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Tax Implications of Service Charges vs. Tips in Restaurants: What Owners Need to Know
When a Small Line on the Receipt Changes Everything If you’ve ever sat across from your bookkeeper, staring at a POS report that looks more like an encrypted puzzle than a sales summary, you’re not alone. Plenty of restaurant owners get tripped up by that tiny line on the receipt—whether it’s something a guest willingly adds or something your menu quietly spells out. Funny how a single label can shift payroll, taxes, and even how your staff feels walking out after a long shift. You know what? It’s completely normal to feel like there’s always something new to untangle. Many owners assume these charges all flow into the same bucket. They don’t. And the small distinctions can create some pretty big surprises during quarterly filings. So Let’s Talk About Tips—The Voluntary Kind Tips—true, voluntary tips—live in their own category. They’re
Recent Scale CPA Articles
Keeping an Eye on Margins Without Losing Your Mind: How Connected Systems Change the Game
Running a restaurant has always felt a little like trying to keep a pot from boiling over while juggling five other pans. Margins move constantly, inventory behaves like it has a mind of its own, and one busy Friday can wipe out a whole week’s worth of careful planning. So it’s not surprising that many small operators end up relying on gut instinct when they’d prefer cold numbers. That’s exactly
Keeping Your Bar or Brewery Out of Trouble: A Practical Guide to Excise Tax Rules
Sometimes running a bar or a small brewery feels a bit like managing a kitchen during a Friday rush. You’ve got tabs stacking up, staff shouting for backup, and regulars cracking jokes you barely catch. Somewhere in the chaos sits a quieter responsibility—those alcohol-related taxes the government expects you to track with monk-like detail. And while the work may not feel glamorous, ignoring it can cause more headaches than a
Returns and Chargeback Accounting Workflows: A Practical Guide for Restaurant Owners
Running a restaurant already feels like juggling knives, especially when margins shrink and small surprises keep showing up in your books. You know what really throws people off? Returns and card disputes that look tiny at first but quietly distort your numbers. Restaurant owners talk plenty about food waste, prep schedules, or how fast ingredients spoil—but rarely about the money that slips away through messy refund handling or customer challenges.