Daperis CPAAccounting Built Around How Restaurants Actually Run
Most CPAs treat a restaurant like any other small business. It isn't one. Tip credits, split sales tax rates, high labor volatility, and books that need to reflect daily reality, not a once-a-year cleanup, are specific to this industry, and most generalist firms miss all four.
What Usually Goes Wrong in Restaurant Books
If any of this sounds familiar, you're not alone. It's close to universal in this industry.
Bookkeeping that's always behind. Between service, staffing, and everything else that needs your attention today, the books are the thing that gets pushed to "later," and later becomes never, until tax season and deadlines force you to scramble and get everything together. What should be an easy process becomes a last minute fire drill.
Payroll, tips, and sales tax set up wrong from day one, and nobody catches it. Tip reporting has real compliance requirements most POS-to-payroll setups don't handle correctly out of the box. Sales tax on food and beverage has its own rules depending on what's sold and how. A setup that's slightly wrong doesn't usually get caught until it's already cost you money.
A chart of accounts that doesn't tell you anything useful. "Income" and "expenses" aren't enough to run a restaurant. You need to see food cost, beverage cost, labor by category, and occupancy separately, in real time, or you're guessing at your margins instead of knowing them.
Working for my family's restaurant Esperanto (East Village), I've experienced it all. From early morning prep to late-night closing shifts, POS systems to payroll, and even navigating the complex tax filings, I've managed it all.
How We Help
We build your books around how a restaurant actually operates, not a generic small-business template.
- Chart of accounts built for F&B. Food cost, beverage cost, labor, and other expenses tracked separately from day one, so your P&L actually tells you something.
- Payroll and tip reporting set up correctly. Including the FICA tip credit, a real payroll tax credit most NYC restaurants qualify for and don't claim.
- Correct worker classification for your staff. Servers, kitchen staff, and any 1099 help (bands, DJs, delivery contractors) classified and filed correctly from the start, so you don't have to worry about it later.
- The QBI deduction, applied correctly. Most restaurant owners qualify for this 20% deduction on business profit and don't realize the phase-out rules that actually apply to them.
- Quarterly estimates that don't blindside you. Restaurant income is seasonal and volatile. We set your estimated payments based on your actual cash flow pattern, not a flat guess.
How This Plays Out in Practice
A business tracking everything in a spreadsheet, when there was time to track it at all. Once the books were rebuilt around a real chart of accounts, the cost structure that used to be invisible became obvious, including labor running well above healthy range, the actual reason margins were thin, not bad luck.From Spreadsheet Chaos to Confident Decisions
This is a general small-business bookkeeping case, not a restaurant-specific one, but the pattern is one we see constantly in hospitality.
Common Questions from Restaurant Owners
Do you handle tip credit and tip pooling compliance?
We don't act as your HR firm, but we ensure your payroll and accounting setup is fully compliant with tip reporting requirements. We configure your payroll system to track tips accurately and ensure your books reflect your eligibility for the FICA tip credit, minimizing your risk during an audit and ensuring you aren't leaving tax credits on the table.
What's the right sales tax setup for a restaurant with both food and alcohol sales?
Prepared food and restaurant meals are subject to sales tax; packaged, unprepared grocery-type items usually aren't. Alcohol served for on-premises consumption is taxed as part of the meal, while off-premises retail alcohol sales follow separate rules. Getting your POS to apply the right rate to the right item from day one is what avoids under- or over-collecting, which is exactly what gets flagged in a sales tax audit.
Can you help with running my payroll?
Yes, we exclusively work with ADP due to their extensive industry knowledge and ability to integrate with various POS systems. We'll help you get your payroll set up correctly, ensuring your employees are paid accurately and on time.
I'm already behind on bookkeeping. Can you get me caught up, not just keep me current going forward?
Absolutely. We'll untangle your accounts, reconcile your past transactions, and bring your books fully up to date so you can stop scrambling and start making decisions based on clean, accurate data.
Do you work with restaurants outside Brooklyn?
Yes, the practice is virtual, and we work with restaurant and hospitality businesses throughout NYC and beyond.
Let's get your books telling you something useful.
Whether you're opening your first location or trying to get years of bookkeeping under control, the process starts the same way: a free strategy session, no jargon, no obligation.