Restaurants, cafes & food service
Books and taxes for ethnic and regional cuisine restaurants.
Dine-in tickets, specialty spices from an ethnic market with no clean receipt, a corking fee for guests who bring their own wine, and a family member helping out most weekends. Gus sorts every one, an accountant checks every transaction, and you get one clear number each month.
- From $197 a month
- An accountant on every transaction
- Cancel whenever
May brought in $7,500. Corking fees from guests who brought their own wine came in as their own line, separate from food sales, so you can see that revenue clearly.
- Toast POS batch depositDine-in sales
- Corking fee collectionsCorking fees
- Specialty spice and ingredient orderImported specialty ingredients
- Ethnic market cash purchaseFood purchases
- ADP payrollWages and payroll taxes
Why your books are different
An ethnic or regional cuisine restaurant's books go wrong in the same five places.
A generalist bookkeeper sees deposits and bills. A restaurant built around a specific regional cuisine often sources from a specialty market with looser receipts, lets guests bring their own wine for a corking fee instead of running a full bar, and leans on family who help out without a clear payroll setup. When those pieces blend together, real profit is hard to see.
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1
Specialty ingredient sourcing doesn't come with clean receipts
A restaurant buying spices, specialty proteins, or imported staples from a cash-and-carry ethnic market or a small importer often gets a receipt that lumps everything together, making it hard to separate real food cost from other purchases on the same run.
What we doWorks with whatever receipt or bank record is available and asks when a purchase is unclear, so food cost stays accurate even from a less formal supplier. -
2
Family members work without a clear payroll setup
A restaurant where a spouse, adult child, or other relative works regularly without being run through payroll is common, but unpaid or informally paid family labor still has real tax and wage implications that need clean records instead of a handshake understanding.
What we doFlags family members working regularly so wages, even informal ones, get put through proper payroll instead of staying an undocumented arrangement. -
3
Imported spices and proteins swing with import costs
Specialty spices, sauces, and proteins sourced from overseas can jump in price with currency shifts or import costs well beyond what a typical grocery order would move, and lumped with general food cost, a real price swing hides.
What we doKeeps imported specialty ingredients in their own line, apart from regular food purchases, so a real import price swing is easy to spot. -
4
Bring-your-own-wine corking fees get lumped with food sales
A restaurant without a full liquor license that allows customers to bring their own wine or beer often charges a corking fee, and if that is not tracked apart from food sales, the owner cannot see this small but real revenue stream clearly.
What we doKeeps corking fees in their own line, separate from food sales, so this revenue stream is visible on its own. -
5
An owner who does every job blurs personal and business spending
In a family-run restaurant where the owner cooks, serves, and manages the whole place, personal spending and business spending easily blend together in the same account, making it hard to see what the business actually earned.
What we doSeparates owner draw from business expenses so the real profit of the restaurant is visible, distinct from what the owner personally spent.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for an ethnic or regional cuisine restaurant.
Set up once for how sourcing, bring-your-own-wine fees, and family staffing actually run. You never pick a category. He does, and an accountant checks it.
Money in
- Dine-in salesTable sales rung through Toast or Square.
- Corking feesBring-your-own-wine fees, kept apart from food sales.
- Catering and event ordersLarger one-off orders for parties and offices.
- Delivery ordersDoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub payouts, booked at the full order value.
Money out
- Food purchasesEveryday ingredients, kept apart from imported specialty items.
- Imported specialty ingredientsSpices, sauces, and proteins sourced overseas.
- Wages and payroll taxesKitchen and front of house pay, including family members working regularly.
- Rent and building costsLease, utilities, and repairs on the dining room and kitchen.
- Kitchen equipmentSpecialty cooking equipment, logged apart from food so it gets written off right.
- Marketing and community eventsLocal community sponsorships and advertising.
- Card processing feesWhat the card networks keep on every swipe.
What we watch for you
- Food cost percentage
Food cost against sales, the number that catches a supplier price hike early.
- Imported ingredient share
How much of food cost is specialty sourcing, tracked apart from everyday purchases.
- Labor cost percentage
Wages against sales, including any family members on payroll.
- The set-aside
What you will owe, tracked every month, so tax time holds no surprise.
Ask Gus
Things restaurant owners ask Gus.
Text him like you would text anybody. He answers in plain English, and when a question is above his pay grade, an accountant looks and gets back to you.
It should go through payroll like anyone else's wages, even if she's family. I flag it so you can get her set up properly instead of it staying a handshake arrangement.
Yes, I work with whatever record you have and ask when something's unclear, so your food cost stays accurate even from a less formal supplier.
It does. I keep it separate from food sales, so that revenue stays visible on its own instead of disappearing into the rest of the ticket.
The tax side
The tax side of an ethnic or regional cuisine restaurant.
