit the books, and how those moments affect planning.

Cash accounting

Cash accounting records transactions only when money actually moves. Income appears in the books when a payment is received, and expenses appear when bills are paid, even if the ingredients were used earlier.

A catering job, for example, is counted as revenue only when the client pays, not on the day the food was served. Ingredient purchases enter the books only when the vendor is paid.

Advantages

✅Simple and intuitive for small restaurants.

✅Shows exactly how much cash is on hand, which matters for daily decisions.

✅Taxes are easier to handle because revenue is taxed only when received.

Disadvantages

❌Revenue and expenses don’t match the period they relate to, making P&Ls misleading.

❌Inventory, prepayments, and unpaid vendor bills can distort profitability.

❌Doesn’t show what is owed or what customers still need to pay.

❌Not allowed for larger operations or businesses over $25 million in receipts.

Accrual accounting

Accrual accounting records revenue and expenses when they are earned or incurred. This matching principle ties costs to the sales they support, giving a clearer picture of true profitability.

A catering event catered on March 1 is recorded as revenue on March 1, even if payment arrives later. Ingredients used for that event are recorded as an expense when they arrive, not when the bill is eventually paid.

Advantages

✅Matches food, labor, and other costs to the sales they generate for accurate period reporting.

✅Works better for managing inventory, prepaid reservations, gift cards, and supplier terms.

✅Required for larger or multi-location restaurant groups and preferred by lenders or investors.

Disadvantages

❌More complex and requires tracking receivables, payables, and inventory.

❌Revenue may be recorded before cash is received, so cash flow must be monitored separately.

Best fit:

Restaurants with multiple locations, meaningful inventory, deferred revenue, or plans to scale or raise funding.

Choosing the right method

New or owner-operated restaurants may begin with cash accounting for ease of use, with the expectation of switching later if they expand, add catering, or begin offering credit. Growth-focused or multi-channel operations benefit more from accrual accounting because it delivers accurate profitability insights and smoother vendor reconciliation. Inventory-heavy restaurants see the largest difference — cash accounting often produces misleading P&Ls, while accrual provides the clarity needed for long-term planning.

Chart of accounts setup

A restaurant’s chart of accounts should reflect the core parts of daily operations without becoming overly detailed. Too much granularity makes the chart of accounts (CoA) cluttered and harder to maintain. Instead, the main accounts should stay broad, with sub-accounts used only where they genuinely help, such as separating key COGS categories like proteins or beverages. 

More detailed tracking, like specific menu items or vendor-level insights, is better handled through POS reports, inventory systems, or management tools. This balance keeps the CoA clean while still giving restaurants the visibility they need into rising costs and shifting revenue streams.

A restaurant chart of accounts typically includes the following groups:

• Assets: These accounts track what the restaurant owns, including cash, bank accounts, accounts receivable, and inventory broken out into food, beverage, and supplies. Fixed assets such as kitchen equipment, furniture, and technology also fall under this category.
• Liabilities: This section covers amounts owed to others, including accounts payable, accrued expenses, payroll liabilities, taxes payable, loans, and credit lines.
• Equity: These accounts show the owner’s stake, including invested capital, retained earnings, and distributions.
• Revenue: Income is separated by sales channel, including dine-in, takeout, third-party delivery, catering, events, and merchandise.
• Cost of goods sold (COGS): These accounts track the direct costs of producing menu items. Breaking COGS into proteins, produce, dairy, dry goods, and beverages helps pinpoint which ingredients are driving cost changes.
• Expenses: Operating costs not tied directly to menu production go here (e.g., labor, rent, utilities, marketing, insurance, repairs, software subscriptions, licenses, and other operational expenses).
• Other accounts: This category captures items outside normal operations, such as interest income or expense, gains or losses on asset sales, or non-operating taxes.

How QuickBooks supports the chart of accounts setup

QuickBooks works well with a restaurant-style chart of accounts because it’s flexible and easy to adapt as operations grow or change. Instead of forcing users into a preset framework, it lets restaurants shape their own structure while still offering helpful starting points.

