52 accounts organized the way USAR organizes them, with food cost broken out by purchasing category so theoretical cost can be checked against actual. Read the whole chart below, or take the file.

52Accounts

3Levels deep

2Formats

Follows USAR, the Uniform System of Accounts for Restaurants. Sales in the 4000 series, Cost of Sales in 5000, Labor in 6000, Operating Expenses in 7000, Non-Controllable in 8000.

Download the restaurant chart

Pick a format. The file downloads immediately.

What is different

Built so the P&L answers a question

The default restaurant chart in most accounting software has a single Cost of Goods Sold line and a single Beverage line. It produces a statement that balances and tells you nothing about where the money went.

01
Food cost by purchasing category
Meat, seafood, poultry, produce, bakery, dairy, and grocery and dry goods are separate accounts. A single delivery gets split across them, which is what makes a theoretical-versus-actual food cost comparison possible at all.
02
Beverage cost split four ways
Non-alcoholic, liquor, beer and wine each carry their own cost account, and beer splits again into draft and packaged. Bar consumables, the mixers and garnish and ice that go into a drink, are tracked apart from the spirits.
03
Revenue by revenue centre
Food, non-alcoholic, liquor, beer, wine, catering and off-premise are separate income accounts, and delivery is recorded gross of commission with the commission carried as its own marketing expense. Netting the two together hides what third-party delivery actually costs.
04
Discounts and comps as contra-revenue
Promotional discounts, employee meals and manager comps reduce revenue rather than appearing as an expense, so the discount rate is legible and sales are not inflated by money that never arrived.

The longer argument for why this matters, with sources on food cost ratios and invoice processing, is in why your restaurant P&L is lying to you.

The chart

The full restaurant chart of accounts

All 52 accounts, with the note that tells you what belongs in each one. This is the same file the download gives you, rendered here so you can read it without opening a spreadsheet.

Code	Account	Type	What belongs here
4000	Revenue	Income	Sales by revenue centre, following the USAR Sales (4000) series.
4010	Food Sales	Income	Kitchen, snack and bar food sales.
4020	Non-Alcoholic Beverage Sales	Income	Soft drinks, mocktails, coffee, energy drinks and bottled water.
4030	Alcohol Sales	Income	Beer, wine and spirits sold to guests. Keep separate from food for pour cost.
4040	Catering & Private Events	Income	Off-premise catering plus private dining and buyouts.
4050	Delivery & Takeout	Income	Orders taken to go, whether ordered in person or online.
4060	Merchandise Sales	Income	Branded apparel, glassware and retail packaged goods.
4070	Service Charges & Fees	Income	Mandatory service charges and administrative fees added to a bill.
5000	Cost of Sales	Cost of goods sold	Food and beverage cost split so food cost and pour cost can be read separately.
5010	Food Purchases	Cost of goods sold	Food bought for resale, including produce, protein, dairy and dry goods.
5020	Non-Alcoholic Beverage Purchases	Cost of goods sold	Soft drinks, juice, water, coffee and tea bought for resale.
5030	Liquor Purchases	Cost of goods sold	Spirits bought for resale.
5040	Beer Purchases	Cost of goods sold	Beer bought for resale, bottled, canned and draft.
5050	Wine Purchases	Cost of goods sold	Wine bought for resale, by the glass and by the bottle.
5060	Kitchen Labor	Cost of goods sold	Back of house wages for the hours that produced the food sold.
5070	Front of House Labor	Cost of goods sold	Service wages for the floor, host stand and runners.
5080	Packaging & Disposables	Cost of goods sold	Containers, bags, cutlery and disposables that leave with the order.
5090	Delivery Platform Commissions	Cost of goods sold	Commission retained by delivery marketplaces on their orders.
5100	Merchandise Purchases	Cost of goods sold	Branded goods bought for resale.
6000	Operating Expenses	Expense	USAR Operating Expenses (7000).
6010	Management & Office Salaries	Expense	Salaries for management and administration.
6020	Payroll Taxes & Benefits	Expense	Employer payroll taxes and the cost of employee benefits.
6030	Rent & Occupancy	Expense	Rent plus the occupancy costs that come with the building.
6040	Utilities	Expense	Electricity, gas, water and waste for the premises.
6050	Repairs & Maintenance	Expense	Repairs and upkeep of the building, plant and fixtures.
6060	Software & Subscriptions	Expense	Recurring software licences and subscriptions.
6070	Advertising & Marketing	Expense	Advertising spend and marketing programmes not tied to one event.
6080	Professional Fees	Expense	Accounting, legal and consulting fees.
6090	Business Insurance	Expense	General liability, property and business insurance.
6100	Card Processing Fees	Expense	Merchant fees on card payments taken from customers.
6110	Office & Supplies	Expense	Office consumables and general supplies.
6120	Telephone & Internet	Expense	Phone lines, mobile plans and internet connectivity.
6130	Travel	Expense	Agency travel not recharged to a client.
6140	Meals & Entertainment	Expense	Business meals and entertaining. Partially deductible, so keep it separate.
6150	Licenses & Permits	Expense	Operating licences and permits to trade.
6160	Dues & Memberships	Expense	Trade body memberships and professional dues.
6170	Training & Education	Expense	Staff training, certification and continuing education.
6180	Bank Fees	Expense	Account, wire and other charges levied by the bank.
6210	Linen & Laundry	Expense	Linen hire and laundry, in house or contracted.
6220	Music Licensing	Expense	Performing rights fees for music played on the premises.
6230	Cleaning & Pest Control	Expense	Contracted cleaning and pest control.
6240	Reservation Platform Fees	Expense	Fees charged by reservation and booking platforms.
6250	Kitchen & Bar Smallwares	Expense	Pans, utensils and small kitchen and bar equipment below the capital threshold.
6260	Waste Removal	Expense	General waste, recycling, food waste and confidential shredding.
8000	Other Income	Other income	Income earned outside normal trading activity.
8010	Interest Income	Other income	Interest earned on operating and reserve balances.
8020	Grants & Incentives	Other income	Grant funding and government or utility incentives received.
8030	Vendor Rebates & Commissions	Other income	Rebates and commissions paid back to you by suppliers.
9000	Other Expenses	Other expense	Below the line costs that are not part of operations.
9010	Depreciation & Amortization	Other expense	Write-down of tangible assets and amortisation of intangibles.
9020	Interest Expense	Other expense	Interest on notes payable and long-term debt.
9030	Penalties & Late Fees	Other expense	Fines, penalties and late payment charges.

