HMRC-registered hospitality accountants for restaurants, cafes, takeaways and bars in Sutton. Daily takings, the VAT maze on food and drink, tronc and tips, rota payroll and year-end accounts, all under one fixed monthly fee.
Hospitality Accountant, UK
Running a restaurant, cafe or takeaway in Sutton brings a demanding mix of cash takings, mixed-rate VAT on food and drink, rota payroll and tips, and getting any of it wrong is exactly what HMRC tends to check first in hospitality. Few sectors have accounting as fiddly as hospitality. Your menu mixes standard-rated and zero-rated VAT on the same till receipt. Your takings are cash-heavy and watched closely by HMRC. Your staff are on variable hours with high turnover and weekly pay, and tips need a properly run tronc to be handled fairly and tax-efficiently. On top of all that, margins are thin, so the difference between a profitable site and a struggling one often comes down to getting the numbers right.
Your Tax Help Accountants works with restaurants, cafes, takeaways and bars across the UK. We set your tills and bookkeeping up to apply the correct VAT rates, reconcile your daily takings so your records stand up to any compliance check, run your rota payroll and tronc, and prepare your year-end accounts and tax, whether you trade as a sole trader, partnership or limited company. One fixed monthly fee, one accountant who understands the trade, and numbers you can actually use to run the business.
If your VAT is being worked out by guessing the food split, or your takings and tips are not cleanly recorded, you are exposed on the two things HMRC checks first in hospitality. A quick review gets both right and usually finds margin you did not know you were losing.
What We Handle
Your menu mapped to the right VAT rates, eat-in, hot and cold takeaway, drinks and confectionery, so each quarter is accurate and you never over or under pay.
Daily Z-readings reconciled to banking and card settlements, with differences explained, so your records are clean and protect you in any HMRC check.
Compliant tronc set up and administered so tips are distributed fairly and, where the rules allow, free of National Insurance, in line with current tipping legislation.
Weekly or monthly payroll for variable-hours teams, RTI on time, starters and leavers, auto-enrolment and tronc all integrated, so staff are paid right.
Year-end accounts and tax for sole traders, partnerships or limited companies, with Corporation Tax or Self Assessment handled and every allowance claimed.
Behind on VAT or accounts, or facing a compliance check? We bring the records up to date, file what is outstanding, and represent you with HMRC.
Hospitality is one of HMRC's highest-risk sectors for VAT errors and takings suppression checks. Getting the food VAT split wrong or having takings that do not reconcile can lead to assessments, penalties and stressful enquiries. We get your VAT and takings onto a clean, defensible footing and deal with HMRC for you if a check is already under way, usually resolved far better when an agent is involved early.
Recent Client Outcome
A busy takeaway and cafe came to us applying a single flat VAT rate across all its sales because the previous bookkeeper had found the food rules too complicated. It was standard-rating cold items that should have been zero-rated and getting the hot-food treatment inconsistent, so it was overpaying VAT on part of the menu while being exposed on another part.
We mapped the full menu to the correct VAT liabilities, reconfigured the till to record each item at its right rate, and set up a daily takings routine reconciled to banking and card settlements. We also reviewed the owner's payroll and set up a proper tronc for the front-of-house tips, which had been run through wages and attracting unnecessary National Insurance.
The corrected VAT treatment saved several thousand pounds a year, the takings records were now compliance-check ready, and the tronc reduced the NI cost on tips. We now handle the VAT, payroll and accounts under one fixed monthly fee.
Why Hospitality Businesses Choose Us
Hospitality Questions Answered
Free fifteen-minute call. Fixed quote within twenty-four hours. VAT, takings, tronc, payroll and accounts, all handled under one fixed monthly fee by an accountant who knows hospitality. Same accountant, start to finish.
Or email info@yourtaxhelp.co.uk, we typically respond within two business hours.
📅 Free consultation calls available weekdays 1pm to 3pm. Pick a slot that suits you.