Bookkeeping for restaurants on Long Island is a different job from bookkeeping for anything else, because the money arrives through four channels that all net down before they reach the bank. We work with bars, restaurants, cafes, and catering operations across Nassau and Suffolk, and we build the books so prime cost is a number you can act on.
Prime cost tracked weekly, not discovered at year end
Delivery commission out of revenue and into cost where it belongs
Tips through payroll, never through sales
Sales tax reconciled collected against reported, every period
A Long Island restaurant kitchen or pass, mid-service.
Overview
Bookkeeping for restaurants on Long Island is a different job from bookkeeping for anything else, because the money arrives through four channels that all net down before they reach the bank. We work with bars, restaurants, cafes, and catering operations across Nassau and Suffolk, and we build the books so prime cost is a number you can act on.
Prime cost, weekly
Video coming soon
The number that decides a restaurant
What prime cost is, why a monthly close is too slow to act on it, and how we run it weekly.
[confirm length once filmed]
Prime cost is the number, and most restaurant books cannot produce it
Prime cost is cost of goods plus total labor, including payroll taxes and the owner's own time if the owner works the floor. It is the figure that decides whether a restaurant survives, and a book that cannot produce it weekly is a book that reports history rather than one you can run on.
Producing it needs three things most restaurant books do not have. Revenue has to be gross rather than net of processing and commission. Labor has to include the employer taxes as well as the wages. And both have to close on the same weekly cadence, because a monthly close is too slow to change anything about the month it describes.
The four channels, and what each one hides
Card batches. The deposit is net of processing. Booked as revenue, the fee vanishes and revenue is understated by roughly 3 percent all year.
Delivery platforms. The deposit is net of commission, which is materially larger. Booked as revenue, a restaurant with meaningful delivery volume can misread food cost by six to eight points, and the correction usually means repricing the delivery menu rather than the dining room.
Cash. Cash sales that never reach the bank still create a sales tax liability and are still taxable income. A book reconciled only to the bank cannot see them.
Tips. Credit card tips land in the business account and leave through payroll. Run through sales they inflate revenue, distort every margin figure, and overstate the sales tax base.
Sales tax for a Long Island restaurant
Prepared food is taxable in New York whether it is eaten in or taken out. The rate depends on which county the restaurant sits in: 8.625 percent in Nassau and 8.75 percent in Suffolk. A catering operation working across the county line is collecting at two rates and has to report them separately.
The reconciliation that matters is sales tax collected against sales tax reported, run every period rather than at year end. Where the two disagree, the cause is nearly always tips or delivery sitting inside the sales figure the return was built from.
Payroll, tips, and the MCTMT
Restaurant payroll carries rules that general payroll does not. Tip credits, spread of hours, and call-in pay all sit in the New York hospitality wage order, and when they go wrong they are wage claims rather than tax adjustments, which makes them more expensive to fix late. We check the current figures against the wage order each time they change.
On top of that, Nassau and Suffolk are inside the Metropolitan Commuter Transportation District, so the MCTMT applies once quarterly payroll expense passes 312,500 dollars. A restaurant that adds a second location usually crosses it without noticing.
What this looks like in practice
These are the situations we are typically brought in to fix on Long Island. Details are generalised, and we never publish a client's business.
1
A Bay Shore bar and restaurant
Bay Shore, Suffolk County
What we found
Delivery commission and card fees booked inside revenue, so reported food cost ran about 28 percent against an actual closer to 36 percent.
What we did
Rebuilt two years from the bank, separated gross sales from fees and commission, and moved credit card tips out of revenue into the payroll liability.
Where it landed
Delivery menu pricing was reset to carry its own commission, and the sales tax under-report was corrected before it aged further.
2
A Garden City catering company
Garden City, Nassau County
What we found
Events billed across both counties at a single sales tax rate, and deposits taken months ahead recognized as revenue on receipt.
What we did
Split billing by the county the event was held in, and moved event deposits into unearned revenue until the event was delivered.
Where it landed
Sales tax now reports correctly at 8.625 percent for Nassau events and 8.75 percent for Suffolk ones. Revenue reflects events served, so the shoulder months no longer look profitable on money that is already spoken for.
3
A Huntington village cafe
Huntington, Suffolk County
What we found
Owner working the counter forty hours a week with no wage recorded, so labor cost looked achievable and prime cost looked healthy.
What we did
Recorded a market wage for the owner's floor hours, then rebuilt prime cost on the corrected labor figure.
Where it landed
Prime cost was running above the level the format could carry. Hours were restructured and two menu items priced for the labor they actually took.
What it costs
A flat monthly fee, quoted from your transaction volume, your accounts, and whether you run payroll. You get the number in writing before any work starts. Catch-up work is quoted separately so it does not inflate the ongoing fee.
Basics
$250per month
Solo owners and single-location businesses under about $50k of monthly expenses.
Monthly bank and card reconciliation
Expense categorization with bank rules
Profit and loss, balance sheet, and cash flow every month
Sales tax return prepared and filed at your county rate
Ro Sokhi is a New York licensed CPA. The person who signs off on your numbers is the person who can tell you what they mean for your tax bill.
Flat monthly fee
You know the number before the month starts. No hourly meter, no surprise invoice for a phone call in March.