• Customizable structure: Users can create, edit, and organize accounts to match their menu categories, sales channels, COGS groups, and expense types — without being limited to a generic template.
• Industry templates: Built-in restaurant and hospitality templates provide a solid foundation by including common accounts for food sales, catering, labor, and COGS.
• Detailed sub-accounts: Restaurants can break broad categories into specific sub-accounts (e.g., meat, produce, and beverages) to track food cost changes more precisely.
• POS and inventory integrations: Daily sales totals, payment breakdowns, inventory activity, and even time data can automatically flow directly into the correct accounts, reducing manual entry and helping maintain consistency.
• Easy adjustments and reporting: As new revenue streams or cost centers appear, accounts can be added or updated quickly. Custom reports highlight trends across categories, helping operators see changes in real time.
• Strong documentation for compliance: Digital attachments, audit logs, and clear coding make tax filings and financial reviews easier to manage.

Inventory management methods

Restaurant inventory accounting depends on selecting methods that align with how ingredients are purchased, stored, and used in daily service. These methods shape food cost accuracy, purchasing decisions, menu pricing, and waste control. By understanding how costs move through inventory and into COGS, restaurants can maintain tighter financial control and more reliable reporting.

For restaurants, inventory is a core part of the operations. Having control and visibility into inventory movements is crucial to the restaurant’s success. 

Cost flow assumptions

Cost flow assumptions determine how ingredient costs leave inventory and enter COGS when menu items are sold. These methods influence reported profits, tax exposure, and how clearly managers can see cost trends during volatile pricing periods.

• FIFO (first-in, first-out): This method assumes the oldest inventory is used first, which matches how perishable ingredients actually move through a kitchen. FIFO supports food safety, reduces waste, and provides restaurants with the most accurate food cost picture during periods of rising prices. It’s easy to apply operationally and works best for the majority of restaurant inventory.
• LIFO (last-in, first-out): LIFO treats the most recently purchased items as the first ones used. It can reduce taxable income during inflation by sending higher recent costs to COGS, but it rarely fits real restaurant workflows because most ingredients are perishable. It may be used only for non-perishable stock or strategic US tax planning and is not permitted in many countries.
• Weighted average: Under this method, all inventory units share a blended average cost. It simplifies tracking for items bought in bulk or mixed frequently, such as spices, bar stock, or non-perishables, by smoothing out price swings. However, it may mask cost spikes when ingredient prices fluctuate significantly.
• Specific identification: This method assigns the exact purchase cost to each individual unit sold. While extremely accurate, it is impractical for most ingredients due to the effort involved. It applies mainly to high-value or specialty items like rare meats, expensive spirits, or fine wines, where precise cost tracking matters.

Economic order quantity

The economic order quantity (EOQ) helps restaurants determine the most cost-efficient quantity to order by balancing ordering costs with carrying costs. It’s designed to prevent two common problems: placing too many small orders that waste the manager’s time, or buying oversized batches that spoil before they’re used. The formula is:

EOQ = √((2 × D × O) ÷ C)

Where:

• D = annual demand (how much of an ingredient the restaurant uses)
• O = ordering cost (time, labor, delivery fees, etc.)
• C = carrying cost per unit (spoilage, storage, shrinkage, and holding costs)

In practice, this helps restaurants set sensible order sizes for ingredients like proteins, produce, or bar staples. For example, if ordering fresh produce daily is too labor-intensive but buying huge cases leads to spoilage, EOQ helps find the right middle ground. It also guides decisions about supplier frequency, storage limitations, and usage patterns, giving managers a clearer structure for consistent purchasing.

Ordering costs

Order costs reflect the effort and expenses tied to placing, receiving, and checking supplier deliveries. This includes the time managers spend reviewing inventory, creating purchase orders, coordinating with suppliers, and inspecting deliveries. Reducing order costs often involves bundling vendor orders, using a consistent ordering schedule, or improving procurement workflows. When order costs drop, the restaurant can place orders more efficiently without sacrificing product quality or timing.

