Bookkeeping for takeaway food businesses

What the books involve

• Counter and phone orders: end-of-night point of sale totals matched to card terminal settlements and the cash banked, with any till variance noted for the owner to check.
• Delivery app payouts: every payout from the ordering apps broken into the orders it settles, with commission, shop-funded promotions and refunds for missing items recorded on separate lines.
• Online ordering through the shop's own website or app: orders reconciled against the payment gateway's deposits, with gateway fees coded as a cost rather than netted off sales.
• Ingredients and packaging: invoices for meat, seafood, cooking oil, bread rolls, sauces, containers and bags entered as deliveries arrive, so food and packaging costs can be read against sales.
• Fryer oil, gas and waste: oil supply and collection, gas bills and grease trap pump-outs recorded on their own accounts, which shows what it costs to keep the kitchen running.
• Food vans and market stalls: event and stall fees, generator fuel and van finance repayments recorded, with takings coded by event so each outing's results can be compared.