Restaurant accounting: the real key points

Updated April 2026 — Running a restaurant without understanding its accounting is managing blind. In France, restaurant accounting combines multiple technical layers that standard business accounting does not handle naturally: multi-rate VAT, certified POS system obligations, the HCR collective agreement for payroll, perishable stock management and the tight margin structure of the sector. This guide covers what matters most in 2026.

See also Why accounting support matters for restaurateurs, VAT in the restaurant sector and Cost of an accountant for restaurants in 2026.

Restaurant businesses present a combination of accounting complexities that differ from standard service or retail operations.

Cash sales and traceability. Restaurants still handle a significant proportion of cash transactions. Accounting must reconcile daily POS receipts against actual sales. An incorrectly archived daily Z-closing report is an exploitable anomaly during a tax audit.

Multi-rate VAT. This is one of the most technically demanding aspects of the sector. In 2026, three VAT rates apply simultaneously:

• 10% on meals consumed on premises and non-alcoholic beverages;
• 5.5% on takeaway sales of unprocessed food products;
• 20% on all alcoholic beverages, regardless of consumption mode.

The POS system must be configured to allocate these rates automatically to each transaction line. Incorrect configuration generates errors in VAT collected and potentially significant reassessment risk.

Perishable stock management. Most purchases are fast-moving perishables. Monthly (or at minimum quarterly) inventory is essential to calculate the cost of materials consumed and track food cost — the central profitability indicator in the sector.

High payroll costs. The payroll-to-revenue ratio in traditional restaurants runs between 32% and 40% of turnover. It is the second-largest cost after purchases and must be monitored monthly to detect drift before the annual close.

The French general chart of accounts (PCG) applies, but certain accounts are particularly important in restaurant accounting:

• Account 601 — Raw material purchases: food, beverages, food-grade cleaning products;
• Account 6011/6012: subdivided by category (meats, fish, alcoholic beverages, soft drinks) to calculate food cost by category;
• Account 70 — Sales: broken down by service type (restaurant, bar, takeaway) to match VAT rates correctly;
• Account 64 — Personnel costs: gross wages, employer social contributions, meal benefits in kind;
• Account 66 — Financial charges: interest on equipment leasing, renovation loans.

A well-structured chart of accounts allows operational dashboards to be produced without manual reworking of the data.

Since 1 January 2018, all VAT-registered businesses operating retail sales or consumer services in France must use a POS software certified to the NF525 standard (or European equivalent). This obligation guarantees the unalterability, security, retention and archiving of sales data.

In practice, the POS must:

• generate a daily closing Z-report that cannot be modified retrospectively;
• retain data for at least 6 years;
• allow production of a fiscal general ledger exportable for tax inspection purposes.

Non-compliance is subject to a €7,500 fine per non-compliant software. The conformity certificate must be kept and presented to any tax inspector on request.

VAT allocation starts at the cash register. Each receipt must identify the applicable rate for each line. In practice:

• a set menu served in the restaurant: 10% on all dishes and non-alcoholic beverages;
• an espresso served at the table: 10%;
• a draught beer or glass of wine: 20%;
• a pizza sold to take away (not reheated): 5.5%;
• a cheese platter sold to take away: 5.5%.

The VAT return (monthly CA3 form if turnover exceeds €818,000 excluding VAT, quarterly below that threshold) must faithfully reproduce this breakdown. A misconfigured POS generates systematic discrepancies between actual VAT collected and declared VAT.

Food cost is the fundamental profitability ratio in restaurant management:

Food cost (%) = Cost of materials consumed / Revenue excl. VAT × 100

A healthy food cost sits between 28% and 35% depending on the establishment's positioning. A gastronomic restaurant may reach 35-38%; a fast-food or snack operation should target 25-30%.

To calculate the cost of materials consumed:

1. Opening stock at the start of the period;
2. + Purchases during the period;
3. − Closing stock from physical inventory;
4. = Cost of materials consumed.

Waste and losses must also be recorded (account 6582 — stock losses) to avoid distorting the food cost ratio.

The national collective agreement for Hotels, Cafés and Restaurants (HCR) governs employment conditions in the sector. It includes:

• salary grids by grade and category (polyvalent employee, chef de partie, head waiter, etc.);
• overtime supplements at 10% for the first four extra hours per week, 20% beyond;
• meal benefits in kind: in 2026, each meal provided to an employee is valued at €4.15 under the URSSAF scale — this must be deducted from the social contribution base;
• conventional bonuses (seniority, night work, Sunday work) added to the base salary.

These elements directly affect the total employer cost and must be correctly configured in the payroll software to avoid social charge errors.

An effective restaurant dashboard relies on at least four ratios:

These ratios allow corrective action before the annual close, not after.

The main tax and social obligations to monitor in the restaurant sector include:

• BIC tax return (standard or simplified real earnings régime depending on turnover);
• VAT return (monthly or quarterly CA3);
• Monthly DSN (Nominative Social Déclaration) for payroll;
• Personnel register (kept permanently up to date);
• HACCP training: mandatory for at least one person in the establishment (order of 5 October 2011).

Hayot Expertise advice: in the restaurant sector, accounting kept too far behind loses its most important property — the ability to correct operational drift before it becomes structural. A monthly food cost and payroll monitoring report is worth far more than a perfectly prepared annual close produced months after the fact.

A generalist accountant can handle restaurant bookkeeping, but a specialist adds specific value on:

• configuring an analytical chart of accounts by zone (dining room, bar, kitchen, takeaway);
• producing a monthly dashboard with sector benchmarks;
• optimising the legal structure (SARL, SAS, real estate holding company);
• managing HCR-specific payroll requirements;
• supporting a business transfer or lease assignment.

The cost of a restaurant-specialist accountant is readily offset by early detection of margin drift and fiscal risk reduction.

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