https://payoutledger.co.uk Delivery platform reconciliation guides for UK restaurants. en-gb https://payoutledger.co.uk/guides/quickbooks-delivery-reconciliation-uk/ https://payoutledger.co.uk/guides/quickbooks-delivery-reconciliation-uk/ Wed, 14 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMT How to record Deliveroo, Uber Eats and Just Eat payouts in QuickBooks so gross sales, commission and VAT are all correct — and the net ties to the bank deposit. GOV.UK — Find software compatible with Making Tax Digital for VAT - HMRC — Search the MTD-compatible software list (the list itself) - HMRC — Catering, takeaway food and VAT (Notice 709/1) - HMRC — VAT Food manual VFOOD4140: excepted items: catering: what is catering? - Platform Operators (Due Diligence and Reporting Requirements) Regulations 2023, regulation 3 (due diligence and record-keeping) - Platform Operators (Due Diligence and Reporting Requirements) Regulations 2023, regulation 4 (reporting of information to HMRC) - VAT Notice 706: partial exemption - HMRC — IEIM901740: what platforms report as consideration (net of fees, which are reported separately) ]]> https://payoutledger.co.uk/guides/just-eat-commission-uk-restaurants/ https://payoutledger.co.uk/guides/just-eat-commission-uk-restaurants/ Wed, 30 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMT Just Eat publishes 14% for self-delivery and 30% where it delivers, both plus VAT. Here is what those headline rates leave out, and how to work out the effective rate you actually pay from your own invoice. "We take a 14% commission for every order you accept on the Just Eat platform and for which you use your own delivery drivers. For example, on a £20 order, our commission is £3.36 (£2.80 + 56p VAT). We take a 30% commission for every order you accept and where we deliver for you. For example, on a £20 order where we deliver, our commission is £7.20 (£6.00 + £1.20 VAT)." Checked 2026-08-10. Note that Just Eat's own worked examples put VAT on top of the percentage — 14% of £20 is £2.80, and the restaurant is charged £3.36. That is a detail most third-party comparisons drop. So the headline is knowable. What it does not tell you is what you actually pay. This guide covers both: the published rates, what they leave out, and how to find the only rate that governs your margins — your effective rate. ## Why the headline rate is not what you pay Three things sit between the published percentage and your bank balance. **Published rates describe the standard signup terms, not every agreement.** Independent restaurants, small groups and national chains are not necessarily on the same terms, and neither are a restaurant that signed in 2019 and one signing today. The published 14%/30% is the rate on offer at the front door; your contracted rate is whatever your own agreement says. **The service model changes the rate substantially.** Both platforms that publish show the same shape: Just Eat lists 14% for self-delivery against 30% where its couriers deliver, and Uber Eats lists 13% against 30%. That is a spread of roughly sixteen percentage points on the same order. A quoted "Just Eat commission" figure that does not say which model it refers to is close to meaningless. **Commission is not the whole deduction.** Even the correct commission figure understates what leaves your account, because VAT is charged on the commission, and refunds, adjustments and any promotional costs come out on top. The practical consequence: a restaurant planning against the headline 14% or 30% alone can be out by several percentage points. That can be the difference between a platform being worth running and not. ## Where your actual rate lives Your contracted rate appears in two places you already have access to. **Your partner agreement.** The commission percentage and the service model it applies to are specified in the terms you signed. If you cannot find your copy, Just Eat Partner Centre holds your account documentation. **Your weekly invoice.** This is the more useful one, because it reflects what is actually being charged rather than what was agreed. Just Eat issues a weekly invoice showing the period's gross order value, the commission deducted, VAT, and any adjustments, netting down to the amount paid into your bank. If the invoice and the agreement disagree, the invoice is what is happening to your money — and it is worth a conversation with your account manager. ## Working out your effective rate Here is the calculation that matters. It needs two numbers, both of which are on documents you already receive. ``` effective rate = (gross order value − net bank deposit) ÷ gross order value ``` Take a settled week. Gross order value comes from the invoice; the net deposit is what actually landed in the bank for that period. The result is the true share of your delivery revenue that never reaches you. A worked example. Say a week shows £4,000 of gross orders and £2,760 lands in the bank: | Line | Amount | |------|--------| | Gross order value | £4,000.00 | | Net deposit received | £2,760.00 | | **Total deducted** | **£1,240.00** | | **Effective rate** | **31.0%** | That 31% is the number to plan with. It is not the commission rate — commission is only part of it. To break the £1,240 down, work through the invoice lines: commission, VAT on commission, refunds, adjustments. If those four do not sum to £1,240, something is unexplained, and unexplained deductions are exactly what a reconciliation process exists to surface. Do this for three or four consecutive weeks rather than one. A single week can be distorted by an unusual refund or a promotion ending. A month of effective rates tells you what the platform genuinely costs you, and gives you a baseline against which any future drift is visible. To see what that effective rate does to the margin on each order, our guide to [calculating restaurant profit after delivery fees](/guides/restaurant-profit-after-delivery-fees/) works through it line by line. Our free [commission calculator](/tools/commission-calculator/) runs the same arithmetic across all three platforms at once, including the VAT-on-commission step that headline comparisons omit. ## The VAT step that catches people out Commission is a standard-rated supply of services to your business. The platform charges VAT on it, and for a VAT-registered restaurant that VAT is input tax. Two errors recur: **Treating the commission as VAT-free.** It is not. If your invoice shows commission of £560, there will be VAT of £112 on top, and your effective cost is £672. Restaurants that budget from the commission line alone systematically understate their platform costs by a fifth. **Restricting the reclaim because some of your food is zero-rated.** This one costs money in the other direction. HMRC's guidance is that "hot takeaway food and drink that meets certain tests set out below is standard-rated," while "cold takeaway food and drink is zero-rated, as long as it's not of a type that's always standard-rated." Zero-rated supplies are still *taxable* supplies, and VAT Notice 700 lets you reclaim input tax relating to "supplies you make which are liable at the standard rate, reduced rate or the zero rate." So the commission VAT is recoverable **in full** — a mixed hot/cold menu does not restrict it. What the hot/cold split does affect is the **output** VAT on your sales, which needs apportioning by rate rather than lumping together. Our [VAT on delivery commissions guide](/guides/vat-delivery-commissions-guide-uk/) works through that split, and the [VAT commissions tool](/tools/vat-commissions-guide/) works out the commission VAT on your own numbers and confirms it is reclaimable in full (it does not split your sales by rate). ## What HMRC already knows Whatever your commission rate turns out to be, the gross figure is not private. Under the Platform Operators (Due Diligence and Reporting Requirements) Regulations 2023, reporting platform operators must establish procedures to "collect information about sellers", "verify the information collected", and "identify reportable sellers in respect of each reportable period", retaining records "for a period of five years beginning with the day after the end of the reportable period to which they relate." The practical implication is the same for every platform: HMRC sees what each platform paid you and, reported separately, the fees, commissions and taxes it took off first, which together rebuild your **gross** platform revenue, while your bank sees only the **net**. If your books are built from bank deposits, your declared turnover will be lower than that rebuilt figure, and the difference is precisely the commission you never recorded as a cost. Our guide to [HMRC's digital platform reporting rules](/guides/hmrc-delivery-platform-reporting-restaurants/) covers what this means in practice, and the free [HMRC readiness checker](/tools/hmrc-readiness-checker/) will tell you whether your current process has this gap. ## Reconciling the Just Eat invoice Once you know your effective rate, the weekly routine is straightforward. Just Eat's weekly-invoice format supports aggregate reconciliation rather than order-level investigation — the full step-by-step is in our guide to [reconciling Just Eat payouts](/guides/just-eat-payout-reconciliation-uk/), and if you are running more than one platform, the [multi-platform reconciliation guide](/guides/multi-platform-delivery-reconciliation-uk/) covers handling three different report formats in one workflow. ## Key takeaways - Just Eat publishes its headline UK rates on its partner signup page: **14%** where you deliver, **30%** where Just Eat delivers, both plus VAT. Use the first-party page, not a blog table. - The published rate is the standard signup rate. Your contracted rate is in your partner agreement