Carrying costs

Carrying costs capture the financial burden of storing inventory, such as spoilage, shrinkage, and the space required to keep ingredients on hand. High carrying costs often stem from over-ordering perishables or keeping excessive safety stock. These costs also include the risk of obsolescence for specialty items and the operational impact of cluttered storage. Restaurants must balance having enough inventory to meet menu demands without tying up cash in ingredients that expire before being used.

Reorder point and safety stock

The reorder point tells a restaurant when to place a new order so that inventory arrives before running out. It accounts for how fast the kitchen uses an item and how long suppliers take to deliver it. The formula is:

Reorder point = (Daily Usage × Lead Time) + Safety Stock

Where:

• Daily Usage = average amount used per day
• Lead Time = number of days it takes for a supplier to deliver
• Safety Stock = the buffer kept on hand for spikes in demand or delays
  

In real restaurant terms, a kitchen might use 10 pounds of salmon per day and have a two-day delivery lead time. Without safety stock, the reorder point would be 20 pounds, meaning a new order should be placed when inventory drops to that level. Safety stock protects the restaurant from running out of ingredients during rushes or supplier delays. The formula is:

Safety Stock = (Max Daily Usage × Max Lead Time) − (Average Daily Usage × Average Lead Time)

Knowing the safety stock prevents restaurants from running out of high-volume items like chicken, lettuce, or bar mixers during busy weekends. It adjusts for real operating volatility, especially if a supplier occasionally delays deliveries or if usage spikes during events, safety stock creates a cushion. Having too much, however, increases spoilage and carrying costs, so the right level varies by ingredient.

How QuickBooks Online helps in inventory management

QuickBooks Online helps restaurants manage inventory by tying purchasing, stock levels, vendor activity, and COGS into one connected system. As ingredients are received and sales flow through the POS, QBO updates quantities and costs automatically, reducing the need for manual spreadsheets.

When restaurants create purchase orders, QBO lets them send and track those orders directly in the platform. Deliveries can be matched to the original PO, and once items are marked as received, inventory levels update immediately. Bills and expenses can then be assigned to specific vendors or ingredient categories, giving operators clearer insight into where food and beverage spending is going.

To keep inventory accurate day to day, QBO automates the accounting behind it.

• Purchases are recorded as inventory assets.
• Sales move the appropriate amount into COGS.
• Low-stock reports highlight ingredients that need reordering, with add-ons available for real-time alerts.

For restaurants with more detailed operational needs, QBO integrates smoothly with inventory apps that support recipe-based deductions, multi-location tracking, waste logging, and real-time syncing. QBO also supports compliance workflows through batch or lot tracking add-ons, helping restaurants monitor expiry dates or trace ingredients back to suppliers when necessary. And because the system is cloud-based, managers can review quantities, approve bills, or place new orders from anywhere.

All of this rolls into QBO’s reporting tools, which help restaurants see:

• Inventory levels
• Purchasing patterns
• COGS trends
• Menu margins
• Vendor performance

Cost accounting and control

Cost control in restaurants depends on establishing clear cost expectations, tracking what actually happens in the kitchen and front of house, and analyzing the differences between the two. These systems help operators protect margins, reduce waste, and make informed pricing and staffing decisions.

Wastage and spoilage monitoring

Wastage and spoilage affect food costs differently, and restaurants track them separately to understand where losses occur.

• Wastage includes avoidable losses such as over-portioning, incorrect prep, dropped items, or expired ingredients that should have been used earlier.
• Spoilage reflects unavoidable deterioration, like ingredients going bad because of natural shelf life, storage limitations, or slower-than-expected sales.

Daily waste logs record what was discarded, the quantity, and the reason. Prep teams often categorize losses by type (prep waste, trim loss, overproduction, customer returns, etc.). Accounting uses these logs to adjust inventory levels and recognize the cost of lost product in COGS. High wastage inflates actual food cost, drives variance upward, and signals that purchasing, prep procedures, or portioning need attention.

