Tax and Bookkeeping Help for Restaurants and Food Service
Restaurants run on thin margins and a lot of moving parts: daily sales across cash, cards and delivery apps, tips, food and beverage costs, payroll and sales tax. When the books fall behind, it gets hard to know where the business actually stands.
Raymond G. Kenney, CPA works directly with restaurant, cafe, bar and food truck owners. Ray helps you keep clean books, stay on top of filings and understand your tax picture so you can focus on running the kitchen and the floor.
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Common Challenges and How Ray Helps
- Tips and tip reporting. Cash and card tips need to be tracked and reported through payroll. Ray helps keep tip records consistent with your payroll provider and explains the FICA tip credit that may be available to food and beverage employers.
- Food and beverage costs. Ray helps you categorize food, beverage and supply purchases so cost of goods sold is accurate and you can see your costs clearly month to month.
- POS and delivery app reconciliation. Deposits from your POS system and third-party delivery apps arrive net of fees and refunds. Ray reconciles them to your sales so revenue and fees are recorded properly.
- Sales tax. Restaurants collect sales tax on most food and drink sales. Ray helps make sure your books match what you collect and report.
- Equipment and build-out. Kitchen equipment, furniture and improvements may be depreciated or expensed under different rules. Ray reviews the options with you.
- Entity and owner pay. As the business grows, Ray can review entity choice and whether an S-corp election makes sense.
Related Services
- Monthly bookkeeping
- Bookkeeping clean-up
- QuickBooks setup and optimization
- Year-round tax planning
- S-corp and C-corp tax preparation
- Partnership and multi-member LLC returns
- Year-Round Business Plan
- Frequently asked questions
Why Work With Ray
Ray is a licensed New York CPA in practice since 2015 and a member of the NYSSCPA. You deal with him directly, from your first call through filing, and he’ll explain things in plain language.
Work With Ray From Anywhere
Prefer to work remotely? Ray works with clients locally and remotely across the U.S. by phone, video and email. Work with Ray from anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
How should tips be handled in my books?
Tips your staff receive are generally reported through payroll, and card tips collected by the business pass through to employees. Keeping POS tip reports and payroll records in agreement is important. Ray can review how your setup records them.
What is the FICA tip credit?
It is a federal business credit that may be available to food and beverage employers for a portion of the employer Social Security and Medicare taxes paid on employee tips. Eligibility depends on your situation, so it is worth reviewing.
Can my POS system connect to QuickBooks?
Many POS systems connect to QuickBooks directly or through an app. Ray can help set up the connection so sales, tips, fees and sales tax are recorded consistently.
Get Started
Have questions about your situation? Talk with Ray. Monday–Friday, 9–5.