Accounting for Restaurants & Bars

Under Mexican tax law, food and non-alcoholic beverages served in a restaurant are subject to 0% IVA — meaning you do not charge IVA on them, but you can still credit the IVA you paid to suppliers. Alcoholic beverages are subject to 16% IVA and must be separated in your POS system and declarations. Getting this split wrong is one of the most common SAT audit triggers for restaurants.

A mandatory service charge added to the bill is considered income to the establishment and is subject to ISR and IVA. Voluntary tips that pass directly through to staff are treated as income to the employee and must be included in their payroll for IMSS and ISR withholding purposes. We configure payroll to handle both correctly.

Yes. All employees — cooks, waitstaff, bartenders, dishwashers, managers — must be registered with IMSS from their first day of work. The restaurant is also liable for INFONAVIT contributions and the employer IMSS quota. We handle registration, monthly IMSS filings, and bi-weekly payroll for your entire team.

You must issue a CFDI for every sale. For individual customers who do not request an invoice, you issue a global CFDI covering all daily sales to the public (CFDI global). For corporate clients or anyone who provides their RFC, you issue an individual CFDI. We set up your billing process to produce both types correctly.

Yes. All purchases of food, beverages, packaging, and supplies are deductible as cost of sales, provided each purchase is backed by a valid CFDI from your supplier. We track your cost of goods monthly and ensure every deduction is documented and applied in your ISR declarations.