Labor and overhead allocation

Labor and overhead must be assigned to menu items or profit centers to understand their true cost. Restaurants use allocation techniques that match how each cost behaves:

• Labor-hour allocation: Direct labor is assigned based on the hours worked by staff, including overtime.
• Percentage-of-sales allocation: Shared overhead (rent, utilities, insurance) is assigned proportionally based on each revenue stream’s share of total sales (e.g., dine-in vs. delivery).
• Production- or usage-based allocation: Overhead is divided based on kitchen usage, number of covers, or prep time.

Separating fixed overhead (rent, salaries) from variable overhead (utilities, credit card fees, packaging for delivery) helps restaurants predict how costs will shift as volume changes. Proper allocation lets operators see which menu items truly earn profit after labor and overhead — not just ingredients.

Cost standardization

Standard costs act as the baseline for evaluating performance. Restaurants calculate a “theoretical” cost for each menu item using:

• Standardized recipes (measured by weight, not volume)
• Expected yields after trimming or cooking
• Standard labor time for prep and plating
• Known ingredient prices

These standard costs establish what a dish should cost under ideal conditions. They become the benchmark for menu pricing, margin planning, and day-to-day monitoring. When operators maintain strong standard costs, they can immediately see when ingredient increases, poor portion control, or labor inefficiencies begin eroding profitability.

Variance analysis

Variance analysis compares actual costs to the standard or theoretical costs. It answers one question: Are we spending more or less than we should?

• Unfavorable variance (actual > standard): Indicates higher-than-expected food cost or labor usage. Common causes include over-portioning, spoilage, theft, poor yields, incorrect inventory counts, or rising ingredient prices.
• Favorable variance (actual < standard): Suggests costs came in better than expected, often due to strong portioning discipline, improved yields, or supplier discounts.

Variance connects directly back to cost standardization. Without a standard, there is nothing to compare against. By reviewing variances weekly or monthly, operators can make targeted decisions such as adjusting prep procedures, revisiting vendor pricing, or revising menu prices to protect margins.

It’s also important to understand that small variances are normal. What counts as “small” depends on the operation. A large restaurant might accept tighter swings because volume smooths out irregularities, while a smaller restaurant may feel the impact of even minor deviations. 

• The key is to investigate material variances or those large enough to affect margins or guest experience. 
• A practical starting point for many operators is reviewing variances in the 10% to 20% range, then adjusting the threshold as the business matures.

Cash flow management strategies

Strong cash flow management helps restaurants ride out busy peaks and slow seasons without constant crisis mode. The goal is to smooth the ups and downs, protect against surprises, and keep enough cash on hand to cover fixed costs and growth decisions.

Building financial reserves during peak seasons

Peak periods are the best time to build a buffer. Setting aside a set percentage of peak-season profits into a separate reserve or emergency fund helps cover one to three months of fixed costs, repairs, or unexpected downturns. Rolling cash flow forecasts make it easier to predict seasonal dips and decide how large that reserve should be. Treating peak-season surpluses as one-off events — not “normal” revenue — keeps spending disciplined.

QuickBooks Online supports this by linking all operating and reserve bank accounts into a single dashboard so that owners can see cash and reserves at a glance. Funds can be moved into dedicated reserve accounts and labeled clearly (for example, “Emergency fund”), with rules or reminders to make regular transfers.

Creating separate peak/off-peak budgets

A single annual budget usually hides the reality of seasonality. Separate peak and off-peak budgets, built from historical sales and expense patterns, give more realistic targets. Seasonal or quarterly plans help adjust P&L expectations, plan for lean months, and identify where costs must flex — especially labor and food costs.

QuickBooks’ budgeting tools let restaurants create multiple seasonal or quarterly budgets and compare actual results against each one. Class or location tracking can break out performance by venue or service line, helping owners see which locations or concepts are more exposed to seasonal swings.

Dynamic staffing and inventory adjustment

Cash flow improves when staffing and inventory move in line with demand. Using past sales and upcoming bookings to plan schedules helps avoid overstaffing in slow periods and understaffing during peaks. Inventory should follow the same pattern: increase orders when volume rises, pull back quickly when traffic drops, and lean on just-in-time ordering for perishables during shoulder seasons.

