Why Accounting Matters for Bahrain’s F&B Sector

Financial transparency is survival

Running a profitable restaurant goes beyond great food and ambience. You need to know your true costs, real-time profit margins, and financial health at any given moment. Whether it’s knowing if your chicken shawarma is profitable or if weekend promotions are working, clear accounting gives you the insights to make decisions that matter.

Restaurants deal with fast-moving inventory, fluctuating ingredient prices, and unpredictable sales. Without proper accounting, you’re flying blind—and that’s dangerous in an industry known for tight margins.

Navigating complex tax regulations

Bahrain introduced VAT in 2019, and for F&B businesses, this added an entirely new layer of compliance. From registering for VAT, to filing returns, issuing tax-compliant invoices, and keeping records audit-ready—there’s a lot at stake. One missed return or incorrect filing can result in fines, even if unintentional.

We help F&B businesses navigate this with ease. We ensure your pricing, receipts, tax invoices, and reporting are all NBR-compliant—minimizing risk and maximizing deductions.

Common Accounting Challenges Faced by Restaurants

Inventory management headaches

Keeping track of hundreds of ingredients across multiple menus isn’t just time-consuming—it’s a recipe for errors. Whether it’s chicken stock or chocolate sauce, each item has a cost, expiry, and wastage risk. Without the right accounting system, your books won’t reflect your reality.

We integrate your kitchen inventory with your POS to ensure you always know your real-time stock levels, COGS (Cost of Goods Sold), and food wastage rates.

Cash flow inconsistencies

Restaurants often deal with irregular cash flows—peaks on weekends, dips during weekdays, supplier payments upfront, customer payments delayed. Managing cash well is crucial. Many F&B businesses struggle because they can’t predict when they’ll run short or overspend.

Our system offers automated cash flow projections, helping you prepare for lean weeks and optimize expenses around high seasons.

Manual data entry & POS errors

Still manually exporting POS data into spreadsheets or entering numbers from paper receipts? That’s not just slow—it’s risky. A misplaced decimal or skipped entry can completely throw off your financials. Plus, staff often don’t have time or training to handle these accurately.

We eliminate manual work by integrating your POS directly with your accounting software. Daily sales, refunds, discounts, taxes, and even tips are logged automatically, ensuring accuracy, speed, and consistency.

Seamless POS Integration – Say Goodbye to Manual Data

Compatible with top POS systems (e.g., Oracle, Lightspeed, Toast)

Whether you’re using local POS systems or global ones like Oracle Micros, Square, Toast, or Lightspeed, we support seamless integrations. We work directly with your provider to connect your sales, inventory, and tax systems under one financial roof.

No need to chase receipts, export reports, or cross-verify sales anymore—it’s all synced, logged, and ready to go.

Real-time sales tracking and daily reconciliation

Every sale, every refund, every voided order—captured in real-time. With automated daily reconciliation, you can see your exact net sales, payment methods, discounts, and taxes without touching a spreadsheet.

You’ll always know:

• What sold the most today

• How much revenue came in

• Which payment channels (cash/card/app) dominated

• What taxes were collected

Eliminating human error and boosting efficiency

Manual entry isn’t just slow—it leads to lost revenue and compliance issues. With POS integration, we eliminate:

• Misreporting of sales

• Duplicate or missing entries

• Delayed filings due to paperwork

Our systems talk directly to your POS, ensuring clean, audit-ready financials—every single day.

Smart VAT Strategies to Maximize Savings

VAT registration, return filing & group registration

We don’t just handle the paperwork—we build strategies around it. From helping you register for VAT to setting up VAT groups for franchises or multi-location brands, we ensure your structure is optimized for compliance and tax-efficiency.

We handle:

• NBR registration & de-registration

• Monthly/quarterly VAT return filing

• Submission of supporting documents

• VAT group creation and restructuring

Menu pricing and input VAT optimization

Did you know your menu pricing can impact how much VAT you pay? Or that ingredient purchases and supplier invoices can help you recover input VAT?

We:

• Analyze your menu structure to ensure prices are VAT-inclusive

• Track eligible expenses to maximize input VAT recovery

• Identify potential red flags and deductions missed by general accountants

NBR audit readiness & penalty avoidance

If the NBR knocks on your door for an audit, are you ready? We ensure all your sales records, tax invoices, and VAT reports are structured to pass inspection—avoiding heavy fines and sleepless nights.

Payroll & WPS for Restaurant Teams

Weekly & monthly payroll runs

Restaurants in Bahrain often have unique payroll needs. With hourly staff, rotating shifts, and tips to account for, payroll isn’t as simple as pushing a button at month-end. That’s why we offer custom payroll services for restaurants—whether you pay weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly.

