Restaurant Accounting Software for UK Delivery

The best accounting software for a UK restaurant on delivery apps is usually a general cloud accounting package set up with the right accounts, paired with a reliable way to turn each platform's statement into a journal. No accounting software for restaurants removes the delivery problem on its own: Deliveroo, Uber Eats and Just Eat pay you a net lump sum after commission, VAT on that commission and refunds, and your books need the gross sale and every deduction recorded separately.

So the real choice is not "which brand" but "which type of package, and who does the reconciliation". This guide sets out the four types you will come across, what each one handles for delivery income, a worked example of one week on two platforms, and a checklist you can score any package against. The software is only half the picture — it has to be paired with the right method, which our guide to restaurant bookkeeping in the delivery era sets out in full.

Accounting software for restaurants: the four types you will meet

Search for restaurant accounting software and the results mix four quite different kinds of product. They solve different problems, and most restaurants on two or more platforms end up using more than one.

If you only remember one thing from the table: the first three types record delivery income correctly once someone has worked out the numbers. The working-out is the part that takes the afternoon. Our restaurant bookkeeping software guide looks at how the main general packages handle that step one by one.

Online restaurant accounting software: where Xero and QuickBooks fit

"Online" restaurant accounting software usually means cloud accounting you use in a browser or app, rather than a desktop program. Two names you will meet are Xero and QuickBooks. Both publish the same basics, which is why they sit in the first row of the table above:

• Xero says you can "connect your bank accounts to Xero so transactions flow automatically into your books", that once a VAT return is prepared "you can send it directly to HMRC from within the software", and that you can "find, try and buy business apps that connect with Xero" (Xero UK accounting software page, read 4 November 2026).
• QuickBooks lists bank connections as a feature, notes that third-party applications are "subject to additional terms, conditions, and fees", and states that its Sole Trader plan does not include direct VAT submission to HMRC (QuickBooks UK accounting software page, quickbooks.intuit.com/uk, read 4 November 2026).

Neither page mentions splitting a delivery-platform payout into gross sales, commission, VAT and refunds. That is the step the earlier sections describe, and in these packages it is a journal you or your bookkeeper post, or something an add-on has to do. Sage is another common name; we make no claims about it here, so use the checklist below against whichever vendor you shortlist. We do not list prices: they change and several vendors run introductory discounts, so check each vendor's current pricing page. Whichever you pick, the quarterly VAT return still depends on the delivery journals being right: our VAT return checklist for delivery restaurants lists what to check.

If you run a pub or bar rather than a restaurant, the VAT mix and bar sales change what you need: see our guide to accounting software for pubs and bars.

What to look for in restaurant accounting software when you sell through delivery apps

Whichever type you choose, these are the five things that matter for delivery income.

1. Revenue tracking by channel

You have at least two or three delivery income streams, plus dine-in and collection. Each has different deductions, payment timing and paperwork. Your software needs to track these separately, not bundle everything into one "Sales" line.

What to look for: tracking categories, classes or departments that let you report revenue by source (Deliveroo, Uber Eats, Just Eat, dine-in, phone orders). If you cannot report revenue by channel, you cannot see which platform is earning its keep.

2. Commission expense coding

Delivery commission is a cost of sale, not an overhead. The published headline rates show why it deserves its own line: Uber Eats lists a 30% fee where its couriers deliver (33% on Uber One members' orders) and 13% for self-delivery or pick-up, all excluding VAT; Just Eat lists 14% where you deliver and 30% where it delivers, both plus VAT. Deliveroo does not publish its standard UK rate: its partner terms describe the fee only as "a percentage of GMV (inclusive of VAT) per order, plus VAT", so your contract and your statements are the source. The one figure those terms do state is 35% plus VAT (unless varied by written agreement), for Marketplace+ partners' orders delivered through Deliveroo's rider network. For a restaurant doing much of its trade through the apps, commission can be one of the biggest lines on the profit and loss account.

What to look for: a chart of accounts you can customise, with a commission expense code per platform. Pre-built restaurant templates are a bonus, not a requirement — flexibility matters more. Our free chart of accounts template is a starting point.

