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Restaurant Accountants · Verified Directory
Accountants and CPAs for restaurants, cafes, bars, and hospitality groups. Tip reporting, cost of goods, labor allocation, liquor accounting, and multi-unit consolidation.
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How it works
Every shift's POS batch is reconciled to the bank deposit — cash, credit card fees, gift card redemptions, and third-party delivery payouts (DoorDash, Uber Eats, Grubhub) all tie out daily or weekly, not just at month-end.
Tip income, tip pooling, and the FICA tip credit are among the most audited areas in restaurant accounting — getting this wrong triggers IRS and Department of Labor scrutiny.
The three numbers that make or break restaurant margins — food cost, beverage/pour cost, and labor cost as a percentage of sales — are tracked weekly, not discovered at tax time.
Right fit
Vetting checklist
What it costs
Restaurant bookkeeping and accounting typically runs higher than general small-business bookkeeping because of daily sales reconciliation and tip compliance. Use these as a starting benchmark.
Single Location
$500–$1,200
per month
Independent restaurants and cafes with one POS system.
Multi-Unit
$1,500–$4,000
per month
2–10 location groups needing consolidated reporting.
Enterprise / Franchise
$4,000+
per month
Franchise groups and 10+ location operators.
By business size
Ranges reflect typical U.S. market pricing. Your CPA or provider will scope a specific number.
| Business size | Monthly range | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Single-location cafe or QSR | $400–$800 | One POS, simple menu, basic tip reporting |
| Full-service restaurant | $700–$1,500 | Liquor license, higher transaction volume, tip pooling |
| 2–5 location group | $1,500–$3,000 | Consolidated reporting, shared vendor accounts |
| 6+ location or franchise | $3,000–$8,000+ | Controller oversight, franchisor reporting, multi-state |
What drives the price
Software comparison
Software is cheaper up front, but the right pro typically pays for themselves through error prevention and tax savings.
| Software | Price | Best for | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Toast + QuickBooks Online | POS + $30–$235/mo | Full-service and quick-service restaurants | Most common restaurant stack; direct POS-to-books integration |
| Restaurant365 | $400–$800+/mo | Multi-unit and franchise groups | Built specifically for restaurant accounting, inventory, and scheduling |
| MarginEdge | $300–$500/mo | Food/beverage cost control | Invoice-to-recipe costing add-on, pairs with QuickBooks or Restaurant365 |
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Compare your options
| Factor | Verified Restaurant CPAs | DIY / generalist |
|---|---|---|
| Specialized expertise | Trained in restaurant accountants | General-purpose advice |
| Time investment | 1–2 hours to onboard | 10+ hours per filing cycle |
| Audit defense | Represents you to the IRS | You handle correspondence |
| Year-round planning | ||
| Typical cost | $500–$1,200 | $0 software + your hours |
| Risk of missed deductions | Low — proactive review | High — software only flags what you enter |
Get matched
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By city
Houston, TX
Houston CPAs serve energy, healthcare, and the city's vast small-business community.
Dallas, TX
Dallas accounting firms anchor finance, real estate, and corporate headquarters across DFW.
Los Angeles, CA
LA's accountants specialize in entertainment, real estate, and creative-industry tax planning.
San Francisco, CA
San Francisco CPAs serve startups, venture-backed companies, and complex equity-comp clients.
New York City, NY
NYC's accountants cover Wall Street, media, real estate, hospitality, and the small businesses of all five boroughs.
Miami, FL
Miami's CPAs specialize in international tax, real estate, hospitality, and Latin American business.
Chicago, IL
Chicago accountants serve professional services, manufacturing, logistics, and the Midwest's largest corporate base.
Atlanta, GA
Atlanta's CPAs support film, fintech, logistics, and one of the country's most dynamic small-business scenes.
Boston, MA
Boston-area accountants serve life sciences, higher education, financial services, and innovation-economy startups.
Seattle, WA
Seattle CPAs serve tech, aerospace, and the Pacific Northwest's deep entrepreneurial bench.
Washington DC, DC
Washington DC accountants serve federal contractors, nonprofits, associations, and the law firms that anchor the capital's economy.
Baltimore, MD
Baltimore CPAs serve healthcare systems, port and logistics operators, biotech, and the city's deep nonprofit and higher-ed community.
Richmond, VA
Richmond CPAs serve Fortune 500 headquarters, banking and insurance, tobacco-to-tech manufacturers, and Virginia's state-capital legal and government economy.
Birmingham, AL
Birmingham CPAs serve banking, healthcare, steel, and the Magic City's small-business economy.
Anchorage, AK
Anchorage CPAs serve oil and gas, fisheries, federal contracting, and the state's tourism economy.
Phoenix, AZ
Phoenix CPAs serve semiconductors, real estate, healthcare, and one of the country's fastest-growing small-business markets.
Little Rock, AR
Little Rock CPAs serve healthcare, logistics, agriculture, and the state's government and legal economy.
Denver, CO
Denver CPAs serve tech, aerospace, cannabis, and the Front Range's outdoor and energy economies.
Hartford, CT
Hartford CPAs serve insurance, reinsurance, manufacturing, and the broader Connecticut River Valley economy.