and, more usefully, on your weekly invoice. - Plan from your **effective rate** — `(gross − net) ÷ gross` — not from a commission percentage. Commission is only one of several deductions. - VAT is charged on the commission. Budgeting from the commission line alone understates the cost by 20% of that line. - Average three or four weeks. One week is noise. --- Working out your effective rate once is a useful exercise. Doing it every week, across three platforms with three different report formats, while keeping the VAT correct on each, is the part that quietly consumes an afternoon. That is the gap PayoutLedger is being built to close: upload each platform's report, get VAT-correct journals, and reconcile every payout to the bank deposit. [Join the waitlist](/#waitlist) for early access. ## Sources - Just Eat — UK partner signup, "Still have questions?" (published 14% / 30% commission rates) - Just Eat Partner Centre (login required — your own account documentation) - Uber Eats — UK merchant pricing - HMRC — Catering, takeaway food and VAT (Notice 709/1) - HMRC — VAT guide (Notice 700), input tax you can reclaim - Platform Operators (Due Diligence and Reporting Requirements) Regulations 2023, regulation 3 (due diligence and record-keeping) - Platform Operators (Due Diligence and Reporting Requirements) Regulations 2023, regulation 4 (reporting of information to HMRC) - HMRC — IEIM901740: what platforms report as consideration (net of fees, which are reported separately) ]]> https://payoutledger.co.uk/guides/uber-eats-charges-uk-restaurants/ https://payoutledger.co.uk/guides/uber-eats-charges-uk-restaurants/ Wed, 16 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMT What Uber Eats charges UK restaurants — the published 30%, 13% and 13% rates, the £650 activation fee, the VAT on top, and how to check the deductions against your own payout. Uber Eats — UK merchant pricing - HMRC — Catering, takeaway food and VAT (Notice 709/1) - Platform Operators (Due Diligence and Reporting Requirements) Regulations 2023, regulation 3 (due diligence and record-keeping) - Platform Operators (Due Diligence and Reporting Requirements) Regulations 2023, regulation 4 (reporting of information to HMRC) - VAT Notice 706: partial exemption ]]> https://payoutledger.co.uk/guides/restaurant-vat-delivery-era-uk/ https://payoutledger.co.uk/guides/restaurant-vat-delivery-era-uk/ Wed, 02 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMT How VAT works for UK restaurants on delivery platforms — food VAT rates, full recovery of VAT on platform commissions, why partial exemption does not apply, the registration threshold, and Making Tax Digital. VAT Notice 709/1, section 2.1) lists "delivery of cooked ready-to-eat food or meals (with or without crockery or cutlery)" among its obvious examples of catering, and catering is standard-rated whether the food is hot or cold. So cold items in a delivered meal are not automatically zero-rated; whether they are depends on the facts, and is worth agreeing with your accountant. **The critical distinction: zero-rated vs. exempt.** Zero-rated supplies are taxable supplies (just at a 0% rate). This matters because it drives input VAT recovery: you can recover input VAT on costs that relate to zero-rated supplies, exactly as you can on standard-rated ones. Exempt supplies are different — input VAT relating to exempt supplies is generally not recoverable, and it is exempt supplies alone that bring a business into the partial exemption regime. Most UK restaurants make no exempt supplies at all, so partial exemption simply does not engage. For a restaurant that delivers exclusively hot food, the VAT position is straightforward: all delivery revenue is standard-rated, and all related input VAT (on commissions, supplies, and overheads) is recoverable. For a mixed-menu restaurant, the input side is just as straightforward — everything is still recoverable — but the **output** side needs the sales split by rate. ## VAT on platform commission When Deliveroo, Uber Eats, or Just Eat charges you commission, that commission is a standard-rated service fee at 20% — regardless of what food you sell. The platform is supplying you a service (customer acquisition, payment processing, delivery fulfilment) and that service is standard-rated. For a VAT-registered restaurant, the VAT on commission is input tax, and you can reclaim it **in full** on your VAT return — whatever your hot/cold sales mix. That surprises people, so it is worth stating the basis. VAT Notice 700 allows recovery of 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 at 0%, not an exempt supply, so it carries the right to deduct just as hot food does. Recovery is restricted only by *exempt* supplies, which a restaurant selling food and drink does not make. **Hot food only:** reclaim 100% of the commission VAT. **Mixed hot and cold menu:** still reclaim 100% of the commission VAT. **Example:** Weekly commission total £900, VAT on commission £180. Standard-rated sales = 85% of the delivery total. - Reclaimable input VAT: **£180** — the whole amount - Irrecoverable: £0 The 85/15 split is not irrelevant, but it belongs on the other side of the return: it governs how you apportion **output** VAT across your delivery sales. For the full calculation, worked examples, and the two most common errors, see our [VAT on delivery commissions guide](/guides/vat-delivery-commissions-guide-uk/). ## The VAT registration threshold VAT registration is mandatory once your taxable turnover exceeds £90,000 in a rolling 12-month period. For restaurants, "taxable turnover" includes both standard-rated and zero-rated supplies — zero-rated sales count toward the threshold even though no output VAT is charged on them. A restaurant or cafe with a large share of zero-rated sales may be closer to the threshold than it appears. A cafe doing £60,000 of zero-rated sales (cold takeaway food, say) and £35,000 of standard-rated hot food has taxable turnover of £95,000. That is over the £90,000 threshold, so it must register even though the effective output VAT rate on total turnover is well below 20%. HMRC can grant an exemption from registration on request where most taxable sales are zero-rated, but where some sales attract VAT (standard- or reduced-rated) you must be able to show that your input tax would normally be more than your output tax (VAT Notice 700/1, paragraph 3.11), and an exempted business cannot reclaim input VAT. Once registered, VAT registration carries benefits alongside the compliance obligations: you recover input VAT on costs, including platform commission. A restaurant running significant delivery volume will typically find that commission VAT recovery partially offsets the administrative burden of registration. ## Partial exemption: why it almost certainly does not apply to you Partial exemption arises when a business makes both taxable and **exempt** supplies. VAT Notice 706 is explicit: a business is partly exempt if it "makes, or intends to make, both taxable and exempt supplies and incurs tax on costs which relate to both." Exempt supplies are a defined category — financial services, insurance, certain land and property, some health and education. Food and drink is not in it. A restaurant with a mixed hot/cold menu makes two kinds of *taxable* supply and no exempt supplies, so it is not partly exempt and nothing about its input tax recovery is restricted. There is no intermediate doctrine here. A mixed standard-rated/zero-rated menu does not create a lesser, partial version of the regime — it creates no restriction at all. HMRC's partial exemption manual describes "the restriction of input tax claims to the amount related to making supplies that carry a right to deduct," and zero-rated supplies carry that right. The **de minimis** rules follow the same logic. They exist to let a partly exempt business recover small amounts of *exempt* input tax in full. With no exempt supplies you have no exempt input tax, so there is no de minimis test to run and nothing that could fail it. The practical upshot: reclaim your commission VAT in full, and put the effort into apportioning your **sales** by rate instead. That is where a mixed menu actually creates work. ## HMRC Digital Platform Reporting: the connection to VAT Since January 2024, Deliveroo, Uber Eats, and Just Eat each submit an annual report to HMRC under the Digital Platform Reporting Rules (SI 2023/817) — due by 31 January following each calendar year. The main figure reported is the consideration: what the platform actually paid or credited to you, after its fees and commissions, broken down by calendar quarter. The fees, commissions and taxes the platform withheld are reported separately. Add them back to the consideration and you get close to your gross food sales on the platform. This creates a data consistency requirement: your VAT return (which reports your output VAT on taxable supplies) should be consistent with the gross revenue HMRC can rebuild from the platforms' reports. If you book net deposits as revenue, your declared turnover will be lower than the gross figures HMRC can derive from the annual reports, and your VAT return will understate your sales (and, on standard-rated items, your output VAT). The fix is correct payout reconciliation: record gross sales as revenue, commission and fees as expenses, and VAT on commission as reclaimable input tax — consistently, every week. Our [HMRC Digital Platform Reporting guide](/guides/hmrc-delivery-platform-reporting-restaurants/) covers what each platform reports and the four most common discrepancy patterns. ## Making Tax Digital for VAT VAT-registered restaurants are within the Making Tax Digital for VAT (MTD for VAT) regime. The requirements are: - Digital record-keeping using HMRC-compatible software (Xero, QuickBooks, Sage, etc.) - Digital submission of VAT returns via API — manual re-entry into the HMRC portal is not permitted - Digital links between record-keeping and submission steps — no copying figures manually between systems For delivery platform revenue, this means the platform payout entries in your accounting software must be digitally linked to the VAT return submission. A net-deposit entry satisfies "digital" but undermines accuracy — the commission and its VAT must be in the digital record to be included correctly in the return. For more on MTD requirements, including MTD for Income Tax from April 2026, see our [Making Tax Digital guide for UK restaurants](/guides/making-tax-digital-restaurants-uk/). ## The four most common restaurant delivery VAT mistakes **1. Booking the net payout as revenue.