3. VAT coding for sales and for commission

Two separate VAT questions come up every quarter, and good software keeps them apart.

On the sales side, HMRC's guidance is that hot takeaway food meeting its tests is standard-rated, while cold takeaway food — unless it is of a type that is always standard-rated, such as crisps and sweets — is zero-rated. Delivery adds a boundary: HMRC's catering guidance lists "delivery of cooked ready-to-eat food or meals" among its obvious examples of catering, and catering is standard-rated whether the food is hot or cold. So whether cold items in a delivered meal are zero-rated depends on the facts, and is worth agreeing with your accountant. If your delivery sales do include zero-rated items, they need posting at more than one rate. On the cost side, platforms charge VAT on their commission, and if you are VAT-registered that VAT is reclaimable input tax — in full, whatever your hot/cold mix. HMRC's VAT guide says you can normally reclaim input tax relating to "supplies you make which are liable at the standard rate, reduced rate or the zero rate". Zero-rated food is a taxable supply, not an exempt one, so it does not restrict the reclaim. HMRC's partial exemption guidance applies to a business that makes "both taxable and exempt supplies"; selling food and drink is a taxable supply, so the menu alone never makes a restaurant partly exempt.

What to look for: the ability to code lines at different VAT rates within one manual journal, so standard-rated and zero-rated delivery sales can post separately, plus a standard-rated input-tax code for commission. You do not need a partial-exemption feature.

4. Bank feed matching against a multi-line journal

Delivery payouts arrive as single deposits. Your software should let you match one bank transaction against a journal that breaks out gross sales, commission, VAT on commission, refunds and fees.

What to look for: bank reconciliation that matches one deposit to a multi-line journal. This is standard in most cloud accounting packages, but the workflow differs, so try it with a real statement before you commit.

5. HMRC reporting and Making Tax Digital

Under the Platform Operators (Due Diligence and Reporting Requirements) Regulations 2023, in force since 1 January 2024, delivery platforms must report to HMRC on their sellers "on or before the 31st January following the end of the reportable period" — and must give you that same information by the same date. HMRC's guidance says the report shows what the platform paid you each quarter after deductions, with the fees, commissions and taxes it took "noted and reported separately" — so HMRC can see both your deposits and the fees, commissions and taxes taken off before them.

What to look for: reports you can pull by platform and by period, so your books can be compared with what the platforms reported. If you are VAT-registered, the software must be compatible with Making Tax Digital for VAT. Sole traders face Making Tax Digital for Income Tax too: anyone with qualifying income over £50,000 should have started using it from 6 April 2026, and the threshold falls to £30,000 from 6 April 2027. Our Making Tax Digital guide for UK restaurants covers the requirements.

A worked example: one week on two platforms

Here is what the software has to hold for an ordinary week. The rates are the platforms' published headline rates; for simplicity the percentage is applied to the full order value, which is how Just Eat's own £20 example works — your statement shows the base your contract actually uses. Refunds and other adjustments are left out to keep the arithmetic visible.

The two deposits total £1,792. A restaurant that books only the deposits records £1,792 of sales. The correct entries are £2,500 of sales split by platform, £590 of commission as a cost of sale, and £118 of input VAT on that commission, reclaimable in full. That is £708 of difference in turnover between the two approaches in a single week — and the platform's report to HMRC shows the £708 of commission and VAT alongside the £1,792 it paid you.

The sales themselves then need their own VAT split. If every item in the £2,500 were standard-rated hot food, the output VAT inside it would be £416.67 (one-sixth of a VAT-inclusive price at 20%). If some items are zero-rated, it is less — which is why the VAT-rate split matters on the sales side and not on the commission side.

Any of the general packages can hold these entries. The question to ask before you buy is who produces them each week, and how long it takes. Our free payout reconciliation checker runs this check on your own statement figures, and the commission calculator compares the platforms side by side.