Wilmington, DE
Wilmington CPAs serve banking, corporate trust, pharma, and the Fortune 500 entity-formation economy.
Honolulu, HI
Honolulu CPAs serve tourism, military contracting, real estate, and the islands' small-business community.
Boise, ID
Boise CPAs serve tech, agriculture, manufacturing, and a fast-growing relocation-driven small-business economy.
Indianapolis, IN
Indianapolis CPAs serve manufacturing, life sciences, logistics, and motorsports.
Des Moines, IA
Des Moines CPAs serve insurance, agribusiness, biofuels, and the state's growing tech economy.
Wichita, KS
Wichita CPAs serve aviation, aerospace, energy, and agriculture.
Louisville, KY
Louisville CPAs serve bourbon, equine, automotive manufacturing, healthcare, and logistics (UPS Worldport).
New Orleans, LA
New Orleans CPAs serve maritime, tourism, oil and gas, and the city's film and hospitality economies.
Portland, ME
Portland CPAs serve tourism, fisheries, forestry, and the state's growing remote-work and craft economies.
Detroit, MI
Detroit CPAs serve automotive, mobility, healthcare, and the broader Southeast Michigan manufacturing base.
Minneapolis, MN
Minneapolis CPAs serve Fortune 500 headquarters, medical devices, agribusiness, and finance.
Jackson, MS
Jackson CPAs serve manufacturing, agriculture, healthcare, and the state's government and legal economy.
St. Louis, MO
St. Louis CPAs serve agribusiness, defense, biosciences, financial services, and logistics.
Billings, MT
Billings CPAs serve agriculture, energy, healthcare, and Montana's tourism economy.
Omaha, NE
Omaha CPAs serve insurance, financial services, agribusiness, and the Berkshire Hathaway ecosystem.
Las Vegas, NV
Las Vegas CPAs serve gaming, hospitality, entertainment, real estate, and a fast-growing logistics base.
Manchester, NH
Manchester CPAs serve advanced manufacturing, biotech, healthcare, and a thriving small-business community.
Newark, NJ
Newark CPAs serve pharma, financial services, logistics, ports, and the NYC-metro small-business economy.
Albuquerque, NM
Albuquerque CPAs serve federal labs and defense, oil and gas, film, and tourism.
Fargo, ND
Fargo CPAs serve agriculture, energy, manufacturing, and the Red River Valley's tech and healthcare economy.
Oklahoma City, OK
Oklahoma City CPAs serve oil and gas, aerospace, agriculture, and the state's growing healthcare and bioscience industries.
Portland, OR
Portland CPAs serve tech, athletic apparel, forestry, and the Pacific Northwest's craft beverage and outdoor industries.
Providence, RI
Providence CPAs serve financial services, healthcare, defense manufacturing, and tourism.
Charleston, SC
Charleston CPAs serve ports, aerospace, automotive, hospitality, and a growing tech economy.
Sioux Falls, SD
Sioux Falls CPAs serve financial services, credit card processing, trust administration, and healthcare.
Nashville, TN
Nashville CPAs serve healthcare, music and entertainment, hospitality, and the state's franchise and excise tax compliance.
Salt Lake City, UT
Salt Lake City CPAs serve the Silicon Slopes tech corridor, outdoor recreation, mining, and financial services.
Burlington, VT
Burlington CPAs serve craft food and beverage, tourism, healthcare, and outdoor brands.
Charleston, WV
Charleston CPAs serve coal and natural gas, chemicals, healthcare, and state government.
Milwaukee, WI
Milwaukee CPAs serve manufacturing, insurance, healthcare, and the Lake Michigan industrial corridor.
Cheyenne, WY
Cheyenne CPAs serve energy, ranching, trust administration, and a growing data-center and tech economy.
Charlotte, NC
Charlotte CPAs serve the second-largest U.S. banking center, plus energy, healthcare, motorsports, and one of the fastest-growing relocation markets in the country.
Common questions
The FICA tip credit lets restaurants claim a tax credit for Social Security and Medicare taxes paid on employee tips above minimum wage. A restaurant-savvy CPA maximizes this credit, which often saves thousands per year per location.
Restaurants track inventory by category (food, liquor, supplies) with weekly or biweekly counts. The right system ties purchases to recipes and menu engineering so you see true plate cost and margin by item.
Most full-service restaurants target 28-35% food cost; quick-service and pizza concepts often run lower (25-30%), while high-end steakhouses run higher (35-40%). A restaurant accountant tracks this weekly by category so drift gets caught before it erodes margin.
Yes — pour-cost tracking, liquor license compliance, and beverage COGS are core to restaurant accounting. A specialist reconciles POS beverage sales against purchase and inventory data to catch over-pouring or shrinkage.
Multi-unit groups need consolidated reporting with per-location P&Ls, intercompany allocations for shared kitchens or commissaries, and standardized chart of accounts across locations so performance is comparable store to store.
Yes. A restaurant-savvy CPA maps your POS sales categories (food, beverage, alcohol, delivery, gratuity) to the correct chart-of-accounts and sales-tax categories during migration, which prevents months of miscoded revenue.
This information is general and does not constitute professional advice. Consult a licensed professional for guidance specific to your situation.
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