Two rates on the same bill
Eat-in dining falls under the 10% rate. Alcoholic drinks stay at 20%, served in the same glass and on the same bill. The split has to come out of the till, not out of a month-end calculation.
Sale
Meal served on the premises
- Rate
- 10%
Sale
Takeaway for immediate consumption
- Rate
- 10%
Sale
Alcoholic drink
- Rate
- 20%
Sale
Food product sold as is
- Rate
- 5.5%
| Sale | Rate |
|---|---|
| Meal served on the premises | 10% |
| Takeaway for immediate consumption | 10% |
| Alcoholic drink | 20% |
| Food product sold as is | 5.5% |
The supplier flow
A restaurant takes deliveries almost every day, with delivery notes that only become invoices at the end of the month. The risk is not losing an invoice, it is paying the same one twice, or paying for a delivery that never arrived.
- Match each delivery note against the monthly invoice.
- Check unit prices: they change without warning.
- Have all invoices sent to a single address.
Tips
A tip handed to an employee in cash is not treated the same way as a tip added to a card payment and passed on by the employer. The second goes through the business and follows a specific social-security treatment, which has been covered by temporary exemption measures.
The number to watch every week
Food cost — ingredients used as a share of revenue — slips in a few weeks and takes months to recover. Waiting for the balance sheet means discovering a loss a year after you made it.