Questions

Restaurant chart of accounts questions

What is USAR?

USAR is the Uniform System of Accounts for Restaurants, the industry's standard framework for how a restaurant's books should be organized. It sets the major groupings this template follows: Sales in the 4000 series, Cost of Sales in 5000, Labor in 6000, Operating Expenses in 7000, and Non-Controllable Expenses in 8000. Following it means your numbers can be compared against industry benchmarks, because the benchmarks are reported the same way.

How detailed should restaurant food cost be?

Detailed enough to find a price increase before the quarter ends. This template splits food cost into meat, seafood, poultry, produce, bakery, dairy, and grocery and dry goods. That is the level at which a supplier's price move on proteins is visible instead of averaged away, and it is the level most operators can realistically code invoices to. Some kitchens go further and separate premium cuts or high-end spirits for tighter control.

Why is beer split into draft and packaged?

Because the pour cost is not the same. A keg and a case of the same beer have different costs per ounce and different loss profiles, since draft has foam, line cleaning and shrinkage that packaged does not. Kept in one account, the two average together and the draft system's waste stays invisible.

What are contra-revenue accounts and why does the template have one?

Discounts and comps sit in the 4900 account as contra-revenue, meaning they reduce revenue rather than appearing as an expense. This matters because a comped meal is not a marketing cost, it is revenue you chose not to collect. Recording it as an expense inflates both sales and costs, and it makes your discount rate impossible to read off the P&L.

Can I import this into QuickBooks Online?

The CSV carries account code, name, parent account, type and a description. QuickBooks Online's account import expects its own headers and its own Detail Type values, so you will map columns during import rather than uploading the file as-is. Cleo can also apply the chart for you and keep whatever accounts you already have.

Does this work for a cafe or a bar?

It works for a cafe as-is; you will simply leave the alcohol accounts empty or delete them. For a bar, use the bar template instead. It carries the same structure but splits beverage cost the way a bar needs it, with liquor, beer and wine separated and bar consumables tracked apart from the spirits themselves.

See your own invoices coded to this chart

Send us a week of real vendor invoices. We will run them through Cleo, split each delivery across the right food cost accounts, and show you the result posted in QuickBooks.

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