For Restaurants • Cafés • Bars

Your shifts are busy. Your margins shouldn’t swing with them.

Totalis brings calm to hospitality operations—clean books, precise payroll & tips, tight A/P, and clear monthly reporting so you keep more of every shift.

Tip handling, done right

Clear pooling rules, dual-role pay, 80/20 compliance, and reports staff trust.

Overtime control

Scheduling guardrails and simple reviews that cut premium creep without hurting service.

Food cost discipline

Ideal vs actual, waste capture, and vendor price checks—so you pay what you planned.

Payroll & notices

On-time deposits, multi-state handling, and clean filings. Fewer notices, fewer surprises.

We onboard 2 hospitality teams per month1 slot open.

What we put in place

Ops margin control

OT guardrails, tip accuracy, vendor checks, and food cost tracking—operations protect margin, not drain it.

People & payroll

Clean payroll runs and tip reporting. We handle deposits, multi-state/local taxes, and notices—quietly.

Monthly close & reporting

A calm, predictable close with an owner recap: clean books, A/P & A/R status, and a short action list.

If you don’t fix this

How we fix Ops margin

  • OT guardrails + quick reviews cut premiums without hurting service.
  • Tip variance tracked; exceptions cleared before payroll.
  • Food cost: ideal vs actual, waste capture, vendor price checks.

How we fix Payroll & HR

  • Correct withholdings; deposits filed on time per state/city.
  • Dual-role/80–20 rules reflected in every run.
  • Notices handled; misclassification flagged and corrected.

How we run the monthly close

  • Owner recap you’ll actually read—cash, A/P, A/R, next steps.
  • Variance calls + pricing tweaks where margins leak.
  • Simple action list to lock improvements by next month.

Payroll notice & penalties

  • Missed deposit/return → fees + interest (often $50–$250/notice).
  • Time lost chasing letters; fees stack monthly.
  • Back-filings and amended returns later.

Overtime premium creep

  • 0.5× premium × weekly OT hours = $1–3k/mo in silent leakage.
  • Unplanned OT → scheduling chaos next shift.

Tip disputes & 80/20 issues

  • Disputes erode trust; corrections consume hours.
  • Wrong rules → back pay and penalties.

Vendor overpay / duplicates

  • Without approvals/3-way match, dupes slip through.
  • Small % on large volume = thousands per quarter.

A/P & A/R — handled (and mostly automated)

A/P safeguards

Approvals, 3-way match, duplicate/fraud catch, vendor onboarding, and clean payment runs.

A/R cash-in

Platform payout reconciliation, aging/collections rhythm, deposits for events/catering, and dispute handling.

How we fix A/P

  • Vendor onboarding + W-9 capture; bank details verified.
  • 3-way match (PO/receipt/invoice) with duplicate detection.
  • Role-based approvals; scheduled payment runs.

How we fix A/R

  • Daily platform payout reconciliation (Toast/DoorDash/UberEats, etc.).
  • Aging buckets with auto-reminders + deposits for events.
  • Dispute playbook; write-off policy and tracking.

Without A/P controls

  • Duplicate/fraud payments slip through.
  • Vendor changes risk wire fraud without verification.
  • Ad-hoc payments create cash swings.

Without A/R rhythm

  • Platform payout gaps + chargebacks linger.
  • Event deposits missed → cancellations cost real money.
  • Aging grows; cash tightens during busy weeks.

Estimate what you’re paying now

Two quick estimators—operations and HR/payroll—plus A/R cash-in drag show where money leaks. Adjust the sliders; see your monthly exposure and the net after our fee.

Ops Margin Leak

  • OT premium (now)$0
  • Tip variance (now)$0
  • Food overage (now)$0
  • A/P overpay (now)$0
  • Ops leak (monthly)$0

HR & Payroll Risk

  • Rework & OT admin$0
  • Notices & penalties$0
  • Misclassification$0
  • HR/Payroll risk (monthly)$0

A/R cash-in drag

  • Cash tied up (opportunity cost)$0
  • Chargebacks/short-pays$0

Total monthly exposure

  • Ops leak + HR risk$0
  • Net after Totalis fee$0
  • ROI (monthly)
  • Break-even fee (per month)$0
  • Payback time (days)0
  • ROI (annualized)

We’ll send your benchmark and a copy of this estimate.

