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What Is a Chart of Accounts for a Restaurant

While restaurants typically have more complex accounting systems because food is the primary driver of their business, many of the same principles can be applied to accounting for bars. Armed with this information, you’ll be empowered to make more informed decisions about your restaurant, such as adjusting menu prices, reducing waste, or improving marketing efforts. Given how large and vital inventory is to restaurants’ operational and financial health, it’s crucial to have a dynamic, tech-enabled inventory management system that provides accurate, real-time inventory data. Ideally, that system should be part of a more extensive Restaurant Enterprise Management system that immediately accounts for inventory on an ongoing basis. Asset accounts include cash, bank accounts, inventory, and everything else that is owned, whether they are fixed or current. For restaurants, this means checking accounts, savings accounts, food inventory, bar inventory, accounts receivable, short-term investments, and more.

• You can use your financial data to budget and plan your restaurant’s long-term success.
• Finding a bookkeeper who understands the complexity of the food and beverage industry, both front-of-the-house operations and back-of-the-house management.
• Your chart of accounts will help inform your budgeting process by breaking down all of your different expenses into categories, such as inventory, marketing, wages etc.
• Unfortunately, as we help them prepare for their taxes, we often find out that they simply have too many accounts — or in some cases, not enough.
• Keep reading to learn more about restaurant bookkeeping and what we can do for you.
• These categories will further be divided into subcategories depending on the size, location, operational capacity, and other such factors.

You will be asked what industry you operate within, and then you will be given a preset chart of accounts. By leveraging EA’s staff augmentation services for restaurant accounting, entrepreneurs gain access to the global accounting talent pool. EA connects entrepreneurs to accountants, and entrepreneurs can have their pick from EA’s curated list of gold-standard restaurant accounting professionals.

Creating categories that will increase your overall financial awareness

Without one, it will be extremely difficult to track your income and expenses, have your taxes prepared or make financial decisions. Here’s where you’ll list every asset, whether they are fixed or current. For restaurants, this means checking accounts, savings accounts, food inventory, bar inventory, accounts receivable, short-term investments, and more.

That’s because BinWise lets you upload all supplier invoices right into your accounting platform. You want to make sure your chart of accounts has enough lines to reflect proper detail, but you also don’t bookkeeping for restaurant want it to be so complex you can’t manage it. Most accounting packages come with a chart of accounts loaded into the software, but it’s important to make sure you are using one designed for restaurants.