Pub and bar chart of accounts
A pub or bar trades late into the night, handles a lot of cash and card takings, books functions and pays for bands, security and a liquor licence. This chart puts accounts for each of them next to the general chart of accounts.
- By Book Keeping Pros
- Sources checked 15 Oct 2026
What this industry adds
- Each till starts the night with a float and the safe holds more change, so Till and safe floats keeps that cash apart from the takings and from Petty cash. Card settlements in transit holds the night's card takings until the payment provider's deposit arrives.
- Deposits for private functions and room bookings come in before the event, and Function room deposits received tracks them against the booking they belong to.
- Entertainment and security are costs of trading nights: Live entertainment holds the fees for bands, DJs and trivia hosts, and Security and crowd control holds what security firms charge for guards on the door and the floor.
- A licensed venue pays for things few other businesses need: Liquor licence fees, Music licences, Sports broadcast subscriptions, Cellar gas and cylinder rental for the beer system, and Venue cleaning contractors after trade.
Download the chart
The general accounts and this industry's accounts in one CSV file, in code order, which opens in any spreadsheet program.
Download the CSV fileThe accounts this chart adds
| Code | Account name | Type | What goes in it |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1-1500 | Till and safe floats | Asset | Notes and coins kept in the tills and the safe for giving change, at the amount set for each |
| 1-1510 | Card settlements in transit | Asset | Bar, bistro and bottle shop card takings from each trading night, waiting for the payment provider to settle them to the bank |
| 2-1300 | Function room deposits received | Liability | Deposits paid to book the function room or a private area of the venue for an event still to come |
| 6-2100 | Live entertainment | Expense | Fees for bands, DJs, trivia hosts and sound or lighting hire for entertainment nights |
| 6-2110 | Security and crowd control | Expense | Invoices from security firms for guards and crowd controllers on the door and the floor on trading nights |
| 6-2120 | Liquor licence fees | Expense | Application fees and ongoing fees charged for the venue's liquor licence |
| 6-2130 | Cellar gas and cylinder rental | Expense | Carbon dioxide and mixed gas used to pour beer from kegs, and rental of the gas cylinders |
| 6-2140 | Music licences | Expense | Charges for the licences the venue holds to play music in the bar, beer garden and function room |
| 6-2150 | Sports broadcast subscriptions | Expense | Commercial subscriptions for showing live sport on the venue's screens |
| 6-2160 | Venue cleaning contractors | Expense | Contract cleaners who clean the bar, bistro, toilets and beer garden after trade |
Illustrative example only: these rows show the method and are not sourced data.
What goes in each column
- Code: A number that sorts the account into its group: 1 for assets, 2 for liabilities, 3 for equity, 4 for income, and 5 and 6 for expenses.
- Account name: The name that appears in your books and reports.
- Type: Asset, Liability, Equity, Income or Expense, which decides whether the account appears on the balance sheet or the profit and loss statement.
- What goes in it: The transactions to record against the account.
How to use it
- Cut the CSV down to the parts of the venue you run: a bar without a function room can drop Function room deposits received, and one without screens can drop Sports broadcast subscriptions.
- At close, count each till and compare the cash with its float adjusted for the cash sales, refunds and payouts the point of sale system recorded for it, then set the float aside for the next night. Post the night's card takings to Card settlements in transit.
- When the settlement lands in the bank, clear the matching amount from Card settlements in transit and put any fees taken out of it into Bank fees.
- Record each function deposit with the booking name and date. Enter band, DJ and security invoices as bills, so you can compare a night's entertainment and security costs with that night's takings.
- The accounts in this chart cover the venue's own money and costs. Your accountant can help with anything beyond them, including how function deposits should be treated.
The chart is a CSV file, which opens in a spreadsheet program. It is not set up for importing directly into any particular accounting software, so check the format your software expects before you load the accounts into it.
Related pages
Related terms
Sources
- Key financial terms
business.gov.au, Australian Government. Current at 15 October 2026, released 9 July 2024. Checked 15 October 2026.
© Commonwealth of Australia 2020, licensed under CC BY 3.0 AU. Licence: CC BY 3.0 AU.
- Review of Merchant Card Payment Costs and Surcharging, Conclusions Paper: Glossary of Key Terms
Reserve Bank of Australia. Conclusions Paper, March 2026, released 31 March 2026. Checked 16 October 2026.
Source: Reserve Bank of Australia 2026 Licence: CC BY 4.0.
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