Short answer: Restaurant bookkeeping in Los Angeles records POS sales gross, with card fees, discounts and comps on their own lines, and breaks delivery app payouts into sales, commissions and fees. Tips stay out of revenue, and sales tax collected is tracked by location. Purchases are coded so you see food and labor cost as a share of sales each month.
Where restaurant money gets lost in the books
A restaurant takes money in a dozen ways. Card batches settle a day or two later, net of processing fees. Delivery apps pay out weekly after commissions, promotions and refunds. Cash goes to the safe and then, eventually, to the bank. Tips flow through payroll. If the books only record what hits the bank account, sales look smaller than they were and fees disappear into one number nobody reviews.
The other problem is timing. Food cost and labor cost are the two numbers that decide whether a month made money, and most owners see them months later, if at all.
What we track for a restaurant
- Daily sales from the POS recorded gross, with card fees, discounts and comps shown on their own lines.
- Delivery app payouts broken into sales, commissions, marketing fees and adjustments, so you can see what each app really costs.
- Cash deposits matched to the sales reports for the same days.
- Tips and service charges kept out of revenue and tied to payroll.
- Food, beverage and packaging purchases coded by category so cost of goods is visible each month.
- Sales tax collected tracked separately from your own money.
Los Angeles details that affect a restaurant's books
Since October 1, 2026, the sales tax rate in the City of Los Angeles has been 10.25 percent, up from 9.75 percent. Rates differ in neighboring cities, so a group with locations in Culver City or Santa Monica cannot use one rate everywhere. We record tax collected by location so your return matches your POS.
Restaurants in the City of Los Angeles hold a public health permit from LA County Environmental Health, which covers most of the county except Long Beach, Pasadena and Vernon. The City of Los Angeles also requires a Business Tax Registration Certificate, renewed every year on gross receipts. Health permit fees, BTRC tax and liquor license renewals go into the books when paid, so they do not surprise you at year end.
Numbers worth checking every month
- Food and beverage cost as a share of food and beverage sales, from purchases coded by category.
- Labor cost as a share of sales, from payroll booked by front and back of house.
- Delivery app cost per order, after commissions, promotions and refunds.
- Card processing fees as a share of card sales, which shows when it is time to renegotiate.
- Cash over and short, from deposits matched to the POS.
These are only as good as the coding behind them, which is why each purchase is categorized when it lands.
How the month runs
- Pull the sales Daily or weekly summaries come from your POS and each delivery app.
- Match the deposits Each bank deposit is matched to the sales it came from, and fees are booked on their own lines.
- Code the purchases Supplier invoices and card charges are coded to food, beverage, supplies or overhead.
- Report You get a profit and loss with food and labor cost as a share of sales, plus anything that did not match.
Opening, buying or catching up
New restaurants need the chart of accounts set up before the first service, not after. If you bought an existing spot, opening balances and equipment need to be recorded correctly from the purchase agreement. If you are months behind, we start from bank statements and POS reports and rebuild forward.
Restaurant by city
- Restaurants in KoreatownLate nights, card batches that cross midnight and City of Los Angeles rules on tax and pay, kept straight every month.
- Restaurants in Santa MonicaSanta Monica taxes local receipts, sets its own minimum wage and controls service charges. The books should reflect all three.
Where we work
We keep books for businesses across the City of Los Angeles, the Westside, the Eastside, the San Fernando Valley, the San Gabriel Valley, the Gateway Cities and the South Bay.
- Alhambra
- Arcadia
- City of Industry
- Commerce
- Diamond Bar
- Downey
- Downtown Los Angeles
- East Los Angeles
- El Monte
- Koreatown
- Lincoln Heights
- North Hollywood
- Pasadena
- Pomona
- San Fernando Valley
- Santa Fe Springs
- Santa Monica
- Sherman Oaks
- South Bay
- Van Nuys
- Vernon
- West Covina
- West Los Angeles
- Whittier
- Woodland Hills
Questions
Do you work with Toast, Square or Clover?
We work from the reports any of these systems export, and we use direct connections to your accounting software where they exist.
Can you handle more than one location?
Yes. Each location can have its own class or tracking category so you see a profit and loss per site.
Do you file my sales tax return?
We keep sales tax collected accurate and ready to file. Filing is done by you or your CPA.
What about tips?
Tips are recorded as a liability that is paid out through payroll, not as restaurant revenue.