Most of what goes wrong here is labels and classification: family labor left off payroll, specialty sourcing mixed with everyday food cost, and owner spending blended with the business.
What your return has to get right
Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.
- Family members on the payrollA spouse or adult child who works regularly in the restaurant is usually an employee like anyone else, with wages that belong on payroll rather than an informal arrangement. Some family employment situations have specific rules, which the accountant can confirm.
- Worker classification for kitchen and serving staffAnyone who works your schedule with your equipment is almost always an employee, not a contractor, no matter how the pay is arranged.
- Section 179 on kitchen equipmentSpecialty cooking equipment can usually be written off the year you buy it, with 100 percent bonus depreciation for property acquired after January 19, 2025.
- The FICA tip creditIf your restaurant has table service and tipping is standard, you can often claim a credit for the employer's share of Social Security and Medicare tax paid on tips above the minimum wage portion.
Deductions ethnic and regional cuisine restaurants miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- Specialty spice and ingredient costs
- Ethnic market cash receipts
- Corkscrews and glassware
- Uniforms and chef whites
- Menu translation and printing
- Food handler certification
- Liability insurance
- Pest control contracts
- Local community event sponsorships
- Employee shift meals
- Background music licensing
General information about 2026 federal rules, not advice for your business. Your accountant looks at your actual numbers before anything gets filed.
All year, not just April
A year for an ethnic or regional cuisine restaurant, kept every month.
Community events and family schedules shape the year as much as the season does. Your taxes come on a schedule. Your team keeps you ahead of both. Every month in between, your bookkeeper closes the books and speaks up the moment something looks off.
- January
Plan the year
Last year's return gets started, the 1099 list for any contracted help is readied, and you get a monthly set-aside so a busy season does not turn into an April surprise.
- April
Filed and signed
Your return is filed and signed. Because the set-aside has been running since January, there is no scramble for cash.
- July
Halfway check
Where you stand at the midpoint of the year and whether imported ingredient costs changed what you will owe.
- October
Before the holidays
Before community and holiday events fill the calendar, Gus looks at kitchen equipment worth buying and any moves worth making before December.
What you get
What you pay depends on what your business needs, and it does not move after that, busy season or slow. No hourly bills, no surprise invoices, no setup fee.
Book a call- Monthly bookkeeping
Every transaction sorted into categories set up for ethnic and regional cuisine restaurants. You never categorize a thing.
- An accountant checks every transaction
Real review, every month, before your books close. Not a spot check.
- Your business tax return, filed
Prepared, reviewed, and signed by that same accountant every year.
- The monthly number
What you made, what you spent, what to set aside for taxes.
- Your own bookkeeper
A real person assigned to your business, in the app whenever you need them. No hold music.
- On your books all year
Every month, not just in April. Your team speaks up whenever something is worth your attention.
- Cancel any time
No contract. No cancellation call. Your books are yours.
Straight answers
Questions restaurant owners ask first.
A family member works in the restaurant most weekends and I've just been paying her cash. Is that a problem?
It is worth fixing. Wages should go through payroll like anyone else's, even for family, so Gus flags it and helps you get it set up properly instead of leaving it a handshake arrangement.
Our specialty ingredient orders from the ethnic market don't come with clean itemized receipts. Can Gus still track the cost?
Yes. He works with whatever record is available and asks when a purchase is unclear, so your food cost stays accurate even from a less formal supplier.
We don't have a full liquor license, so we charge a corking fee for guests who bring their own wine. Does that need its own tracking?
Yes. Corking fees are kept separate from food sales, so that small but real revenue stream is visible on its own.
I cook, serve, and manage the whole place myself. Is it normal for my personal and business spending to blend together?
It happens often, but it is worth separating. Gus keeps owner draw apart from business expenses, so the restaurant's real profit is visible, distinct from what you personally spent.
Our imported spices and sauces have gotten a lot more expensive lately. Would that show up in the books?
It would. Imported ingredients are tracked apart from regular food purchases, so a real price swing is easy to see instead of hiding in a bigger number.
Is a real accountant checking my books?
Yes. You get your own bookkeeper, Gus does the first pass on every transaction, and an accountant checks every one before your month closes. That same accountant prepares, signs, and files your business return. Goatkeeper is not a CPA firm, and we never pretend a person looked when they did not.
What does it cost, and can I cancel?
It starts at $197 a month, depending on what your business needs. No setup fee, no hourly bills, no contract. Cancel any time from the app, and your books go with you.
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What makes a bookkeeper worth paying for Every business we keep books for
Book a call
Pick a time. That's the whole signup.
Fifteen minutes with a real person on our team. They look at where your books are, tell you straight what it takes to get caught up, and get you set up on the spot if it fits.
- $197 a month to start
- An accountant on every transaction
- Cancel whenever