** This understates output VAT (and revenue) by the commission and refund amounts. Your declared VAT position will be inconsistent with what HMRC receives from the platform. **2. Not reclaiming commission VAT.** Many restaurants — particularly those with generalist accountants unfamiliar with delivery platforms — do not claim back the VAT on commission at all. At 20% of commission costs, this is a significant and unnecessary loss. **3. Posting all delivery sales at one blended rate.** If your menu has both standard-rated and zero-rated items, each platform's sales need splitting by rate, and the split can differ between platforms if your app menus differ. A single blended output rate across all platforms will misstate output VAT in one direction or the other. (Commission VAT is a different matter: it is reclaimable in full whatever your hot/cold mix, so there is no recovery rate to apportion.) **4. Treating zero-rated food as exempt.** Zero-rated food is taxable at 0%, not exempt. Treating it as exempt — or assuming it means you cannot reclaim commission VAT — is a common misconception that costs money. ## Key takeaways - **Hot food = standard-rated (20%); cold takeaway food = often zero-rated (0%)**, with exceptions such as ice cream, most confectionery and most soft drinks — and cold items in a delivered meal are not automatically zero-rated, because HMRC lists the delivery of cooked ready-to-eat meals as catering. Where a delivery menu has items at both rates, the VAT position is mixed-rate. - **Platform commission is always standard-rated** — and the VAT on it is recoverable input tax **in full**, whatever your hot/cold mix. Zero-rated sales are taxable supplies, so they do not restrict recovery; partial exemption needs *exempt* supplies, which restaurants do not make. - **Zero-rated sales count toward the VAT registration threshold** — a cafe or cold-food operator may be within scope without high output VAT. - **HMRC receives an annual report from each platform** — what it paid you, by calendar quarter, plus the fees and taxes it withheld. Your VAT return should be consistent with that data, which means gross-revenue bookkeeping, not net-deposit bookkeeping. - **MTD for VAT** requires digital records and digital submission — net-deposit entries in Xero are technically compliant with "digital" but not with "accurate." --- *This guide covers VAT for UK restaurants on delivery platforms and is for general guidance only. It is not tax advice. VAT rules and rates are subject to change — check HMRC's current guidance and consult a qualified accountant for your specific position.* ## Sources - HMRC — Catering, takeaway food and VAT (Notice 709/1), sections 2.1 and 4.1 - HMRC — Food products and VAT (Notice 701/14): always standard-rated items, ice cream and drinks - HMRC VAT rates - HMRC VAT guide (Notice 700) — input tax you can reclaim - VAT Notice 706: partial exemption - HMRC VAT Partial Exemption Guidance — PE12000 - Platform Operators (Due Diligence and Reporting Requirements) Regulations 2023 - HMRC — IEIM901740: what platforms report as consideration (net of fees, which are reported separately) - HMRC — When to register for VAT - HMRC — VAT Notice 700/1: who should register for VAT (paragraph 3.11, exemption from registration) ]]> https://payoutledger.co.uk/guides/xero-setup-restaurant-delivery-uk/ https://payoutledger.co.uk/guides/xero-setup-restaurant-delivery-uk/ Wed, 26 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT How to configure Xero for a UK restaurant on Deliveroo, Uber Eats, and Just Eat — chart of accounts, tracking categories, bank rules, and the weekly payout journal workflow. VAT Notice 709/1, section 2.1), which is standard-rated, so agree with your accountant which delivered items, if any, go to the zero-rated codes. **Expense accounts:** - Platform commission — Deliveroo — e.g. account code 470 - Platform commission — Uber Eats — e.g. account code 471 - Platform commission — Just Eat — e.g. account code 472 - Platform refunds — Deliveroo — account code 480 - Platform refunds — Uber Eats — account code 481 - Platform refunds — Just Eat — account code 482 - Platform service fees — account code 485 (can be combined across platforms if low volume) The exact codes are flexible — what matters is the structure: one revenue account and one expense account per platform, with refunds as a separate expense rather than netting against revenue. For a fuller set of codes and Xero-specific setup notes, see our [delivery-aware chart of accounts guide](/guides/restaurant-chart-of-accounts-xero-uk/). ## Step 2: Configure VAT on commission accounts In Xero, the commission accounts (470-472) need to be set up to record the VAT on commission as input tax. There are two approaches: **Option A: Single commission account, journal entry handles the VAT split** Record the gross commission (excluding VAT) in the commission account. In the weekly journal, add a separate line for the VAT on commission, coded to your input VAT account. Xero will include this in your VAT return as reclaimable input tax. **Option B: Two commission accounts per platform (commission ex-VAT and VAT on commission)** Some operators prefer separate accounts for commission and commission VAT. This makes the weekly journal cleaner but creates more accounts to manage. Either option works. Option A is simpler for single-brand operators; Option B is clearer for multi-platform operations where the VAT amounts are significant and you want them visually separated in your P&L. **Important:** code the **full** commission VAT as reclaimable input tax (T1), even if you sell zero-rated food alongside standard-rated. Zero-rated supplies are taxable supplies taxed at 0%, not exempt supplies, so they do not restrict recovery — VAT Notice 700 allows recovery of input tax relating to supplies "liable at the standard rate, reduced rate or the zero rate." What the split between rates does govern is your **sales** coding in Step 1. See our [VAT on delivery commissions guide](/guides/vat-delivery-commissions-guide-uk/) for the worked example. ## Step 3: Set up tracking categories Xero's tracking categories let you tag transactions with additional dimensions — useful if you want to report by delivery channel, brand, or location within a single Xero organisation. For a single-brand restaurant on three platforms, the chart of accounts structure may be sufficient without tracking categories. For a restaurant with dine-in and delivery channels that you want to report separately, add a tracking category "Channel" with options: Dine-in, Deliveroo, Uber Eats, Just Eat, Takeaway Phone. For a multi-brand dark kitchen, tracking categories by brand (Brand A, Brand B, Brand C) combined with platform-level account codes lets you report both dimensions without creating an unmanageable account structure. See our [dark kitchen accounting guide](/guides/dark-kitchen-accounting-uk/) for the multi-brand variant. ## Step 4: Create journal templates Xero does not have a built-in "journal template" feature, but you can save a manual journal as a recurring journal — useful for the weekly payout entries. Create a template journal with: **Deliveroo weekly payout journal:** - Dr 200 (Delivery income — Deliveroo) — gross food sales [amount varies] - Cr 470 (Platform commission — Deliveroo) — commission ex-VAT [varies] - Cr Input VAT — VAT on commission [varies] - Cr 480 (Platform refunds — Deliveroo) — refunds [varies] - Cr Bank — Net deposit [varies, should reconcile to the bank] The amounts vary each week; the structure does not. Having the template pre-built means you are not rebuilding the journal from scratch every week — you update the amounts from the platform report. Set up equivalent templates for Uber Eats and Just Eat. ## Step 5: Set up bank rules for delivery deposits Xero's bank rules can automatically categorise bank transactions that match certain criteria. For delivery platform deposits: - Create a rule for transactions from "DELIVEROO" (the bank reference text) → suggest as "awaiting manual journal reconciliation" - Similarly for Uber Eats and Just Eat deposit references The rule does not replace the journal — but it stops the deposit being auto-coded to a catch-all account before you have had the chance to run the weekly reconciliation. The bank reconciliation step matches your weekly journal's net line to the deposit. ## Step 6: Set up bank feeds Connect your business bank account via Xero's bank feed. Most UK business banks (HSBC, NatWest, Barclays, Lloyds, Starling, Monzo Business) support direct bank feeds in Xero. Once connected, transactions appear automatically for reconciliation. For delivery platform deposits, the bank feed shows the lump-sum deposit. Your weekly journal provides the component breakdown. Bank reconciliation matches the journal net to the deposit. ## The weekly workflow once configured With the setup complete, your weekly delivery bookkeeping workflow is: 1. **Monday or Tuesday:** Download