HR & Payroll — the hidden cost center

Most hospitality teams pay more than they should in corrections, notices, and misclassification. We make payroll boring—in a good way.

Misclassification

W-2 vs 1099, dual roles, and delivery staff. We flag risk early, quantify exposure, and fix it before it’s expensive.

Filings & notices

State/local deposits, city taxes, wage notices, ACA forms. We run the calendar and handle notices so you don’t.

Tips & overtime

80/20, pooled tips, spread-of-hours, split shift—rules that match your floor, with clean reporting every month.

  • US-based team
  • Multi-state payroll
  • ACA/1095-C ready
  • Hospitality tip compliance

We’ll also include a simple guide to misclassification, notices, and tip/OT rules.

What changes in 30–90 days

“OT creep was killing our Fridays. Two weeks in, we had guardrails and our premiums dropped without shorting staff.”

— GM, multi-unit café group

“Tip reporting cleaned up fast. Fewer staff questions, no notices, and payroll is finally uneventful.”

— Owner, bar & kitchen

“Food cost stopped drifting. Vendor price checks saved us thousands by quarter-end.”

— Operator, casual dining

FAQs

We already have an accountant—can you work with them? Or handle everything?

Yes. We can partner with your CPA/bookkeeper and add payroll, HR, and A/P oversight—or take it fully off your plate as your outsourced Accounting & Finance team. You still approve; we run the mechanics.

Why outsource instead of hiring in-house?

Coverage, cost, and outcomes. A full in-house stack (bookkeeper + payroll/HR + controller/CFO) often costs $8–20k/month including taxes, software, and supervision. We deliver the same capability with specialist coverage at a fraction of that, and you only pay for results—not downtime.

What services can you run end-to-end?

Bookkeeping, payroll & tips, HR compliance (notices, wage rules, onboarding), A/P & A/R, controller-level monthly close, fractional CFO (forecasting, pricing, KPIs), and tax planning & preparation—US-based and in your reporting rhythm.

How does outsourcing work day-to-day?

You keep visibility and control. We plug into your systems, manage the weekly and monthly cycles, and deliver concise recaps with actions. You approve payments and changes; we execute and keep everything filed and reconciled.

Are you US-based? Where are you located?

Yes—100% US-based. We’re headquartered in Delaware and support clients nationwide.

Can you help anywhere in the country—remote or on-site?

Yes. Most clients work fully remote; on-site visits are available for launches, transitions, or process audits when needed.

Do you integrate with our POS and payroll?

Yes—Square, Toast, Aloha, Lightspeed, QuickBooks, Gusto, ADP and others. We pull summarized data; guest details stay in your systems.

How do you fix tip pooling and 80/20 issues?

We set clear pooling rules, dual-role pay, and reporting so filings and staff expectations match.

Do you handle multi-state and local payroll taxes?

Yes. We manage deposits/returns per state/city, track registrations, and handle notices.

Overtime, spread-of-hours, split-shift?

We implement OT math for your jurisdiction and review premiums weekly to stop creep.

W-2 vs 1099—are we at risk?

We audit roles against tests, flag risk, quantify exposure, and help you correct proactively.

ACA (1094/1095-C) when headcount grows?

We track eligibility, hours, and forms so you stay compliant as the team scales.

Can you run our A/P end-to-end?

Yes. We onboard vendors, verify bank details, set approvals, run 3-way match, catch duplicates/fraud, and schedule payment runs. You approve; we execute.

What about A/R—platform payouts, events, or wholesale?

We reconcile daily payouts (Toast, DoorDash, UberEats), manage aging/collections, set deposits for events/catering, and handle dispute workflows so cash comes in on time.

Why automate A/P and A/R?

It reduces errors and fraud, smooths cash flow, and frees owner time. Automation plus oversight is faster and cheaper than manual checks—and far safer.

Talk to a specialist

Make margin predictable

Get a custom plan for OT, tips, food cost, and HR compliance—plus a clean monthly rhythm.

Book a consult