Industry playbook
Restaurants & cafés
How restaurants and cafés automate channel margins, daily closing and GST with hisabkitab
Picture a family restaurant and café running dine-in, takeaway and delivery through food aggregator apps. It buys vegetables, dairy, groceries and packaging from a dozen vendors, takes payments in cash, cards and UPI, and the owner wants to know at month-end whether delivery is actually profitable.
See hisabkitab for Restaurants & cafés →
The challenges
Why a full restaurant can still lose money
Delivery margins nobody calculates
Aggregator orders look like sales, but commission, platform fees and discounts the restaurant funds come off before the payout. Without a channel-wise view, a busy delivery month can earn less than a quiet dine-in month, and the owner never finds out.
GST without input credit
Most standalone restaurants charge 5% GST without input tax credit, so GST paid on rent, packaging and supplies becomes a cost. Misreading the rules, or charging GST on aggregator orders where the platform pays it, leads to over- or under-payment.
Daily closing that never balances
Cash, card and UPI collections, tips, staff meals and complimentary items rarely add up to the day's sales. Differences pile up unexplained, and the books at month-end are built from memory.
Vendor bills and food cost
Daily purchases from many small vendors arrive as handwritten bills or WhatsApp photos. When they are entered late or not at all, food cost percentage is a guess and vendor dues are disputed.
Owner visibility across shifts
The owner cannot be at the counter all day. Without a clear daily summary on the phone, leakage and discount misuse go unnoticed until the bank balance tells the story.
A day in the life
A day before vs after hisabkitab
Before
The cashier writes the day's totals in a register and stuffs the vendor bills in a drawer.
Aggregator payouts are accepted as they arrive; nobody checks commission or discounts.
Vendor dues are tracked from memory and settled when vendors complain.
The accountant reconstructs the month from bank statements and loose bills.
With hisabkitab
Each evening the day's sales are closed channel by channel as a daily Z-report entry in hisabkitab.
Aggregator payouts are matched with a Net realisation formula that shows commission and discounts.
Vendor bills are captured from photos on the mobile app, so food cost and dues are current.
The owner checks the dashboard on the phone or, on Advance, asks Hisabkitab AI how yesterday went.
Solutions
How hisabkitab solves it
Hidden delivery costs
Custom Field (Transaction level) + Formula
Record commission and platform-funded discounts on each channel entry. The formula Net realisation = Sale − Commission − Discount-funded-by-platform shows what each channel truly brings in.
Messy daily closing
Daily Z-report (channel-wise sales entry)
Close each day with one structured entry per channel and payment mode: dine-in cash, card, UPI and each aggregator. Differences surface the same night, not at month-end.
Vendor bills and food cost
Mobile app bill capture + OCR Purchase Bill Import (Advance)
Snap vendor bills on the mobile app; on Advance, AI-OCR reads them into purchase entries. Purchases stay current, so food cost is visible weekly.
Bank and UPI matching
OCR Bank Statement Import (Advance)
Upload the bank statement; AI classifies card settlements, UPI credits and aggregator payouts and suggests ledgers for one-click approval.
GST treatment
Item-level GST setup + GST Report
Set rates for dine-in and takeaway items and treat aggregator-delivered orders according to the rules, so the GST Report reflects what you actually owe.
Owner visibility
Hisabkitab AI assistant (Advance) + Mobile app
Ask in plain language: 'What was last week's delivery sale after commission?' and get the answer from your own books.
Inside the software
Built for your books
Custom formula example
Net realisation = Sale − Commission − Discount-funded-by-platform. Example: aggregator sale ₹48,000 − commission ₹10,560 − restaurant-funded discount ₹3,400 = ₹34,040 net realisation for the day.
4-level grouping
Items: Kitchen → Main Course → North Indian → Paneer Tikka Masala. Customers/channels: Channel (Aggregator A) → Order type (Delivery) → Outlet → Ledger.
Reports you’ll use
Cash/Bank Report · Day Book · Trading P&L · Supplier Outstanding Report · Party-wise Sales Report · GST Report
Compliance notes
Standalone restaurants generally charge 5% GST without input tax credit, while restaurants in hotels with room tariffs above ₹7,500 charge 18% with credit. For orders delivered through food aggregators, the aggregator is responsible for paying GST on the restaurant service, so those sales should not be taxed twice. Small restaurants may opt for the composition scheme; confirm eligibility with your CA.
Recommended plan
The plan that fits
Boost
₹4,999/year, exclusive of 18% GST (or ₹9,999 for 3 years)
Transaction-level custom fields and formulas for channel margin, Bill-wise Profit Report and Auto-WhatsApp on Boost suit a single-outlet restaurant or café. Chains, or outlets wanting AI-OCR for vendor bills and bank statements or the Hisabkitab AI assistant, should choose Advance.
FAQs
Frequently asked questions
Does hisabkitab replace my restaurant POS?
hisabkitab is your accounting, purchase, GST and reporting system. Many restaurants keep their table and kitchen-order system for service and close the day in hisabkitab with a channel-wise sales summary. That gives you clean books, GST and margins without changing how the floor staff work.
How do I see profit from delivery apps?
Record commission and any restaurant-funded discounts on each aggregator's daily entry. A formula computes Net realisation = Sale − Commission − Discount, and reports compare channels side by side. Most owners are surprised by the difference between dine-in and delivery once they see it laid out.
Do I charge GST on Swiggy or Zomato orders?
For restaurant services supplied through food aggregators, the aggregator pays GST on those orders under the e-commerce rules, so you should not charge it again. Record those sales on their own channel in hisabkitab so the GST Report reflects the correct position, and confirm specifics with your CA.
Can I capture vendor bills from my phone?
Yes. Take a photo of the vendor bill in the hisabkitab mobile app. On Advance, AI-OCR reads supplier, items and amounts and prepares the purchase entry for you to approve. Purchases stay up to date, which keeps food cost and vendor dues accurate.
Can I check yesterday's numbers without opening reports?
Yes, on Advance. Ask the Hisabkitab AI assistant questions in plain language, such as yesterday's sales by channel or how much you owe the dairy supplier. It reads your books and answers in seconds. It is read-only, so it never changes your data.
Know which channel actually pays
Book a demo and we will set up channel-wise daily closing and the Net realisation formula using one week of your own sales numbers.