We manage:

• Attendance & shift tracking

• Hourly wage calculations

• Overtime, holidays, and leave pay

• Tips and pooled gratuities

No more spreadsheets. No more delays. We ensure your staff is paid accurately, on time, every time.

Compliance with Bahrain’s WPS regulations

Bahrain’s Wage Protection System (WPS) mandates that employee salaries must be transferred via approved banking channels and reported to the LMRA. Missing this means fines, legal trouble, or even business suspension.

We ensure you’re WPS-compliant by:

• Processing WPS payroll files

• Generating SIFs (Salary Information Files)

• Uploading and validating salary transfers

• Providing reports for your records & inspection

Tips and service charges calculation made easy

Handling tips and service charges is tricky. Who gets how much? How do you record it legally? We help you set up a transparent, fair, and compliant system to allocate, report, and account for:

• Cash tips

• Pooled tips

• Card tips & digital gratuities

• Service charges (if applicable)

It’s all tracked, reported, and tax-accounted—so your staff stays happy and your books stay clean.

Inventory Accounting Made Simple

Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) automation

Your profit depends on knowing exactly how much each dish costs you. We automate your COGS tracking by syncing inventory with sales, tracking stock movement, and factoring in purchase prices and wastage.

What does this mean for you?

• Real-time view of food costs

• Alerts on rising ingredient prices

• Gross profit reports per dish, category, or outlet

This data helps you adjust recipes, switch suppliers, or reprice menu items strategically—keeping margins healthy.

Food wastage tracking & shrinkage control

Food wastage is a silent profit killer. Spoiled milk, overcooked steaks, theft, or portion mismanagement—every gram wasted is money lost. Our system tracks inventory inflow and outflow so you know where losses occur.

We help you:

• Set ideal usage per recipe

• Monitor daily kitchen consumption

• Compare expected vs actual usage

• Flag shrinkage & spot theft

The result? Tighter control, less waste, and more profit.

Integrating kitchen inventory with sales

Imagine if your inventory updated every time you sold a burger or served a latte. That’s exactly what we do. With POS-to-inventory integration, every sale deducts ingredients in real-time, offering an accurate stock count across multiple locations.

You can:

• Avoid overordering or understocking

• See which items move fastest

• Plan bulk buying to save cost

• Run promotions without running out of stock

Budgeting & Forecasting Tools for Restaurant Growth

Profit margins tracking by menu item

Not every item on your menu brings in equal profit. Some might be bestsellers but offer slim margins, while others might be under-marketed gems. We help you break down gross profit per item, so you know what drives your revenue—and what drags it down.

You’ll discover:

• High-margin dishes to promote

• Low-performing items to remove or reprice

• Ingredient cost fluctuations affecting margins

Planning for seasonality & promotions

Holidays, Ramadan, weekends, and events—your restaurant experiences sales spikes and dips throughout the year. We help you plan for them using historic sales data and forecasting tools.

We’ll build:

• Seasonal sales projections

• Marketing ROI tracking

• Cost planning for events or campaigns

This means you’re never caught off guard and always stocked and staffed appropriately.

Breakeven analysis & ROI per location

Expanding to a new location? Launching a food truck? We help you calculate your breakeven point, expected ROI, and investment recovery time—before you make the move.

From rent, salaries, setup costs to marketing and licenses—we consider it all. You’ll get clear, realistic projections to guide your expansion with confidence.

Cloud-Based Restaurant Accounting Solutions

Access reports from anywhere

In today’s fast-paced food business, you can’t afford to be tied to an office desktop. Our cloud-based accounting platform gives you access to live reports, dashboards, and insights from any device.

Whether you’re traveling, visiting suppliers, or managing from abroad, your numbers are always a click away.

• View real-time sales

• Track expenses and profit

• Download tax reports instantly

• Approve payroll or vendor payments remotely

Integration with accounting platforms (Zoho, QuickBooks, Xero)

Already using an accounting system? No problem. We integrate with:

• Zoho Books

• QuickBooks

• Tally ERP

• Xero

• Oracle Netsuite

This ensures your POS, payroll, inventory, and tax data flows seamlessly—giving you one source of financial truth.

Secured, scalable, and audit-ready

Data security is non-negotiable. Our cloud accounting setup uses SSL encryption, secure backups, and multi-user access controls to protect your business.

Plus, everything is audit-ready—organized, traceable, and compliant with Bahraini tax standards.

Custom Reporting Dashboards

Daily sales & expenses reports

Want to see how your restaurant did today without logging into multiple apps? Our dashboard shows:

• Total sales

• Sales by payment method

• Discounts & refunds

• Top-selling items

• Expenses logged

It’s your entire day—summarized in one clean view.

Weekly labor cost summaries

Labor is one of your biggest expenses. We generate weekly labor reports that show:

• Staff hours worked

• Payroll cost vs sales ratio

• Overtime usage

• Underperforming shifts

Use this to optimize scheduling, reduce labor costs, and improve productivity.

