Can you tell whether my wet or dry side is carrying the pub?

Yes, and it is one of the first things we set up. We split gross profit into wet and dry lines so drinks and food are measured separately rather than blended into one figure. That usually reveals that a strong bar is subsidising a kitchen that loses money, or the reverse. Once you can see it, you can price, staff or change the menu with real numbers behind the decision.

How do you deal with cellar losses in the accounts?

We reconcile each stocktake against sales so the gap between what you bought and what you sold appears as a figure, not a shrug. That gap covers line cleaning, spillage, ullage and dip variances, and a normal range tells you the cellar is under control. When it drifts, you know to look at measures, wastage or stock security. Tying stock to sales every count is what makes the wet margin trustworthy.

We are refitting the bar. Is any of that spend tax deductible?

A large part of it usually is. Trade fixtures, cellar cooling, kitchen equipment and much of the fit out qualify for capital allowances, and the Annual Investment Allowance gives full relief on up to £1,000,000 of qualifying spend. Integral features such as wiring and air handling sit in the special rate pool at 6% instead. Our guide to capital allowances on a fit out sets out what falls where.

Accountants for Pubs and Bars

Written and reviewed by the Hospitality Accountants editorial team. Last reviewed 27 July 2026.

We are pub accountants. We keep the books, file the accounts and the tax return, run the payroll and file the VAT for pubs and bars, whether you run a tied house, a free house or a managed site. A pub lives and dies on margin, so we build the accounts around wet and dry gross profit rather than treating drinks and food as one blur.

This page is the work, not a lecture. If you want to understand the reliefs on a refit, read our guide to capital allowances on a fit out. If you want the margins tracked, the stock tied out and the VAT filed every quarter, that is what we do here.

What Pub and Bar Accounting Covers

We prepare the annual accounts and tax return, keep the bookkeeping current, run the payroll for bar and kitchen staff, and handle the VAT. Alongside that we track wet gross profit on drinks and dry gross profit on food as separate lines, because a healthy bar can hide a loss-making kitchen and the blended figure never shows it.

We reconcile the stocktake into the accounts so cellar losses, ullage and short measure show up as real numbers. A pub that does not tie stock to sales is guessing at its own gross profit, and we replace that guess with a figure you can act on.

Where Tied and Free House Numbers Diverge

A tied house buys beer from the pubco at the tie price and often pays rent that flexes with barrelage, so your wet margin is set as much by the agreement as by your pricing. A free house buys on the open market and carries the buying risk itself. The accounts have to reflect which you are, because the same pint earns a very different margin under each.

Cellar losses are where the money quietly leaks. Line cleaning, spillage, dip variances and the odd unrecorded staff drink all sit between what you bought and what you sold. We pull that gap out at each stocktake so you can see whether it is normal wastage or something worth chasing.

How We Run a Pub Engagement

We link your EPOS and bank feed, set a stocktake and bookkeeping rhythm that matches how often you count, and take on the VAT and payroll calendar. You deal with one named accountant who understands barrelage, GP targets and the difference between a wet-led and a food-led site.

When you refit the bar, the cellar or the kitchen, much of that spend qualifies for relief, and the Annual Investment Allowance covers up to £1,000,000 of qualifying expenditure. We also handle the VAT engagement itself through our hospitality VAT returns service so registration, returns and the flat rate question all sit in one place.

What Pub Accounting Costs

You pay a fixed fee agreed before we start, set by your turnover, your headcount and how often you want the stock and margins reviewed. There is no hourly clock and no charge for picking up the phone.

We do not cold-call and we are not a listings site. The practice is Tidy Money Ltd, run by Preetesh Parmar FCCA and regulated by the ACCA.