--- title: "Restaurant Bookkeeping: Sales, Tips and Food Cost | MCC" description: "A practical look at restaurant bookkeeping: daily sales reports, tip handling, food and beverage cost, vendor invoices, and tax liabilities." url: "https://mcc-solutionsnj.com/bookkeeping/guides/bookkeeping-for-restaurants" --- Bookkeeping guide · Updated October 12, 2026 # Restaurant Bookkeeping: Sales, Tips and Food Cost Restaurants move a large amount of small transactions every day, and margins are thin. Good books turn the chaos into a few numbers you can act on: food cost, labor cost and what you owe in taxes. By [Matthew Coleman](/about), MCC Solutions **Quick answer.** Record a restaurant's end-of-day point of sale report (gross sales, discounts, comps, sales tax, tips and payment types) as one summary entry per day, not every ticket. The goal is a few numbers you can act on: food cost, labor cost and taxes owed. Want this handled for you? Monthly bookkeeping, cleanup and year-end close for small businesses. Start with a free health check of your books. [Free health check](/bookkeeping/health-check)[Get a quote](/bookkeeping/#interest) **Related:** [Closing entries and retained earnings](/bookkeeping/guides/closing-entries-and-retained-earnings) · [Void vs delete a transaction](/bookkeeping/guides/voiding-vs-deleting-transactions) · [NJ 1099 contractor rule (ABC test)](/bookkeeping/guides/nj-independent-contractor-rule-abc-test-2026) **Free tools:** [Net profit margin calculator](/bookkeeping/net-profit-margin-calculator) · [Early payment discount calculator](/bookkeeping/early-payment-discount-calculator) [![Intuit ProAdvisor Gold tier badge](/img/credentials/intuit-proadvisor-gold.png)](https://proadvisor.intuit.com/app/accountant/search?searchId=matthew-coleman77)Gold tier in Intuit's ProAdvisor program. [See my Intuit listing](https://proadvisor.intuit.com/app/accountant/search?searchId=matthew-coleman77) Keeping your own books? Tallyfinch does invoices, bank import and reports on your computer. [See Tallyfinch](/bookkeeping/mcc-books-downloadable-bookkeeping-software) ## Start with the daily sales report Your point of sale system produces an end-of-day report with gross sales, discounts, comps, sales tax collected, tips, and totals by payment type. Record that summary, not each ticket. Many owners post one journal entry or sales receipt per day, or use an app connection that summarizes it for them. The entry should split sales into food, beverages and alcohol if your menu mix matters, show sales tax as a liability, and show card tips as a liability because the money belongs to staff. Compare the deposit that lands in your bank a day or two later against the report. The gap is processor fees and timing. ## Tips and payroll Credit card tips collected for employees are not your revenue. They sit in a liability account until they are paid out through payroll or in cash with proper records. Tip pooling, tip credits and reporting rules are specific, so confirm the current federal and state rules with your payroll provider or a CPA. Never run tips through the checking account without a clear paper trail. ## Food cost and inventory Food cost percentage is cost of food sold divided by food sales. To calculate it, you need beginning inventory, purchases, and ending inventory. Many small restaurants count the walk-in and dry storage at month end and record the change. Even a rough count beats none. Track beverage cost separately, since liquor and beer run on different margins than kitchen items. Code vendor invoices to the right cost line when they arrive. A single produce invoice and a single paper goods invoice should land in different accounts. ## Prime cost and the monthly review Prime cost is food and beverage cost plus total labor cost, including payroll taxes. It is the figure most operators watch first, because rent and prime cost together decide whether the place survives. Build a monthly page with sales, prime cost and its percentage of sales, and compare it to the prior month. A sudden jump usually points to waste, theft, price changes from a supplier or overscheduling. ## Pitfalls to avoid Do not pay vendors out of the cash drawer without logging it. Do not mix owner meals with food cost. Keep gift card sales as a liability until redeemed. Third-party delivery apps pay you net of their commission, so record gross sales and the commission separately, or your sales will look smaller than reality. Keep a calendar for sales tax and payroll deposits, because late tax payments can bring penalties and personal liability in some cases. ## A weekly routine that keeps you ahead Pick one day each week to look at the numbers. Pull sales by day, the labor report from your scheduling tool, and the week's vendor invoices. Compare labor against sales for each shift, since an overstaffed Tuesday lunch hides inside a good weekly total. Pay vendors by invoice date and terms, not by whoever calls first. Keep a short list of cash handling rules: count the drawer at open and close, have a second person verify the deposit, and deposit on a regular schedule. Over and short amounts belong in their own account, and a pattern in that account is worth a conversation. ## Common questions **How often should a restaurant close its books?** Monthly at minimum, with a weekly look at sales, labor and cash. Prime cost is hard to manage if you only see it once a quarter. **Is it fine to record only the deposits from my bank?** No. Deposits are net of fees, tips and timing, so they understate sales and hide your real costs. This guide is general information, not tax, legal or accounting advice. Rules, fees and due dates change; check with the IRS, the NJ Division of Taxation or a licensed professional for your situation. Let us handle it [### Monthly bookkeeping Categorizing, reconciling and monthly reports, with cleanup, payroll and NJ filings available. Bookkeeping →](/bookkeeping/) [### QuickBooks Online Monthly bookkeeping, cleanup and reconciliation in QuickBooks Online for New Jersey small businesses. Your account stays in your name. QuickBooks →](/bookkeeping/software/quickbooks-online)[### Square, Stripe and payment processors How sales from Square, Stripe, PayPal and other processors should flow into your accounting software, and why deposits never match sales. Square & Stripe →](/bookkeeping/software/square-and-stripe) More guides - [Bookkeeping for Real Estate Agents](/bookkeeping/guides/bookkeeping-for-real-estate-agents) - [Bookkeeping for Landlords and Rental Properties](/bookkeeping/guides/bookkeeping-for-landlords) - [Bookkeeping for Online Store and Marketplace Sellers](/bookkeeping/guides/bookkeeping-for-ecommerce-sellers) - [Bookkeeping for Consultants and Service Businesses](/bookkeeping/guides/bookkeeping-for-consultants) Free tool - [Bookkeeping health check](/bookkeeping/health-check) [All guides](/bookkeeping/guides) Reach small business owners, freelancers and bookkeepers who read this guide: [advertise here](/advertise#bookkeeping). Do it yourself ### Food Business Bundle Cost each dish, watch food and labor each week, know what to reorder and scale formulas to any batch. [See what's inside ($75)](/toolkits/food-business-bundle)14-day full refund Excel workbook ### Restaurant Daily Sales and Cost Sheet Log each day's sales and cash count, add the week's food purchases and labor, and see whether food and labor are inside your own targets. [See what is inside ($24)](/toolkits/restaurant-daily-sales-sheet) Also in the [Food Business Bundle](/toolkits/food-business-bundle): 4 products for $75 instead of $101 separately. Tallyfinch ### Books you keep on your own computer Tallyfinch does invoices, bills, bank import, reconciliation and the main reports, in a file you own. $99 once, then $5 a month for updates; the app keeps working if you stop the plan. It does not do payroll or sales tax filing. The free download records up to 60 entries. [See Tallyfinch](/bookkeeping/mcc-books-downloadable-bookkeeping-software) [Download it free](/tools/pro/trial/mccBooks) [Compare the three apps](/software) ## Rather have us keep the books? Ask for a quote. 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