How to evaluate: the delivery platform checklist

Score any package against these:

• Can you track revenue separately for each delivery platform?
• Can you create a commission expense code per platform?
• Can you enter multi-line manual journals for each payout?
• Can one journal carry sales lines at different VAT rates (standard-rated and zero-rated)?
• Is commission VAT coded as standard-rated input tax, reclaimed in full?
• Can you match a bank deposit against a multi-line journal?
• Does it take bank feeds from your business account?
• Is it compatible with Making Tax Digital for VAT (and for Income Tax, if you are a sole trader in scope)?
• Can your accountant work in it remotely?
• Does it have an app ecosystem or API for connecting reconciliation tools?

The last five are general features worth confirming for any business. The first five are where the differences show for a restaurant on delivery platforms.

The gap: who does the reconciliation?

Whichever package you choose, check what it does with these five weekly steps:

1. Download each platform's statement or report
2. Check the orders and the commission charged against your agreement
3. Work out the VAT on commission and the split of sales by VAT rate
4. Post the journal entries
5. Match each payout to the bank deposit

General accounting software handles steps 4 and 5. If neither the package nor an app connected to it can do steps 1 to 3, those steps stay manual — done by you after service, or by your bookkeeper at their hourly rate. That is the gap purpose-built reconciliation tools are designed to fill.

What about restaurant-specific features?

Packages marketed as restaurant accounting software often lead with till integration, inventory and food costing, and staff scheduling. All useful; none of them splits a platform payout into gross, commission, VAT and refunds. Our guide to restaurant delivery management software explains why order-management tools and financial tools solve different problems, and why most restaurants on several platforms need both.

What to do right now

1. Audit your current setup: can you answer "how much did I actually make on Deliveroo last month, after every deduction?" If not, your tracking needs work
2. Set up tracking codes: separate revenue and commission codes for each platform give you visibility you do not have today, in any package
3. Learn the reconciliation workflow: our step-by-step guide to reconciling delivery payouts in Xero walks through the exact journal entries you need; if you use QuickBooks instead, follow our QuickBooks delivery reconciliation walkthrough
4. Compare your platform costs: see what each platform charges with our side-by-side commission comparison across Deliveroo, Uber Eats and Just Eat
5. Check your VAT coding: commission VAT should be reclaimed in full; it is your sales that may need splitting by rate, between standard-rated items and any that are zero-rated. Cold items in a delivered meal are not automatically zero-rated, because HMRC treats the delivery of cooked ready-to-eat meals as an obvious example of catering

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This guide covers accounting software considerations for UK restaurants on delivery platforms. It is general guidance based on published HMRC guidance, the 2023 platform reporting regulations and the platforms' own published rates — not financial or tax advice. Platform rates change and your contract may differ; check your own agreement, and confirm your VAT treatment with HMRC's guidance or your accountant.

Sources

• Platform Operators (Due Diligence and Reporting Requirements) Regulations 2023, regulation 4 (reporting to HMRC and to sellers)
• HMRC — International Exchange of Information Manual IEIM901740: determination of amount reported
• Platform Operators (Due Diligence and Reporting Requirements) Regulations 2023, regulation 1 (commencement)
• HMRC — VAT guide (Notice 700), section 10.2: what can be claimed as input tax
• HMRC — Partial exemption (VAT Notice 706)
• HMRC — Catering, takeaway food and VAT (Notice 709/1), sections 2.1 and 4.1
• GOV.UK — Find software compatible with Making Tax Digital for VAT
• GOV.UK — Check if you're eligible for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax
• Uber Eats — UK merchant pricing
• Just Eat — UK partner signup ("Still have questions?" commission rates)
• Xero — UK accounting software page (bank feeds, VAT submission, app marketplace; read 2026-11-04)
• QuickBooks — UK accounting software page at quickbooks.intuit.com/uk (bank connections, third-party apps, Sole Trader plan VAT note; read 2026-11-04; link omitted because the site refuses automated link-checks)
• Deliveroo — UK partner terms (fees set as "a percentage of GMV"; 35% plus VAT for Marketplace+ rider-network orders)