With QuickBooks Payroll integrated, restaurants can model different staffing scenarios and see how wage costs shift between busy and slow weeks. Inventory features and low-stock visibility help align ordering with actual sales, so cash isn’t tied up in slow-moving or wasted product.

Seasonal pricing and promotions

Pricing and promos can be used to shape demand and support cash flow. During slow periods, targeted discounts, happy hours, or specials can fill seats. During peak times, strategic pricing and limited-time offers can lift margins without overwhelming the kitchen. Promotions built around items with lower cost or excess stock can both generate cash and clear inventory.

When QBO is connected to the POS, menu and item price changes can be managed centrally and reflected across channels. Sales and item-level reports make it easier to evaluate how each promotion affected revenue, margins, and cash flow, rather than relying on gut feel.

Diversifying revenue streams

Relying on a single dining room can make cash flow very seasonal. Adding catering, private events, delivery, meal kits, or branded retail products helps fill gaps between peaks. Marketing tools like loyalty programs and email campaigns can push steady traffic in slower months.

QuickBooks allows restaurants to create separate income accounts for each revenue stream — catering, events, retail, and more — so performance can be tracked year-round by line of business. Invoicing features help manage receivables for catering jobs or event deposits, improving the timing of cash inflows and reducing the risk of slow-paying customers.

Maintaining supplier relationships

Good supplier relationships can become a cash flow safety valve. Flexible terms, such as split payments, extended terms during slow periods, or volume discounts, help manage outflows. In return, paying on time and communicating clearly keep the restaurant in good standing and improve bargaining power during shortages or renegotiations.

QuickBooks’ bill and vendor management tools allow restaurants to schedule payments, see upcoming due dates, and avoid missed or late payments. Vendor reports show how much is spent with each supplier and how reliably bills are paid, supporting better negotiations and decisions about which relationships to deepen.

Weekly cash flow monitoring

Waiting until the month-end to review cash is risky in a restaurant. Weekly cash flow reviews help spot trouble early. Comparing actual sales and expenses to forecasts, checking bank balances, and reviewing upcoming obligations (payroll, rent, loan payments, major deliveries) keep the team ahead of potential shortfalls. Adjustments to staffing, ordering, or promotions can then be made quickly.

QuickBooks provides a cash flow dashboard that shows current bank balances, upcoming payments, and expected inflows in one place. Custom weekly cash flow reports and alerts for low balances or upcoming bills help managers react early, rather than scrambling when cash is already tight.

Frequently asked questions (FAQs)

What is the best accounting method for restaurants?

Most restaurants benefit from accrual accounting because it records sales and expenses when they happen, not when cash moves. This gives a clearer picture of food cost, labor trends, and profitability, especially when dealing with inventory, catering deposits, gift cards, or vendor terms. Very small or cash-only operations may start with cash accounting, but most growing restaurants eventually switch to accrual accounting for accuracy and better decision-making.

What type of accounting is used in restaurants?

Restaurants typically use accrual accounting with industry-specific tools like:

• A detailed chart of accounts tailored to food, beverage, labor, and multiple sales channels
• Inventory cost flow methods (FIFO, weighted average)
• Prime cost tracking (food + labor)
• Period-based reporting (like 4-4-5 weekly periods instead of monthly reporting)

This structure supports menu costing, variance analysis, cash flow planning, and overall financial control.

How to do restaurant accounting?

Restaurant accounting involves tracking the parts of the operation that change most day to day:

• Record all sales daily, separated by dine-in, delivery, takeout, and tips
• Track inventory using FIFO or weighted average and monitor waste/spoilage
• Log expenses and vendor bills promptly
• Manage payroll with accurate time tracking
• Monitor prime cost (food + labor)
• Reconcile bank, POS, and cash deposits
• Review weekly cash flow and adjust staffing or ordering as needed

Using software like QuickBooks Online can automate many of these steps, especially sales imports, vendor tracking, payroll integration, and COGS updates, so financial data stays accurate throughout each service period.