reports from all three platforms for the prior week 2. **Calculate** gross sales, commission, VAT on commission, refunds per platform from each report 3. **Enter journal entries** using your templates — update amounts from the calculated figures 4. **Bank reconciliation** — match each journal's net line to the corresponding bank deposit 5. **VAT check** — confirm the commission VAT is coded in full as reclaimable input tax, and that the sales lines are split by rate Total time: 2-3 hours per week for a three-platform restaurant at moderate volume. For a multi-platform, multi-brand operation, see our [multi-platform delivery reconciliation guide](/guides/multi-platform-delivery-reconciliation-uk/). ## Key takeaways - **Chart of accounts structure** — separate revenue and expense accounts per platform, with refunds as their own expense line, is the foundation that makes all downstream reporting work. - **VAT on commission** must be captured as a separate line in each weekly journal — not buried in the commission expense figure — to appear correctly in your VAT return. - **Commission VAT is reclaimable in full** — selling zero-rated food does not restrict it. Partial exemption needs *exempt* supplies, which restaurants do not make. Apportion your **sales** by rate instead. - **Bank rules** help prevent deposits being auto-coded before you run reconciliation; the weekly journal matches to the deposit after you process the platform report. - **Xero handles everything downstream of correct data entry** — the payout splitting step upstream remains manual without a dedicated tool. --- *This guide covers Xero setup for UK restaurants on delivery platforms and is for general guidance only. Xero account codes and configuration options may change. It is not accounting or tax advice. For your specific Xero organisation setup, particularly VAT configuration, consult a qualified accountant.* ]]> https://payoutledger.co.uk/guides/cafe-accounting-delivery-uk/ https://payoutledger.co.uk/guides/cafe-accounting-delivery-uk/ Wed, 19 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT How UK cafes handle delivery platform accounting differently from restaurants — cold food VAT, lower ticket sizes, payout reconciliation, and the right software setup. VAT Notice 709/1, section 2.1) lists "delivery of cooked ready-to-eat food or meals (with or without crockery or cutlery)" among its obvious examples of catering, and catering is standard-rated whether the food is hot or cold. Whether a cafe's cold items sold through an app are zero-rated depends on the facts, so agree the treatment with your accountant. The figures below assume the cold items qualify as zero-rated cold takeaway. For a restaurant that primarily sells hot meals, the VAT position on delivery sales is simple: one output rate on the food, and full recovery of the platform commission VAT. For a cafe whose delivery sales split 50/50 between standard-rated and zero-rated items, one of those two things changes: - Half your delivery revenue is zero-rated (no output VAT on the food sale) - Half is standard-rated (20% output VAT on the food sale) - Platform commission VAT is reclaimable **in full** — the 50/50 split does not touch it That last point is where cafes lose money, because the intuition runs the other way. Zero-rated supplies are *taxable* supplies taxed at 0%, not exempt supplies, and VAT Notice 700 allows recovery of input tax relating to "supplies you make which are liable at the standard rate, reduced rate or the zero rate." Partial exemption — the regime that would restrict recovery — requires genuinely **exempt** supplies, which a cafe selling food and drink does not make. So code the whole commission VAT as reclaimable input tax. Restricting it to ~50% would hand back half of a recoverable cost for no reason. See our [VAT on delivery commissions guide](/guides/vat-delivery-commissions-guide-uk/) for the worked example. ### Lower ticket sizes, higher relative commission impact Average cafe delivery order values tend to be lower than restaurant delivery orders — a £12-15 average ticket rather than £25-35. At the same commission rate (say 30%), the commission on a £12 order is £3.60. Once VAT on commission (£0.72) and packaging costs are included, the margin on a £12 delivery order is thin. The practical implication for bookkeeping: the same commission percentage costs proportionally more at lower ticket sizes when combined with fixed per-order costs (packaging, tablet rental). A cafe doing high-volume, low-value delivery orders needs to track per-unit economics carefully — which means correct payout reconciliation, not net-deposit bookkeeping. ### VAT threshold and registration considerations A cafe with significant delivery volume may be closer to the £90,000 VAT registration threshold than it appears, for a counterintuitive reason: zero-rated sales count toward the registration threshold even though no output VAT is charged. A cafe doing £60,000 of zero-rated sales (cold takeaway food, say) and £35,000 of standard-rated hot food has turnover of £95,000 and is above the registration threshold, even though a large fraction of its sales attract no output VAT. Above the threshold, VAT registration becomes mandatory unless HMRC grants an exception (if you are over the threshold only temporarily) or an exemption from registration. You can ask for an exemption when most of your taxable sales are zero-rated, but if some of your sales attract VAT (standard- or reduced-rated) you must be able to show that your input tax would normally be more than your output tax, and an exempted business cannot reclaim input VAT (VAT Notice 700/1, paragraph 3.11). Once you are registered, the benefits become real: you can reclaim the VAT on platform commission, equipment, and supplies. The net cost of commission drops meaningfully once you are registered and reclaiming input VAT. ## Payout reconciliation for a UK cafe The payout reconciliation workflow for a cafe is the same mechanically as for any delivery-platform business, but the sales-side VAT split matters more, because more of the menu sits on the zero-rated side. **Step 1: Download weekly platform reports.** Deliveroo's weekly statement, Uber Eats' per-order CSV, Just Eat's weekly invoice — one per platform, per week. See our [multi-platform delivery reconciliation guide](/guides/multi-platform-delivery-reconciliation-uk/) for a consolidated walkthrough. **Step 2: Split your sales into standard-rated and zero-rated.** For each week's delivery sales, calculate what proportion was standard-rated (hot food, and any cold items you treat as catering) and what was zero-rated (cold items that qualify as cold takeaway). Your POS system should tag items by VAT rate — if it does not, you need to set this up. **Step 3: Record gross sales, split by rate.** In your accounting software: - Standard-rated delivery sales → standard-rated revenue account (20% output VAT) - Zero-rated delivery sales (cold items that qualify as cold takeaway) → zero-rated revenue account (0% output VAT) **Step 4: Book commission and reclaim the VAT in full.** Commission is an expense. The VAT on commission (charged at 20% by the platform) is input tax and is reclaimable in its entirety — do not apply your standard-rated/zero-rated proportion to it. That proportion belongs to step 3, on the sales side. **Step 5: Book refunds separately.** Per platform, per week. **Step 6: Tie net to bank deposit.** Gross standard-rated sales + gross zero-rated sales − commission − VAT on commission − refunds = net deposit. ## Choosing accounting software for a cafe on delivery platforms The accounting software requirements for a cafe on delivery platforms are the same as for a restaurant — compatible with Making Tax Digital for VAT, flexible chart of accounts, digital bank feeds — but the sales-side rate split makes accurate entry more important. Our guide to [restaurant accounting software for delivery operators](/guides/best-accounting-software-restaurants-delivery/) covers the same checklist with a worked two-platform example. **Xero** is the most commonly recommended choice for UK cafes with delivery platform revenue. Its VAT coding, chart of accounts flexibility, and UK accountant ecosystem make it well suited. The challenge, as with all general-purpose accounting software, is that Xero does not automate the payout reconciliation step — you still need to enter weekly journals from platform reports. **QuickBooks Online** is capable for the same tasks but less prevalent in the UK hospitality ecosystem. **FreeAgent** is appropriate for sole-trader cafes with low delivery volume — one platform, low order counts — but lacks the chart of accounts depth for a cafe doing meaningful multi-platform volume. For a cafe doing significant delivery volume across two or three platforms, the combination that works best is: Xero for bookkeeping and VAT returns + a structured weekly journal workflow for payout reconciliation. The bookkeeping setup guide for Xero is in our [Xero restaurant delivery accounting guide](/guides/xero-restaurant-delivery-accounting/) — the same principles apply to cafes. For a deeper comparison of how each tool handles delivery-specific scenarios, see our [restaurant bookkeeping software comparison](/guides/restaurant-bookkeeping-software-uk/). ## Practical tips for cafe delivery bookkeeping **Set up separate revenue accounts per VAT rate.** A single "delivery income" account mixes zero-rated and standard-rated sales, which makes the VAT return difficult to produce accurately. Two accounts — delivery income (standard-rated) and delivery income (zero-rated) — keeps the split clean. **Calculate your standard-rated/zero-rated split once per quarter.