Hotels & Restaurants accounting, handled.

Properly operated, a tronc independently controlled by a troncmaster (not the owner) distributes tips to staff free of employer's and employee's National Insurance, though PAYE income tax still applies. The Allocation of Tips Act 2024 also requires fair and transparent distribution. We help you set up a compliant tronc, draft the policy, and process it through payroll alongside standard PAYE.

Hot food and any food eaten on premises is standard-rated 20%. Cold takeaway food is generally zero-rated (with exceptions for chocolate, sweets, crisps, alcoholic drinks). Hot takeaway is 20%. This gives most cafes and restaurants a mixed VAT position that needs careful till coding. We set up the POS mappings and check the VAT return ratios monthly so you're not over- or under-paying.

Beverage GP is the single biggest profit lever in hospitality, and it relies on accurate four-weekly stock counts valued at cost. We use stock-management tools that integrate with your accounting software so wastage, theft, and free pours show up immediately rather than disappearing into a year-end adjustment. Typical bar GP target is 70%+ — we'll tell you fast if it's slipping.

Discretionary service charges genuinely left to customer choice can flow through a tronc and qualify for the NI relief. Mandatory or 'discretionary in name only' service charges are treated as restaurant revenue, fully subject to VAT, PAYE, and NI when distributed. Get the menu wording and till workflow wrong and you owe years of back-NI. We'll review your current setup and flag any risk.

Yes — Premium Plus and Enterprise plans include monthly management accounts. We pull from your PMS or POS into Xero or QuickBooks and produce RevPAR, ADR, food cost percentage, labour percentage, and gross operating profit per available room or seat. You get plain-English commentary, not a PDF dump, within five working days of month-end.