Closing the till in a business with cash, cards, delivery and tips
Nextica Law & Tax puts a hospitality venue's accounting in order — the one with the most moving parts and the worst fit: daily till closing with its cash count, reconciliation of the point-of-sale terminal and of delivery platform settlements —which pay the net of commissions and refunds—, keeping tips outside the result, stock control for cellar and kitchen with their wastage, and rolling out the verifiable invoicing systems of RD 1007/2023 at every point that issues a ticket.
A restaurant closes its till with four different income streams and none of them matches the bank the same day.
What's included
1. Daily till closing with a cash count, starting from the point-of-sale close as the source of the data rather than from the bank balance.
2. Separate reconciliation of cash, the card terminal and each delivery platform, which pay in on different dates and for different amounts.
3. Keeping tips outside the result, with the collection and distribution circuit documented.
4. Cellar and kitchen stock control, with counts frequent enough to see shrinkage before year-end.
5. Recording known shrinkage —breakage, expiry, own consumption, complimentary items— separately from what only appears on counting.
6. An inventory of what issues an invoice or ticket in the venue
dining room, bar, terrace, events and the booking or ordering channel.
7. Rolling out verifiable invoicing at each of those points, with cancellations and credit notes replacing day-end adjustments.
FOUR INCOME STREAMS AND NONE BALANCES THE SAME DAY
Cash, cards, delivery and tips come in by different routes, and balancing means reconciling each one separately.
Booking the net amount the delivery platform pays in
inside it are commissions, promotions and customer refunds. Recording the net understates turnover, makes deductible expenses disappear and throws VAT out.
VAT ActTips put through the result
they come in through the till but are not the business's income, and mixing them distorts the margin, the taxable base and the employment argument about whether they are salary, all at once.
Choosing invoicing software before inventorying what each point issues
the obligation attaches to whatever issues the ticket, and in hospitality that is rarely a single system —dining room, bar, terrace, events and bookings. On top of that, records can no longer be modified without leaving a trail.
RD 1007/2023TWO SERVICE MODES — WHAT'S YOURS
| Accounting Review or Supervision | Integrated Accounting Outsourcing | |
|---|---|---|
| Who for? | Companies that manage their accounting internally but need periodic expert review. | Companies that prefer to fully outsource accounting management to a specialized provider. |
| What does it include? | Review of records, detection of errors and inconsistencies, validation of accounting closure, and improvement recommendations. | Full scope: transaction recording, bank reconciliation, tax filing, and financial reporting. |
| Ideal for | Startups and SMEs with an internal accountant or administrative officer who manages the accounting. Family businesses that want additional control. | Companies without their own accounting department. Companies looking to reduce fixed structural costs. Subsidiaries of multinationals reporting to headquarters. |
| Main advantage | Independent external control without replacing the internal team. Detection of problems before they become sanctions. | Zero accounting worries for the entrepreneur. Scale without the need to hire permanent staff. |
Who for?
What does it include?
Ideal for
Main advantage
Frequently asked questions
Why does a restaurant's till never balance?
Because there is not one till, there are four. There is cash, counted and banked with a lag; there is the card terminal, which settles the next day and deducts its commission; there are the delivery platforms, paying weekly the net of commissions, promotions and customer refunds; and there are tips, which come through the till but are not the business's income. Balancing means starting from the point-of-sale close as the source of the data and reconciling each of the four separately against the bank, instead of just looking at the balance.
What does verifiable invoicing require in a bar?
That whatever issues the ticket meets the requirements of RD 1007/2023, and in hospitality that is rarely a single system: there is the floor terminal, possibly another at the bar or on the terrace, the module that invoices events and banquets, and the booking or ordering channel if it issues invoices. The first step is to inventory what each one issues and check whether the supplier has solved it or it needs replacing. And one consequence worth anticipating: records can no longer be modified without leaving a trail, so the adjustments once made at day-end now have to be done with cancellations and credit notes.
Content reviewed by
Elena Bosch Prat
Directora · Consultoría Contable y Financiera
Let's talk about your company.
Tell us your situation and we'll reply within 24 working hours.