** Your standard-rated proportion will not change week to week unless your menu changes. Calculate it from a typical week's sales data and apply it consistently for the quarter. Recalculate when you add or remove significant menu items. **Track your effective commission rate per platform.** For a low-ticket-size cafe, the effective deduction rate (commission + commission VAT + fees + refunds as a percentage of gross sales) is your most important delivery metric. Use our [commission calculator](/tools/commission-calculator/) to see the numbers per platform. **Review your VAT registration position annually.** If your turnover is approaching £90,000, check whether delivery sales are getting you closer than you realise — remember, zero-rated sales count toward the threshold. ## Key takeaways - **Hot food is standard-rated; cold takeaway food can be zero-rated** — but cold items in a delivered meal are not automatically zero-rated, because HMRC lists the delivery of cooked ready-to-eat meals as catering. A cafe with a mixed-rate menu needs its *sales* split by rate. Its input tax position is no more complex than a hot-food restaurant's. - **Commission VAT is reclaimable in full** — a 50/50 hot/cold cafe reclaims 100% of it. Zero-rated sales are taxable supplies and do not restrict recovery; only *exempt* supplies would, and cafes do not make them. - **Zero-rated sales count toward the VAT registration threshold** — a cafe with significant zero-rated sales may be closer to £90,000 than its output VAT suggests. - **Separate revenue accounts per VAT rate** make the weekly journal and quarterly VAT return significantly easier. - **Xero** is the most practical base for a UK cafe doing meaningful delivery volume, but payout reconciliation remains a manual weekly task without a dedicated tool. --- *This guide covers delivery platform accounting for UK cafes and is for general guidance only. It is not tax or accounting advice. VAT treatment depends on your specific menu, registration status, and circumstances — consult a qualified accountant for your specific position.* ]]> https://payoutledger.co.uk/guides/making-tax-digital-restaurants-uk/ https://payoutledger.co.uk/guides/making-tax-digital-restaurants-uk/ Wed, 12 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT Making Tax Digital requirements for UK restaurants on delivery platforms — MTD for VAT, MTD for Income Tax from April 2026, and what delivery operators need to do differently. £50k?** You are within scope for MTD for ITSA from 6 April 2026. - [ ] **Using compatible software?** Xero, QuickBooks, Sage, and most cloud accounting tools are HMRC-recognised for MTD. Spreadsheets generally are not, unless specifically certified. - [ ] **Delivery payouts recorded gross?** Net-deposit entries satisfy "digital" but not "accurate." Quarterly updates need correct income figures. - [ ] **Quarterly close-off process in place?** For MTD for ITSA, you need clean quarterly records in time for each update deadline (7 August, 7 November, 7 February, 7 May). ## Key takeaways - **MTD for VAT** has applied to most VAT-registered restaurants since 2019-2022 — if you are VAT-registered, you should already be in the digital record-keeping regime. - **MTD for Income Tax** is mandatory from **6 April 2026** for sole traders with qualifying income above **£50,000**; threshold drops to £30,000 from 6 April 2027. - **Quarterly updates** are the most operationally significant change — four summary submissions per year, due by 7 August, 7 November, 7 February and 7 May. - **2026-27 easement**: HMRC will not apply penalty points for late quarterly updates during the 2026 to 2027 tax year; late tax returns for that year still attract them. - **Delivery platform gross revenue** must be in the digital record — net-deposit bookkeeping fails both MTD accuracy requirements and Digital Platform Reporting consistency. --- *This guide covers Making Tax Digital requirements for UK restaurants and delivery operators as of 2026. MTD thresholds and timelines are subject to change — check HMRC's current guidance for the latest requirements. This is not tax advice. For your specific MTD obligations and software setup, consult a qualified accountant.* ## Sources - HMRC — Making Tax Digital for Income Tax - HMRC — Send quarterly updates (deadlines and 2026 to 2027 penalty points) - HMRC — Making Tax Digital for VAT - Platform Operators (Due Diligence and Reporting Requirements) Regulations 2023, regulation 4 (reporting to HMRC and to sellers) - HMRC — IEIM901740: determination of amount reported ]]> https://payoutledger.co.uk/guides/delivery-platform-refund-disputes-uk/ https://payoutledger.co.uk/guides/delivery-platform-refund-disputes-uk/ Wed, 05 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT How refund clawbacks work on Deliveroo, Uber Eats, and Just Eat, which types you can dispute, and how to track and challenge unjustified deductions from your weekly payouts. For the Xero-specific journal setup, see our [Xero delivery accounting guide](/guides/xero-restaurant-delivery-accounting/). ## What to do when a dispute is rejected Platform dispute decisions are not always final. If an initial dispute is rejected: 1. **Request a review** — most platforms have a second-level review process 2. **Escalate to account management** — if you have a dedicated account manager (typically available for higher-volume operators), they have more latitude than frontline support 3. **Document the pattern** — a series of rejected disputes on the same claim type (e.g. Deliveroo repeatedly upholding customer claims on sealed-container quality issues) is a pattern you can raise with the account team Persistent patterns of questionable refund deductions, especially where your POS evidence is strong, are worth escalating. Platforms have an interest in not alienating restaurant partners — particularly those doing meaningful volume — and account teams can sometimes achieve what support desks cannot. ## Key takeaways - **Refunds are deducted before dispute** — the burden of proof is on the restaurant to challenge, not the platform to prove. - **Missing-item and incorrect-item claims are the most disputable** — especially with POS evidence showing the item was included. - **You cannot dispute what you do not track** — weekly refund recording, per order ID, is the foundation of any dispute process. - **Each platform has a limited dispute window** — commonly around 1-2 weeks after the deduction appears in the payout report, though exact windows vary and change; missing the window closes the option. - **Good payout reconciliation makes refund tracking automatic** — booking refunds as a separate journal line gives you the data without extra work. --- *This guide covers refund dispute processes for UK restaurants on delivery platforms and is for general guidance only. Platform policies and dispute windows change — check your current platform agreement for specific terms. This is not legal or financial advice.* ]]> https://payoutledger.co.uk/guides/multi-platform-delivery-reconciliation-uk/ https://payoutledger.co.uk/guides/multi-platform-delivery-reconciliation-uk/ Wed, 29 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT How to reconcile Deliveroo, Uber Eats, and Just Eat payouts into one set of books — the weekly workflow, platform-by-platform differences, VAT treatment, and where manual reconciliation breaks down. ### Day 2-3: Reconcile each platform For each platform: 1. **Calculate gross sales** from the report (what your customers paid for food) 2. **Calculate commission** at the applicable rate 3. **Extract VAT on commission** as a separate figure 4. **Note refunds and adjustments** 5. **Verify the net** equals the bank deposit that arrived for that platform that week If any platform's net does not match the bank deposit, investigate before closing the period. Common causes: a clawback from the previous period carried into this payout, a timing difference if the bank deposit is from a different week's trading, or a platform adjustment not reflected in the standard report. To run this sequence as a repeatable weekly procedure, download the [Delivery Platform Reconciliation Checklist](/downloads/reconciliation-checklist/). ### Day 3-4: Post journal entries to Xero (or your accounting software) For each platform, post a weekly journal with: - **Gross food sales** to your delivery revenue account (per platform, per channel) - **Commission** to your delivery commission expense account (per platform) - **VAT on commission** to your reclaimable input VAT account (the full amount — see below) - **Refunds** to your refund cost account - **Net** matching the bank deposit This produces a multi-line journal entry that ties to one bank deposit. Your accounting software reconciliation matches the journal's net to the deposit. For the Xero-specific setup — including chart of accounts and account codes — see our [Xero delivery accounting guide](/guides/xero-restaurant-delivery-accounting/). ## VAT across three platforms The VAT mechanics are the same across all three platforms: commission is a standard-rated service at 20%, and the VAT on commission is input tax. The combined calculation works like this: | Platform | Weekly commission | VAT on commission (20%) | |----------|-----------------|------------------------| | Deliveroo | £960 | £192 | | Uber Eats | £740 | £148 | | Just Eat | £500 | £100 | | **Total** | **£2,200** | **£440** | The whole £440 is reclaimable input tax, regardless of your hot/cold sales mix. Zero-rated food is a taxable supply at 0%, not an exempt supply, and VAT Notice 700 allows recovery of input tax relating to "supplies you make which are liable at the standard rate, reduced rate or the zero rate." Partial exemption — the only thing that would restrict recovery — is triggered by making genuinely *exempt* supplies, which a restaurant