Accounting Built for the Line, Not the Boardroom
🍽️ Restaurants Only ✓ Prime-Cost Experts 📊 Weekly POS Numbers
We Speak Prime Cost
Prime Plate Hospitality CPAs was founded in 2009 by accountants who'd worked in restaurants and knew the truth: restaurants don't fail because the food is bad. They fail because the numbers get away from them. Food cost creeps, labor balloons, tips and payroll compliance become a minefield, and by the time a generalist accountant hands over a return three months later, the money's already gone.
We do restaurants and only restaurants. In seventeen years we've kept the books for 300+ New Orleans restaurants, and we run the metrics that actually matter — prime cost, food cost, labor percentage — weekly, straight from your POS, while you can still act on them. We handle the tip and payroll compliance that terrifies owners, the restaurant-specific sales tax, and the accounting for growth from one location to many. We're the CPAs who understand that in this business, a point of prime cost is the difference between a good year and a closed door.
- ✓Restaurants exclusively — 17 years
- ✓Prime cost, food cost & labor, weekly
- ✓Tip & payroll compliance handled
- ✓300+ New Orleans restaurants served
The Numbers That Keep a Restaurant Alive
The restaurant-specific accounting that turns a busy dining room into a profitable business.
Prime Cost & Food Cost
We track food, beverage, and labor as a percentage of sales weekly — the single most important number in your restaurant.
Tip & Payroll Compliance
Tip credits, tip pooling, and restaurant payroll done right, so you stay compliant and audit-proof with the DOL and IRS.
POS & Toast Integration
We plug into your point-of-sale for daily and weekly reporting that's accurate, timely, and actually useful.
Restaurant Sales Tax
The unique sales tax rules for food, alcohol, and to-go handled correctly and filed on time, every period.
Full Bookkeeping & Tax
Clean books, monthly financials, and a tax return that captures every restaurant deduction you're entitled to.
Multi-Unit & Franchise
Consolidated reporting and per-location P&Ls as you grow from one concept to a group — clarity at every scale.
Why Restaurateurs Trust Us
Because a point of prime cost is the difference between a good year and a closed door.
We Know Restaurants
Prime cost, tip credits, POS, food waste, sales tax on to-go — this is our world, not a footnote in a generalist's practice.
Numbers You Can Act On
Weekly prime-cost and labor reporting from your POS, while there's still time to fix a problem — not a return months later.
Tip & Payroll, Audit-Proof
The compliance minefield that scares owners most is exactly what we handle best. Stay compliant, sleep at night.
Built to Grow With You
From your first location to a multi-unit group, our systems and reporting scale right alongside your restaurants.
Trusted by NOLA Kitchens
Prime Plate showed me my prime cost was killing me — food and labor were eating 68% of sales. They helped me get it to 58% in four months. That's the difference between losing money and making it.
Tip credits, tip pooling, and payroll across two locations had me terrified of an audit. Prime Plate handles all of it, keeps us compliant, and I finally sleep. They know restaurant payroll cold.
They integrate right into our Toast POS, so I get weekly numbers that actually mean something — food cost, labor, and profit by day. No other accountant ever gave me that. It changed how I run the place.
Opening my second location could have buried me in accounting chaos. Prime Plate set up the books, the sales tax, and the reporting so both units run clean. They get the restaurant business.
The One Number That Decides Everything
Ask a struggling restaurant owner their prime cost and most can't tell you — which is exactly why they're struggling. Prime cost is your food, beverage, and labor combined, as a percentage of sales, and it should live around 55–60%. Let it drift to 65% or 70% and no amount of full tables will save you; hold it at 58% and a modest room prints money. We calculate it weekly from your POS, show you exactly which items and shifts are bleeding, and help you fix it while the week is still young. It's the difference between cooking for a living and running a business.
- ✓Prime cost tracked weekly from your POS
- ✓See which items and shifts bleed money
- ✓Fix it while you still can
Frequently Asked Questions
What is prime cost and why does it matter so much?
Prime cost is the sum of your cost of goods (food and beverage) plus labor, expressed as a percentage of sales. It's the single most important metric in a restaurant because it's your two biggest, most controllable costs combined. A healthy full-service restaurant runs around 55–60%; let it creep past 65% and profitability disappears no matter how busy you are. We track it weekly so you can act, not just find out at tax time.
Can you handle restaurant tip and payroll compliance?
Yes — it's one of the biggest reasons owners come to us. Tip credits, tip pooling and reporting, overtime, and multi-location payroll have specific rules that the DOL and IRS enforce strictly. We handle all of it correctly and keep you audit-proof, so the compliance minefield stops being a source of dread.
Do you integrate with our POS system?
We do — including Toast, Square, and the major restaurant POS platforms. Integrating with your point-of-sale is what lets us give you timely, accurate weekly reporting on sales, food cost, and labor. Numbers a week later you can use; numbers three months later you can only mourn.
We're opening a second location. Can you help?
Absolutely — growth is where restaurant accounting gets tricky and where a specialist earns their keep. We set up clean books and reporting for each location, give you consolidated and per-unit P&Ls, and handle the payroll and sales tax complexity that multiplies with every new door.
How is restaurant sales tax different?
Restaurants face unique sales tax rules — dine-in versus to-go, alcohol, catering, and local taxes all get treated differently, and the rules vary by parish and state. Getting it wrong is a common and costly audit trigger. We handle restaurant sales tax correctly and file it on time, every period.
How are your fees structured?
Most restaurants are on a flat monthly fee that covers bookkeeping, payroll, reporting, and tax, scoped to your size and number of locations. Given that we routinely help owners cut prime cost by multiple points, our fee tends to pay for itself many times over. Your initial consultation is free.
How We Start
From guessing to knowing your numbers.
Kitchen-Table Chat
We learn your concept, your numbers, and your headaches, and pinpoint where prime cost and compliance are hurting you.
Set Up the Books
We clean up your accounting, integrate your POS, and get tip, payroll, and sales tax right from day one.
Run the Numbers Weekly
You get prime cost and P&L numbers every week, plus tax and compliance handled — so you can run a profitable room.
Turn a Full Room Into a Profitable One
Book a consultation and get the prime-cost clarity and compliance that keep restaurants alive.
Book a Restaurant Consultation
Tell us about your restaurant and we'll show you where the money's going. Response within one business day.
- Visit us650 Poydras St, Suite 1400, New Orleans, LA 70130
- Call us(504) 555-0166
- Email ushello@primeplatecpas.com