Accounting for restaurants & cafés in South Africa Busy tables, clear numbers.
Restaurants, cafés, takeaways, caterers and coffee shops. We keep the cash-ups, the VAT and the payroll straight, and give you the numbers to see which dishes make money and where the margin leaks.
How we help restaurants and food businesses
Margins in food service are thin and the numbers move every day. We keep the books tight and show you, dish by dish, what is earning its place on the menu.
Everyday finance
- Daily cash-up and point-of-sale reconciliation
- Card-fee and delivery-app commission reconciliation
- VAT201 returns & SARS compliance
- Payroll: PAYE, UIF and SDL for shift staff
Margin & cash
- Food cost and margin by dish
- Stock and wastage control
- Cashflow forecasting for slow and peak periods
- Supplier payments and credit terms
Tax & growth
- Provisional and income tax
- Turnover tax, if your restaurant qualifies
- Capital allowances on kitchen equipment and fit-out
- Second-site planning and Virtual FD as you grow
Opening a second site, buying a restaurant or selling to a franchisor?
Buying, selling, franchising or raising capital for a new site is a transaction, and it sits with our corporate finance colleagues at Caban Corporate Advisors. One group, seamless handover.
Go to CabanFrequently asked questions
Short, plain answers to what South African business owners ask us most.
How do you work out food cost and margin by dish?
We track food cost, stock and wastage against what each dish sells for, so you can see which dishes earn their place on the menu. Our food cost percentage guide explains the method.
Can a restaurant use turnover tax?
Possibly. Turnover tax is a simplified tax for qualifying small businesses, and we check whether your restaurant qualifies and how it compares with normal tax. See turnover tax vs normal tax.
How do you reconcile card fees and delivery-app commissions?
We run daily cash-up and point-of-sale reconciliation and match card fees and delivery-app commissions to the bank, so the cash in the bank can be explained.
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Talk to an accountant who knows restaurants.
Tell us about your restaurant or café and a named, qualified accountant will look at your margins, VAT and cash, with no queue and no junior.