does not. - Reclaimable: **£440** - Irrecoverable: £0 What your sales mix does drive is the **output** VAT on the gross food sales line: standard-rated items at 20%, zero-rated items at 0% (cold items in a delivered meal are not automatically zero-rated, because HMRC lists the delivery of cooked ready-to-eat meals among its obvious examples of catering (VAT Notice 709/1, section 2.1), which is standard-rated). Split those by rate rather than posting a single blended figure. That split is per period and can be applied once across the combined platform total. For the full VAT on commission calculation, see our [VAT on delivery commissions guide](/guides/vat-delivery-commissions-guide-uk/). ## HMRC reporting: what all three platforms report, combined Since January 2024, Deliveroo, Uber Eats, and Just Eat each submit an annual report to HMRC under the Digital Platform Reporting Rules (SI 2023/817) — due by 31 January following each calendar year, showing what the platform paid or credited to you, broken down by calendar quarter, with the fees, commissions and taxes it deducted reported separately. The reporting is per platform — HMRC receives a separate annual report from each. Combined across three platforms, HMRC can rebuild your gross revenue from each one separately. The compliance implication: if you book the net deposit from each platform as income, your declared revenue will be understated relative to the gross figures HMRC can rebuild from the three reports. That gap across three platforms is harder to explain than a gap on one. For more on what each platform reports and when, see our [HMRC Digital Platform Reporting guide](/guides/hmrc-delivery-platform-reporting-restaurants/). ## Where manual reconciliation breaks down A three-platform reconciliation workflow — three reports, three journal entries, three bank matches, and one combined VAT calculation, every week — takes 2-4 hours per week depending on order volume and your current workflow. Over a year that is 100-200 hours on reconciliation alone. The time pressure is where errors accumulate: a missed refund, a week where the Uber Eats deposit timing doesn't match the report period, a commission rate that changed mid-year. Small errors compound over months, and the cost of catching them is always higher than the cost of preventing them. Use our free [delivery platform commission calculator](/tools/commission-calculator/) to estimate what your three-platform costs are, and the [payout reconciliation checker](/tools/payout-reconciliation-checker/) to test whether a given period's statement explains the deposit to within 0.5% of gross sales, the tool's tolerance. For the full reconciliation workflow — or if you want to automate it entirely — [join the PayoutLedger waitlist](/#waitlist). We are building the tool specifically for restaurants managing multi-platform payout reconciliation in the UK. ## Key takeaways - **Three platforms, three formats**: Deliveroo's weekly aggregate statement, Uber Eats' per-order CSV, Just Eat's PDF invoice — each requires a different reconciliation workflow. - **Book gross, not net**: across all three platforms, your revenue should be recorded gross, with commission and its VAT as separate expense lines. - **VAT on commission is reclaimable input tax in full** — a mixed hot/cold menu does not restrict it. The sales mix drives the *output* VAT split on your gross sales line, not the commission reclaim. - **HMRC receives three separate annual reports** — one per platform, each broken down by calendar quarter — making gross-revenue bookkeeping a compliance requirement, not just good practice. - **2-4 hours per week** is the realistic time cost of manual multi-platform reconciliation; this is where automation pays back fastest. --- *This is general guidance on multi-platform delivery reconciliation for UK restaurants. It is not tax or accounting advice. For your specific position — particularly VAT registration and multi-entity structures — consult a qualified accountant.* ]]> https://payoutledger.co.uk/guides/vat-on-delivery-charges-uk/ https://payoutledger.co.uk/guides/vat-on-delivery-charges-uk/ Wed, 22 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT How VAT applies to delivery charges in the UK — when delivery charges are standard-rated, zero-rated, or follow the food supply, and what this means for restaurant accounts. VAT Notice 709/1, section 2.1) lists "delivery of cooked ready-to-eat food or meals (with or without crockery or cutlery)" among its obvious examples of catering, and catering is standard-rated whether the food is hot or cold. So cold items in a delivered meal are not automatically zero-rated; whether they are depends on the facts. If you are a business that delivers cold food exclusively (a cold meal-prep business, a salad delivery service, a cold-food subscription box), your delivery charge can be zero-rated alongside the food, provided the food itself is a zero-rated supply rather than catering. For a restaurant, the picture is more complex. If your delivery menu includes both hot and cold items — as most restaurant menus do — you will rarely have a clean zero-rated delivery charge. Most restaurant deliveries include at least some hot food, which pulls the delivery charge into standard-rated territory or into a mixed-rate situation. **Practical point:** if you want to apply zero-rate to a delivery charge, the delivery genuinely needs to be of zero-rated goods. A cold side dish ordered with a hot main does not make the delivery zero-rated. ## Platform commission: always standard-rated, regardless of food This is where most restaurants get confused. While the delivery charge that the customer pays may have a nuanced VAT treatment, the commission that Deliveroo, Uber Eats, and Just Eat charge you is always standard-rated at 20%. Platform commission is a **service fee**, not a supply of goods. The platforms charge VAT at 20% on their commission because they are providing you with a platform service — the food you sell is separate from the service they provide. The VAT treatment of your food does not affect the VAT treatment of their commission. This is important because it means: 1. If you sell mainly zero-rated food, the platform's commission VAT is still charged at 20% 2. If you are VAT-registered, that 20% VAT on commission is reclaimable as input tax in full — including where your sales are largely zero-rated (see below) 3. If you are not VAT-registered, you absorb the VAT on commission as a cost For more on the reclaimability of commission VAT — and why partial exemption does not apply to a mixed hot/cold menu — see our [VAT on delivery commissions guide](/guides/vat-delivery-commissions-guide-uk/). ## What the customer's delivery charge looks like On most delivery platforms, the customer pays a delivery fee that is set or influenced by the platform rather than by the restaurant. For VAT purposes, there are two models in practice: **Platform-set delivery fee:** The platform charges the customer a delivery fee on top of your food price. In this case, the delivery fee is the platform's fee (charged by the platform, collected by the platform), not yours. The VAT on that fee is the platform's concern, not yours. Your VAT exposure is on the food you supply, not on the platform's delivery fee. **Restaurant-set delivery fee (own delivery):** If you run your own delivery operation and charge a delivery fee through the platform or directly, the VAT on that delivery charge depends on what you are delivering — applying the "follows the supply" principle above. For most restaurants using Deliveroo, Uber Eats, or Just Eat's standard courier model, the delivery fee is platform-set. Your VAT considerations are on your food sales and the platform's commission on those sales — not on the delivery fee itself. ## The HMRC Digital Platform Reporting position Since January 2024, Deliveroo, Uber Eats, and Just Eat report seller revenue to HMRC under the Digital Platform Reporting Rules (SI 2023/817). The main figure reported is the consideration: what the platform actually paid or credited to you, after its fees and commissions, which are reported separately. It does not include delivery fees the platform charges customers and keeps. A delivery fee you set yourself and are paid through the platform (Deliveroo's Marketplace+ terms say "You are responsible for setting the fee that consumers pay for delivery") is part of what the platform pays you, so it is in the consideration. This means the VAT questions about delivery charges primarily apply to restaurants running their own delivery operations. For platform-courier restaurants, the practical VAT focus is on food VAT rates and commission VAT recovery — not on the delivery charge itself. ## Why zero-rated food does not restrict commission VAT recovery If a significant proportion of your menu is zero-rated food, you might expect your recovery on commission to be cut back proportionately. It is not. Zero-rated supplies are taxable supplies, which means you retain full input VAT recovery on related costs — including commission. VAT Notice 700 allows recovery of input tax relating to "supplies you make which are liable at the standard rate, reduced rate or the zero rate." Partial exemption only restricts recovery where you make genuinely **exempt** supplies — not zero-rated ones — which a restaurant selling food and drink does not. This holds however cold-weighted the menu is: a specialist cold-food delivery business reclaims its commission VAT in full just as a pizzeria does. What a mixed menu does require is splitting your **sales** by rate. Our [VAT on delivery commissions guide](/guides/vat-delivery-commissions-guide-uk/) covers that split. ## Making Tax Digital and delivery VAT records For VAT-registered restaurants under