> Austin restaurant accounting handling 8.25% sales tax, Texas mixed-beverage taxes and federal tip-credit rules for downtown, food-truck and multi-unit.  Areas We Serve # Restaurant Accountants in Austin, TX Austin is one of the fastest-growing restaurant markets in the country. We keep local operators' books clean, compliant and profitable — with real knowledge of Texas sales tax, mixed-beverage rules and the labor math that generalists get wrong. FORCS provides restaurant accounting in Austin — handling the city's 8.25% combined sales tax, Texas mixed-beverage taxes for bars and alcohol service, and the federal tip-credit rules that govern payroll in a no-income-tax state — for restaurants, food trailers and multi-unit groups from Downtown to The Domain, alongside bookkeeping, payroll and hands-on operations support. [Get a Free Consultation](https://www.useforcs.com/contact/)[(607) 873-6727](tel:+16078736727) **Restaurants Only**the only industry we serve **20+ Years**of restaurant experience **Multi-Unit Operators**trusted nationwide **Secure & Confidential**your data is protected ## Why Austin, TX restaurants come to FORCS Austin is booming, and its food scene reflects it — a nationally famous food-truck and trailer culture, a wave of chef-driven brick-and-mortar concepts, and multi-unit groups expanding fast across a metro that keeps adding people. Events like SXSW in March and ACL in October slam popular rooms with demand for days at a time, then it goes quiet. That kind of swing rewards operators who watch prime cost and cash flow closely, whether you run a single trailer on South Congress or a growing group across the city. ### Sales tax & local filings in TX Austin charges a combined 8.25% sales tax on prepared food and restaurant meals — 6.25% Texas state plus 2% in local city and transit taxes. If you serve liquor, wine or beer by the drink, Texas layers on its mixed-beverage taxes: a 6.7% mixed-beverage gross receipts tax the permittee owes directly (it can't be passed to the guest as a line item) plus an 8.25% mixed-beverage sales tax — a combined 14.95% that bars and full-service restaurants routinely account for incorrectly. We file your sales tax reconciled to your POS and keep your mixed-beverage reporting clean. ### Labor & tip rules where you operate Texas follows the federal minimum wage of $7.25 and the federal tipped-wage rules — a $2.13 cash wage with a tip credit of up to $5.12, as long as tips bring staff to $7.25. That's a very different world from New York or California, but the tip-credit math still has to be right every pay period, and Texas has no state income tax, which changes how payroll and withholding are set up. We handle the tipped-payroll calculations and the Texas-specific setup so nothing slips. We keep the books for multi-unit restaurant operators, so Austin's sales tax, mixed-beverage rules and tipped-payroll math aren't theory to us — they're what we handle every week. ## Restaurant accounting built for a fast-growing market Austin doesn’t have New York’s rents, but it has its own pressures: explosive growth, event-driven revenue swings, and a tax picture — 8.25% sales tax plus Texas mixed-beverage taxes on every drink poured — that catches operators who treat accounting as an afterthought. When you’re scaling from one location to three, or one trailer to a fleet, loose books are what stall the growth. FORCS is a restaurant accounting firm built for Austin operators, from South Congress trailers to full-service groups across Downtown, East Austin and The Domain. We keep [GAAP-compliant books](https://www.useforcs.com/services/restaurant-accounting/), reconcile every dollar of POS sales against your deposits, and file your [sales tax and payroll](https://www.useforcs.com/services/restaurant-payroll-and-tax/) with Texas rules — including mixed-beverage taxes — built in. Just as important, we bring [operations support](https://www.useforcs.com/services/restaurant-operations/): inventory, recipe costing and item-level mapping, so you hold food and labor cost steady through SXSW spikes and the slow weeks between. Whether you run a single room on Rainey Street or a group expanding across the metro, we help Austin restaurants keep more of what a booming market brings in. ### Neighborhoods & areas we serve - Downtown - South Congress (SoCo) - East Austin - Rainey Street - The Domain - Zilker - South Lamar - Mueller - Round Rock - Cedar Park - Barton Springs - North Loop ## Free consultation for Austin, TX restaurants See how we'd help your restaurant, locally. [Book Now](https://www.useforcs.com/contact/) Services in Austin, TX ## Restaurant accounting services in Austin, TX ### Restaurant Accounting Services in Austin GAAP-compliant monthly financials and P&L by location you can actually use. Learn more ### Restaurant Bookkeeping Services in Austin Clean, POS-integrated books, reconciled and delivered on time every period. Learn more ### Restaurant Payroll & Tax Services in Austin Tip-compliant payroll, sales tax and clean year-end prep for your CPA. Learn more Our Difference ### Restaurant Operations Support Inventory, recipes and item-level mapping most accountants simply cannot do. Learn more ### Restaurant Consulting Services Fractional-CFO guidance on growth, financing and unit-level performance. Learn more ### Restaurant Automation Services Vendor, POS and accounting integrations that kill manual data entry. Learn more More than accounting ## The operations support Austin, TX operators can't get from a CPA Beyond clean books, we go inside your Austin, TX restaurant: inventory review, recipe costing and item-level mapping in your accounting software. It's how you control prime cost — not just report it after the month closes. [Explore operations support](https://www.useforcs.com/services/restaurant-operations/) ## Restaurant accounting in Austin, TX — FAQs What sales tax do Austin restaurants charge on meals? Prepared food and restaurant meals in Austin are taxed at a combined 8.25% — 6.25% Texas state plus 2% in local city and transit taxes. We prepare and file this reconciled to your POS sales so filings are accurate and on time. How do Texas mixed-beverage taxes work for my bar or restaurant? If you serve alcohol by the drink, Texas charges a 6.7% mixed-beverage gross receipts tax that you owe directly and can't add to the guest's check, plus an 8.25% mixed-beverage sales tax — 14.95% combined. We track and file both correctly so alcohol sales don't become a liability. What is the tipped minimum wage in Austin? Texas follows the federal rules: a $2.13 cash wage plus a tip credit of up to $5.12, as long as tips bring staff to the $7.25 minimum. We handle the cash-wage-plus-tip-credit calculation correctly every payroll and set up withholding for a no-state-income-tax state. Do you work with food trucks and trailers, not just brick-and-mortar? Yes. Austin's trailer scene is a huge part of the market, and we handle mobile operators the same way we handle full-service rooms — sales tax, tipped payroll and clean books — whether you run one trailer or a growing multi-unit group.