On Long Island, not a call center
Staffed offices in Melville and Hicksville. We will come to the shop if the shoebox is easier to hand over than to scan.
Catch-up work is normal here
Most businesses that call us are behind. Some by a quarter, some by three years. That is the job, and it is quoted separately so the monthly fee stays clean.
Our offices
Both offices are staffed. Most work happens electronically wherever you are, and the offices are there for the businesses that would rather hand something over in person.
Suffolk County Office
68 S Service Rd #100 Melville, NY 11747
On the South Service Road off the LIE, serving Suffolk County and eastern Long Island.
Sales tax rates by county.Publication 718: New York State Publication 718 lists the combined rate for every jurisdiction, including Nassau at 8.625 percent and Suffolk at 8.75 percent.
Suffolk's rate change.Sales tax rates bulletin: Suffolk raised its local rate from 4.25 to 4.375 percent effective March 1, 2025, which is why the two counties no longer match.
Clothing under $110.Publication 718-C: Publication 718-C sets out which localities exempt clothing and footwear under $110 and which continue to tax their local portion.
MCTMT employer rates.MCTMT employer rates: The payroll expense threshold and the Zone 2 bracket rates that apply to Nassau and Suffolk employers.
CPA licence verification.NYSED licence register: The New York State Education Department register, where any CPA licence can be checked, including ours.
Every rate on this page links to the New York State authority that publishes it. Figures are current as of the date shown above. They explain how the numbers work and are not tax advice for your situation.
Every rate on this page links to the New York State authority that publishes it. Figures are current as of the date shown above. They explain how the numbers work and are not tax advice for your situation.
Questions
How do you handle delivery platform sales?
Gross sales go in as revenue and the platform commission goes in as a cost. Booking the net deposit as revenue hides the commission entirely, which is the single biggest reason a restaurant misreads its food cost.
How often do you close the books for a restaurant?
Weekly for prime cost, monthly for the full statements. A monthly close is too slow to change anything about the month it describes, and prime cost is only useful if you see it while you can still act on it.
Do you work with catering companies?
Yes. Catering adds two problems on top of restaurant bookkeeping: deposits taken well ahead of the event, which are unearned revenue rather than sales, and events in both counties, which means collecting at 8.625 percent in Nassau and 8.75 percent in Suffolk.
How much does a bookkeeper cost on Long Island?
Our plans start at $250 a month for a solo owner and run to $850 for a multi-entity business, set by your monthly expense volume rather than by the hour. You get the number in writing before any work starts. Independent bookkeepers on Long Island often quote hourly, which looks cheaper until a busy month arrives; a flat fee is a number you can budget.
My books are two years behind. Is that a problem?
It is the most common reason people call. We work backwards from the last filed return, rebuild the periods in between, and reconcile to the bank rather than to whatever the prior file says. You get a clean starting balance and a written list of what changed. Catch-up is quoted as a one-time project, usually one to two months of the recurring fee.
Do you file sales tax returns?
Yes, and on Long Island that matters more than most places. Nassau charges 8.625 percent and Suffolk charges 8.75 percent, so a business selling in both counties collects at two rates and has to report them separately. We register you if you are not registered, review what you are collecting, and file on whatever schedule the state has put you on.
Are you a CPA firm?
Ro Sokhi is individually licensed as a CPA in New York and leads the work. The operating entity is a business corporation and is not registered with NYSED as a public accounting firm, so we do not perform audits, reviews, or compilations. If your bank or a buyer needs assurance work we will tell you plainly and point you to a registered firm.
What is the difference between a bookkeeper and a CPA?
A bookkeeper records what happened. A CPA is licensed, can represent you before the IRS, and can tell you what the numbers mean for your tax position and your decisions. Most small businesses are sold one or the other. Here the bookkeeping is done to a standard a CPA is willing to sign off on, and the same person handles the return.
Do you work with QuickBooks, or do I have to switch?
QuickBooks Online for most clients, and Xero where a business is already on it. We do not force a migration for its own sake. If you are on spreadsheets, a shoebox, or a system your last bookkeeper set up badly, that is a normal starting point and we will move you when moving is worth it.
How long does it take to get started?
A first call takes about twenty minutes and a quote follows the same day. Once you accept, we need read-only access to your bank and card feeds and your last filed return. Most businesses are fully onboarded inside two weeks; a business needing catch-up work takes longer, and we tell you how much longer before you commit.
Do we have to meet in person?
Only if you want to. Most clients send documents electronically and talk to us on a call. The Melville and Hicksville offices are there for the businesses that would rather hand over a box of receipts than scan them, and for anyone who wants to meet the person doing the work before handing over the books.
Can you handle payroll as well as the books?
Yes. We process payroll, file the NYS-45, and track the MCTMT, which applies here because Nassau and Suffolk are inside the Metropolitan Commuter Transportation District. We also review worker classification, because contractors who work like employees are the payroll issue New York challenges most often.
What happens if I get a letter from New York State or the IRS?
Send it to us the day it arrives. Most notices are routine and are resolved with a reconciliation and a reply. Ro is a CPA and holds unlimited representation rights before the IRS, so if a notice turns into something more, you are not looking for help at that point.
Are you taking new clients right now?
Yes. We keep the client list small enough that the same person reviews your file every month, so there are periods when onboarding runs a few weeks out, and we tell you that on the first call rather than after you sign.