Do you handle both the eat-in and the takeaway side of my VAT?

Yes, that split is the core of restaurant VAT and we set it up at the till. Anything hot or eaten on the premises is standard-rated at 20%, while cold food taken away is zero-rated. We configure your till categories so each sale lands in the right VAT box automatically. That means the quarterly return reflects your actual mix rather than a blended guess.

Should my restaurant be a limited company or a sole trader?

It depends on your profit, how much you draw, and how much risk you want to carry personally. Corporation tax runs at 19% on profits up to £50,000 and 25% above £250,000, while a sole trader pays income tax at 20%, 40% or 45%. We model both against your numbers before you decide rather than defaulting you into a company. Our guide on choosing a business structure walks through the same trade-offs.

Can you take over the bookkeeping as well as the year end?

Yes, and we usually recommend it. When we keep the books current, the VAT returns and the annual accounts come from one clean set of records instead of a shoebox rebuild. It also means we spot a margin or a cost problem in month two, not eleven months later. The fixed fee covers the whole chain from daily entries to the final return.

Accountants for Restaurants

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

We are restaurant accountants. We keep the books, file the year end accounts and the tax return, run the payroll, and handle the VAT for restaurants that serve food to eat in and to take away. The brief is simple: you cook and run the floor, and we make the numbers arrive on time and correct.

This is the doing, not the explaining. If you want to understand how a rule works, read our guide on VAT for restaurants and takeaways. If you want someone to actually apply it to your covers, your card takings and your staff, that is the work on this page.

What Restaurant Accounting Covers

We prepare the annual accounts and the tax return, whether you trade as a sole trader, a partnership or a limited company. We keep the bookkeeping current so the figures behind those accounts are the real ones, not a January reconstruction. We run payroll for kitchen and front of house, and we file the VAT returns.

Sitting under all of that is the split that defines a restaurant: hot food and anything eaten on the premises is standard-rated at 20%, while cold food taken away is zero-rated. We set the tills and the bookkeeping up so that split is captured at the point of sale, not estimated at the year end. The mechanics live in our guide on VAT for restaurants and takeaways.

Where Restaurant Books Get Awkward

The awkward part is the mixed sale. A single order can carry a standard-rated hot main, a zero-rated cold sandwich to go, and a standard-rated soft drink, and your VAT return has to reflect that mix across thousands of transactions. Get the till categories wrong and the error compounds every quarter.

Cash is the other pressure point. Restaurants still take notes and coins, and the books only stand up if the cash banked reconciles to the till Z-reads. We build that reconciliation into the monthly routine so the takings are defensible if HMRC ever asks.

How We Run a Restaurant Engagement

We connect to your till and your bank feed, agree a monthly bookkeeping rhythm, and pick up the VAT and payroll deadlines from there. You get a named contact who knows your covers and your suppliers, not a call centre.

Choosing the right trading structure sits at the front of this: sole trader, partnership or limited company each change the tax you pay and the admin you carry. We size that with you rather than defaulting to a company. The trade-offs are set out in our guide to choosing a business structure for a restaurant.

What Restaurant Accounting Costs

You pay a fixed fee agreed before we start, based on your turnover, your headcount and whether you are VAT registered. There is no hourly meter and no surprise invoice after a busy quarter.

We do not cold-call, we are not a directory, and we do not tie you into anything you cannot leave. Tidy Money Ltd is the practice behind this site, run by Preetesh Parmar FCCA and regulated by the ACCA.