Sector

Takings, tips, VAT and payroll for venues that never stop

For pubs, restaurants, cafes, takeaways and caterers, where the numbers that matter are weekly rather than annual.

What makes hospitality different

Daily takings, mixed VAT rates and constant payroll

Cash and card takings need reconciling daily to the till, or the gap between the two becomes impossible to explain months later. Food, drink and delivery attract different VAT treatments, and takeaway rules differ from eat in.

Tips and service charges must now be passed to staff in full under the Employment (Allocation of Tips) Act, and a properly run tronc can save National Insurance for both sides. Staff turnover is high, so payroll is constant rather than monthly.

Who we act for

Every kind of hospitality business

Pubs and bars

Wet led venues with brewery arrangements, stock control and licensing costs.

Restaurants

Food led venues where prime cost, the sum of food and labour, decides whether the month works.

Cafes and takeaways

Where the eat in and takeaway VAT split needs getting right every day.

Multi site operators

Groups needing consolidated reporting alongside site by site performance.

What we handle

From the till to the year end

Till and card reconciliation from your point of sale system, daily rather than monthly, so discrepancies are caught while anyone can still remember them. Mixed rate VAT and the takeaway rules applied correctly.

Tronc set up and tips compliance under the new statutory code, with the payroll treatment that follows. Weekly or monthly payroll with the high volume of starters and leavers this sector produces, including holiday pay for variable hours staff.

Weekly prime cost reporting on food, drink and labour as a percentage of sales, stock and wastage tracking, brewery loan arrangements, and business rates and premises costs.

Packages

Company Growth £179 a month
Company Premium £299 a month for multi site
Payroll £5 per employee per pay run above the included number
Virtual Finance Department from £450 a month

See pricing

Prime cost weekly, not monthly

Food and labour together usually decide whether a venue makes money. Seeing that percentage weekly lets you fix a bad week; seeing it in the annual accounts tells you about a bad year you can no longer change.

Questions

Frequently asked

How should tips be handled?

Tips must be passed to staff in full. A tronc run by an independent troncmaster can pay them free of National Insurance, but it has to be genuinely independent of the employer to qualify.

What VAT applies to takeaway food?

Hot takeaway food is standard rated. Most cold takeaway food is zero rated. Anything eaten on the premises is standard rated regardless. The split has to be captured at the till.

How often should we reconcile the till?

Daily. Card settlements, cash banked and till reports should agree every day. Weekly is workable; monthly means discrepancies are never resolved.

Can you handle payroll for variable hours staff?

Yes, including holiday pay calculated on the 52 week reference period and the higher turnover of starters and leavers this sector produces.

What is a realistic gross margin?

It varies, but many operators target around 70% on drink and 65% to 70% on food. What matters more is tracking your own trend weekly rather than comparing to an average.