Accounting for cafes in Ontario
Cafes run high transaction volumes on low tickets, with inventory, hourly staff, and often retail product sales alongside the counter.
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taxifi · Cafes
This month
- Bookkeeping Current
- Payroll & source deductions Filed
- HST Filed
- Year-end tax (T2) On track
The problems we take off your plate
Hundreds of small transactions a day
High volume on low tickets makes manual bookkeeping hopeless. We pull and reconcile daily sales from your POS so the books stay current on their own.
Inventory and waste
Ingredient and product inventory is tracked so cost of goods and margin are accurate.
Hourly payroll
Hourly and part-time staff are paid on schedule with source deductions remitted to CRA on time.
What’s included
Published prices for incorporated Ontario cafes. Everything below is handled.
- High-volume daily sales reconciled from your POS
- Inventory tracked cleanly
- Hourly payroll and source deductions
- HST returns prepared and filed
- Year-end corporate tax (T2), from $1,000 a year
| Area | A typical setup | With taxifi |
|---|---|---|
| Your books | Weeks or months behind | Current every day |
| Year-end (T2) | A spring scramble, billed extra | Included, no surprise invoice |
| Your accountant | Metered by the hour | Unlimited questions, flat monthly |
Prepared food, six-item baked goods, and tips
A cafe runs several tax treatments through one till. Prepared food and beverages for immediate consumption are generally taxable, while baked goods sold in quantities of six or more are generally zero-rated and the same items in smaller quantities are generally taxable. Packaged retail goods add another category. The point-of-sale configuration effectively writes your HST return.
Tips are the second area worth getting right. Generally, tips the business controls — added to bills, pooled and distributed by you — run through payroll with source deductions, while tips handed directly to staff generally do not create employer withholdings. Which kind you have depends on how your POS and your house policy actually work, and that distinction matters in a payroll review.
Common questions
Can you handle my POS data?
Yes. Daily sales are pulled and reconciled so your books stay current without manual entry.
Do you work with incorporated cafes?
Yes. Incorporated cafes are a good fit for the flat monthly service.
Is everything in a cafe taxable?
No — treatments differ by item and quantity. Prepared food and drinks for immediate consumption are generally taxable, baked goods in quantities of six or more are generally zero-rated, and packaged retail items follow their own rules. Getting the POS categories right once is what makes the quarterly return routine.
How are tips taxed for cafe staff?
It depends on control. Tips the business collects, pools, and distributes generally run through payroll with CPP and EI, while tips customers give directly to staff generally do not create employer withholdings. Your POS setup and house policy determine which situation you are in, so it is worth documenting deliberately.
Books and taxes for your cafe, done
Bookkeeping from $99 a month, accountant-reviewed from $299, corporate T2 from $1,000 a year. Prices are published; a call confirms the fit.
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