Monthly P&L + cash flow tracking

Each month, we deliver a full Profit & Loss report, along with cash flow analysis. You’ll see:

• Net profit per outlet

• Cash inflow vs outflow

• VAT payable/refundable

• Expense breakdown by category

This keeps your financials sharp, clean, and growth-focused.

Audit Readiness for F&B

Trail-ready financial records

Restaurants get audited more frequently than you think—especially when inconsistencies pop up in VAT filings, payroll reports, or vendor payments. At Fama, we ensure your records are organized, traceable, and fully documented. Whether it’s a purchase order, invoice, payroll report, or VAT ledger—we keep everything ready for review.

No more scrambling during audits. We maintain a digital audit trail so every number in your books can be explained and backed by solid data.

Compliance with Bahrain tax laws

The National Bureau for Revenue (NBR) takes VAT compliance seriously. And the F&B sector is one of its most watched industries. From correct tax invoices to timely return filing and proper classification of taxable vs. zero-rated supplies, there’s a lot to get right.

We keep your restaurant fully compliant by:

• Ensuring tax invoices follow NBR format

• Filing accurate VAT returns every month or quarter

• Applying correct VAT rates for dine-in, delivery, or catering

• Avoiding common VAT errors restaurants make

Avoid VAT fines and penalties

NBR fines for incorrect filings can start from BHD 500 and go up to thousands. We help you steer clear of:

• Late filings

• Under-reporting of sales

• Incorrect expense claims

• Poor documentation

Our proactive audit-readiness system saves you from stress and unnecessary fines.

Who We Serve – From Cafés to Restaurant Chains

QSRs (Quick Service Restaurants)

Speed and simplicity are key for QSRs. We help with:

• Quick daily reconciliations

• Shift-wise sales reports

• Integrated inventory tracking

Whether you’re running a shawarma stand or a multi-location fast food outlet—we’ve got you covered.

Cloud kitchens & delivery-first brands

Cloud kitchens operate on razor-thin margins. We help optimize your cost structure with:

• Ingredient-level inventory management

• Rider commissions tracking

• Online platform reconciliation (Talabat, Jahez, etc.)

Everything is streamlined—even if you operate across several delivery platforms.

Multi-branch fine dining operations

If you run multiple restaurants or concepts, you need consolidated reporting, inter-branch cost analysis, and location-wise profitability insights.

We offer:

• Franchise-level reports

• Branch performance benchmarking

• Group-level VAT filings

Scale confidently with data-backed decisions.

Why Choose Fama for Restaurant Accounting?

Specialized in Bahrain’s F&B accounting

We don’t just understand accounting—we understand restaurants. Our team works exclusively with Bahrain-based F&B brands, so we know the unique challenges you face. From seasonal promotions to staff turnover and delivery partners, we’re already familiar with it.

Bilingual team & local VAT compliance

We speak both English and Arabic, ensuring smooth communication with your team and Bahraini regulators. Plus, we stay updated with every NBR circular, deadline, and policy update—so you don’t have to.

Affordable, scalable pricing packages

Whether you’re just starting out or managing a growing chain, we have packages to match your stage. No bloated fees or surprise invoices—just transparent, flat monthly pricing tailored for restaurants.

Our Process – How We Work With Restaurants

Step 1: Free consultation

We begin with a 30-minute free consultation to understand your current setup—your POS, your pain points, and your goals. You’ll get insights immediately, even if you don’t sign up.

Step 2: POS integration setup

Once onboard, we connect your POS, inventory system, and payroll platform to your accounting software. This takes less than a week and is completely handled by us.

Step 3: Monthly reports, VAT filing & insights

Every month, you’ll receive:

• A clean, audit-ready P&L and cash flow report

• Updated VAT filing summaries

• COGS, labor cost, and performance dashboards

• Actionable insights to increase margins and improve compliance

FAQs

1. Which POS systems can Fama Accounting integrate with?

We work with major POS platforms like Oracle, Square, Lightspeed, Toast, and local Bahraini POS providers. Our tech team ensures smooth integration with your setup.

2. How often will I receive financial reports?

You’ll get monthly P&L, cash flow, VAT summaries, and custom dashboards. Daily sales reports and weekly labor summaries can also be arranged.

3. Is this service suitable for home-based food businesses or cloud kitchens?

Absolutely! We serve everything from home cooks to delivery-only brands. We’ll adapt the system based on your model, whether it’s walk-ins, delivery, or catering.

4. What’s included in VAT services for restaurants?

Our VAT package covers registration, monthly return filing, input VAT claim tracking, audit preparation, and NBR correspondence.

5. How long does setup take once I sign up?

Setup typically takes 3–5 business days, depending on your POS and accounting system. We handle the entire migration and training.