Making Tax Digital, your digital VAT records need to capture the correct rate on each supply. If you have both standard-rated and zero-rated food items on your delivery menu, your accounting records should reflect the actual split — not apply a single blended rate. The most practical approach for most restaurants is to record standard-rated sales (hot food, and any delivered meals that count as catering) and zero-rated sales (cold items that qualify as cold takeaway) on separate lines. If you charge your own delivery fee, HMRC's postage and delivery guidance (VAT Notice 700/24, section 2.2) sets the test: "An additional charge for delivery will follow the liability of the goods. The important test is whether delivery is included in the contract." Where delivery is not required under the contract, the delivery charge "is always standard-rated even if the goods are not". HMRC gives no shortcut for a delivery charge on an order that mixes standard-rated and zero-rated items, so agree the treatment with your accountant rather than applying a single rule of thumb. For more detail on MTD requirements for restaurant delivery operators, see our [Making Tax Digital for restaurants guide](/guides/making-tax-digital-restaurants-uk/), refer to HMRC's Making Tax Digital guidance directly, or consult your accountant. ## Key takeaways - **Delivery charges generally follow the VAT rate of the supply** — standard-rated goods = standard-rated delivery charge; zero-rated goods = potentially zero-rated delivery charge. - **Cold delivered food is not automatically zero-rated** — HMRC lists the delivery of cooked ready-to-eat meals among its obvious examples of catering, which is standard-rated whether hot or cold. - **Platform commission is always standard-rated** at 20%, regardless of whether your food is hot or cold. - **For most restaurants on delivery platforms**, the practical focus is on food VAT rates and reclaimable commission VAT — not the delivery charge itself, which the platform controls. - **Zero-rated food does not restrict commission VAT recovery** — zero-rated is taxable (not exempt), so input tax on related costs remains recoverable. - **Platform delivery fees charged to customers** are the platform's revenue; your VAT exposure is on your food sales. --- *This guide covers VAT on delivery charges for UK restaurants and food delivery businesses and is for general guidance only. It is not tax advice. VAT treatment depends on your specific supplies, registration status, and business structure — consult a qualified accountant or HMRC's published guidance for your specific position.* ## Sources - HMRC VAT Guide (Notice 700) - HMRC — Catering, takeaway food and VAT (Notice 709/1), sections 2.1 and 4.1 - HMRC — Postage, delivery and direct marketing (VAT Notice 700/24), section 2.2: delivery charges - Deliveroo — UK partner terms (Marketplace+: the restaurant sets the delivery fee consumers pay) - Platform Operators (Due Diligence and Reporting Requirements) Regulations 2023 - HMRC — IEIM901740: what platforms report as consideration (net of fees, which are reported separately) - HMRC — Food products and VAT (Notice 701/14), section 3.7.2: drinks that are standard-rated ]]> https://payoutledger.co.uk/guides/restaurant-bookkeeping-software-uk/ https://payoutledger.co.uk/guides/restaurant-bookkeeping-software-uk/ Wed, 15 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT A practical guide to restaurant bookkeeping software for UK operators who also take delivery orders — what the main tools handle, where each falls short, and how to fill the gap. https://payoutledger.co.uk/guides/dark-kitchen-accounting-uk/ https://payoutledger.co.uk/guides/dark-kitchen-accounting-uk/ Wed, 08 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT How UK dark kitchen operators handle delivery platform accounting — multi-brand payout reconciliation, VAT, and the bookkeeping challenges that differ from a standard restaurant. VAT Notice 709/1, section 2.1) lists "delivery of cooked ready-to-eat food or meals (with or without crockery or cutlery)" among its obvious examples of catering, and catering is standard-rated whether the food is hot or cold. If your brands have a mix — say a sushi brand and a burger brand — the burger brand's hot food is standard-rated, while whether the sushi brand's cold meals are zero-rated depends on the facts, so agree the treatment with your accountant. Where brands do carry different VAT treatments, your return needs to reflect this. See our [VAT on delivery commissions guide](/guides/vat-delivery-commissions-guide-uk/) for the full breakdown. **Zero-rated does not mean exempt.** Zero-rated supplies are still taxable supplies, which means you keep full input VAT recovery on related costs including platform commission. This is a common misconception worth clearing up early. ## HMRC and digital platform reporting Since January 2024, Deliveroo, Uber Eats, and Just Eat report your seller revenue directly to HMRC under the Digital Platform Reporting Rules (introduced by SI 2023/817). Each platform submits an annual report to HMRC — due by 31 January following each calendar year — showing what the platform paid or credited to you, broken down by calendar quarter, with the fees, commissions and taxes it deducted reported separately. For a dark kitchen running multiple brands through one company, that annual report covers all your brands on that platform combined. This makes gross-revenue bookkeeping essential. If your books show net deposits, your declared income will be lower than the gross figure HMRC can rebuild from the platforms' reports. That discrepancy is what HMRC's data-matching programme is designed to find. Our [HMRC Digital Platform Reporting guide](/guides/hmrc-delivery-platform-reporting-restaurants/) covers what each platform reports and when. ## The most common dark kitchen bookkeeping errors **Booking net deposits as income.** The most widespread error across delivery-platform businesses, amplified by the volume of deposits a multi-brand dark kitchen produces. With nine payout streams per week, the temptation to book each deposit as a revenue line is real — but it understates income, hides commission costs, and breaks the VAT return. **Single commission rate for all brands.** Applying one rate to the entire week's delivery revenue misattributes costs between brands. If brand A is on a 25% rate and brand B on a 30% rate, using 27.5% blended will produce the right total but the wrong per-brand margin. **Missing the VAT on commission.** Each platform's statement shows VAT on commission as a separate figure. If you process the statement as a lump entry rather than line by line, the VAT element gets lost inside the expense total rather than being captured as reclaimable input tax. **Not attributing shared costs to brands.** Gross margin analysis per brand is only useful if kitchen costs are attributed correctly. This is a management accounting challenge rather than a compliance one, but it matters when you are deciding which brands to grow and which to cut. ## Where manual reconciliation breaks down Running nine platform report downloads per week — each in a different format — and reconciling them against a single bank account is genuinely time-consuming. A three-brand dark kitchen will spend several hours per week on this process if it is done manually, before any actual bookkeeping entries are made. The commission calculator on this site handles the per-brand comparison across platforms: [try the delivery platform commission calculator](/tools/commission-calculator/). For the full reconciliation workflow — gross sales, commission, VAT, refunds, and the bank tie-out — PayoutLedger is being built to handle the multi-brand, multi-platform case directly. [Join the waitlist](/#waitlist) if you run a dark kitchen. ## Key takeaways - A dark kitchen with multiple brands has **multiple payout streams per platform** — all landing in one bank account with no brand-level split in the bank statement. - Each brand's weekly statement from each platform must be reconciled separately — **gross sales, commission, VAT on commission, and refunds as separate lines**. - **Commission rates differ per brand** — using a blended rate produces the right total but the wrong per-brand picture. - VAT on commission is **reclaimable input tax** — capture it per brand, not per platform total. - HMRC receives an **annual report from each platform**, covering all your brands: what it paid you, by calendar quarter, plus the fees and taxes it deducted. Gross-revenue bookkeeping is not optional. --- *This is general guidance on delivery platform accounting for UK dark kitchen operators. It is not tax or accounting advice. For your specific position — particularly VAT registration, multi-entity structures, and shared-cost attribution — consult a qualified accountant.* ]]> https://payoutledger.co.uk/guides/deliveroo-payout-reconciliation-uk/ https://payoutledger.co.uk/guides/deliveroo-payout-reconciliation-uk/ Wed, 01 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT How Deliveroo pays UK restaurants, what the weekly statement contains, the VAT on commission, and a step-by-step workflow for accurate weekly reconciliation. https://payoutledger.co.uk/guides/uber-eats-payout-reconciliation-uk/ https://payoutledger.co.uk/guides/uber-eats-payout-reconciliation-uk/ Wed, 24 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT A UK restaurant guide to reconciling Uber Eats payouts — how the weekly payout works, the per-order Payment Details report, the VAT treatment, and a step-by-step reconciliation workflow. Platform Operators (Due Diligence and Reporting Requirements) Regulations 2023 - Uber — Download comprehensive Payment Details reports - HMRC — Catering, takeaway food and VAT (Notice 709/1) - HMRC — IEIM901740: what platforms report as consideration (net of fees, which are reported separately) ]]> https://payoutledger.co.uk/guides/just-eat-payout-reconciliation-uk/ https://payoutledger.co.uk/guides/just-eat-payout-reconciliation-uk/ Wed, 17 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT A UK restaurant guide to reconciling Just Eat payouts — how the weekly invoice works, what data you get (and do not get), the VAT treatment, and a step-by-step reconciliation workflow. Platform Operators (Due Diligence and Reporting Requirements) Regulations 2023 - Just Eat Partner Centre - HMRC — Catering, takeaway food and VAT (Notice 709/1) - HMRC — IEIM901740: what platforms report as consideration (net of fees, which are reported separately) ]]> https://payoutledger.co.uk/guides/restaurant-bookkeeping-delivery-era-uk/ https://payoutledger.co.uk/guides/restaurant-bookkeeping-delivery-era-uk/ Wed, 10 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT A UK restaurant bookkeeping guide built for the delivery era — how to record Deliveroo, Uber Eats, and Just Eat revenue, commissions, and VAT correctly, and where standard bookkeeping advice falls short. VAT Notice 709/1, section 2.1), which is standard-rated. Because zero-rated supplies are still taxable supplies, you retain full input VAT recovery on costs that relate to them, including platform commission. Partial exemption — where input VAT recovery is restricted — only bites if you make genuinely **exempt** supplies, which most restaurants do not. The practical mistake to avoid is assuming that because some of your food is zero-rated, you cannot reclaim the VAT on commission. In most cases you can. Our [plain-English VAT on delivery commissions guide](/guides/vat-delivery-commissions-guide-uk/) covers the apportionment detail and the two most common errors, and the free [VAT on Delivery Commissions tool](/tools/vat-commissions-guide/) helps you check your own treatment. ## Bookkeeping and HMRC's Digital Platform Reporting Rules Since January 2024, Deliveroo, Uber Eats, and Just Eat report your seller revenue directly to HMRC under the Digital Platform Reporting Rules. HMRC receives what each platform paid or credited to you (net of its fees and commissions), broken down by calendar quarter, along with the number of transactions and, reported separately, the fees, commissions and taxes it deducted. It is not order by order, but it is still precise enough to matter: adding the deductions back to the payments gives HMRC a figure close to your gross sales on each platform, which it can compare against the income on your return. This is exactly why recording gross revenue matters. If your books show the net deposit as income, your declared turnover will be lower than the gross figure HMRC can rebuild from the platform's report — a mismatch that data-matching is designed to surface. Good bookkeeping is the cheapest form of compliance insurance here. For the full picture, see our guide to [HMRC's Digital Platform Reporting Rules](/guides/hmrc-delivery-platform-reporting-restaurants/), and check your own readiness with the free [HMRC Readiness Checker](/tools/hmrc-readiness-checker/). ## Choosing a bookkeeping approach There are broadly three ways UK restaurants handle delivery bookkeeping: ### 1. Manual journals in spreadsheets or accounting software Workable for a single platform and low volume. You download each platform's report, calculate the journal lines, and enter them. The risk is time and error: across three platforms this is 2-3 hours a week, and small mistakes (a missed refund, a miscoded fee) compound quietly. ### 2. POS or middleware integrations Some point-of-sale systems and middleware tools post daily sales summaries into your accounting software. These are good for getting totals in, but they typically do not reconcile the payout deposit against the orders, and they rarely handle commission VAT correctly out of the box. They solve the "get sales in" problem, not the "does my payout reconcile" problem. If you run your books in Xero specifically, our guide to [using Xero for restaurant delivery accounting](/guides/xero-restaurant-delivery-accounting/) covers what the standard setup does and does not handle, and [setting up a delivery-aware chart of accounts](/guides/restaurant-chart-of-accounts-xero-uk/) shows the account codes to add. For a full comparison of how Xero, QuickBooks, Sage, and other tools handle delivery-specific requirements, see our [restaurant bookkeeping software guide for UK delivery operators](/guides/restaurant-bookkeeping-software-uk/). If you are still deciding what type of package you need, our guide to [accounting software for restaurants on delivery apps](/guides/best-accounting-software-restaurants-delivery/) sets out the four types and what each handles. ### 3. Dedicated delivery reconciliation The gap that neither manual journals nor POS integrations fill well is reconciling the platform payout — taking the report, splitting it into gross sales, commission, VAT, refunds, and fees, and tying the net to the bank. This is the specific problem PayoutLedger is being built to solve: upload your platform reports, get VAT-correct journals, and reconcile each payout to the deposit. In the meantime, our free [chart of accounts template](/downloads/restaurant-chart-of-accounts-template/) gives you the account structure this depends on. [Join the waitlist](/#waitlist) for early access. If you run a [dark kitchen with multiple brands](/guides/dark-kitchen-accounting-uk/), the same gap exists but with nine or more payout streams per week — the case for dedicated reconciliation is even stronger. Whichever approach you choose, the test is the same: can you produce, for any week, the gross sales, the commission and its VAT, the refunds, and the net deposit — and do they reconcile to the bank? If yes, your restaurant bookkeeping is delivery-ready. If not, that is the gap to close first. ## Key takeaways - Record **gross revenue**, not the net bank deposit — booking the deposit understates turnover, hides commission, and forfeits reclaimable VAT. - Book commission, **VAT on commission**, refunds, and fees as separate lines so each payout reconciles. - Your workflow differs by platform: **per-order for Uber Eats, weekly-aggregate for Deliveroo and Just Eat.** - Zero-rated food does **not** block VAT recovery on commission — that is the most common VAT mistake. - HMRC now holds **quarterly payment totals, plus the fees and taxes deducted,** from each platform; gross-revenue bookkeeping is what keeps your return consistent with what HMRC already knows. --- *This guide is general bookkeeping information for UK restaurants on delivery platforms, reviewed June 2026. It is not tax or accounting advice. For your specific position, consult a qualified accountant or bookkeeper.* ## Sources - Platform Operators (Due Diligence and Reporting Requirements) Regulations 2023 - HMRC — Catering, takeaway food and VAT (Notice 709/1) - HMRC — Making Tax Digital for VAT - HMRC — IEIM901740: what platforms report as consideration (net of fees, which are reported separately) ]]> https://payoutledger.co.uk/guides/xero-hospitality-uk-delivery-guide/ https://payoutledger.co.uk/guides/xero-hospitality-uk-delivery-guide/ Wed, 03 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT A UK hospitality-focused setup guide for Xero that reflects the delivery era — multi-platform revenue, commission VAT, HMRC reporting, and the tools that fill the reconciliation gap. Xero App Store has a range of POS integrations, payment gateways, and industry-specific tools that extend Xero's functionality — though for delivery platform reconciliation specifically, the gap is still open (see below). ## Where the standard Xero hospitality setup falls short Xero's own hospitality guides and templates were largely written before delivery platforms dominated small restaurant revenue. (For a restaurant-specific view of these gaps, see our companion guide on [using Xero for restaurant delivery accounting](/guides/xero-restaurant-delivery-accounting/).) The gaps show up in several places: ### 1. Default chart of accounts does not separate delivery channels The standard Xero UK chart of accounts has "Sales" as a single revenue category. For a dine-in-only pub, that is fine (our [accounting software guide for UK pubs and bars](/guides/accounting-software-pubs-bars-delivery/) covers the wet-vs-dry-sales split in more detail). For a restaurant where 40-60% of revenue comes from three delivery platforms, a single Sales code hides every platform-specific economic signal — commission impact, refund rates, platform profitability, VAT mix. The fix is adding platform-specific sales and expense codes, which our [chart of accounts guide](/guides/restaurant-chart-of-accounts-xero-uk/) walks through step by step. ### 2. No automated delivery platform data import Xero has no built-in integration with Deliveroo, Uber Eats, or Just Eat. You download CSVs from each platform's partner dashboard manually, calculate commissions and VAT, and enter journal entries by hand. For a three-platform restaurant, this is 2-3 hours per week of bookkeeping work that Xero does not reduce. The manual workflow is covered in our [step-by-step reconciliation guide](/guides/reconcile-delivery-payouts-xero/). Automation requires either a dedicated reconciliation tool (one of the categories missing from the Xero App Store, see our [Xero App Store guide](/guides/xero-app-store-delivery-reconciliation/)) or outsourcing to a hospitality-specialist accountant. ### 3. Mixed-rate sales splitting is not handled automatically Xero's VAT module assumes you tell it the rate on each line. It will not work out, from a single gross delivery-sales figure, how much was standard-rated at 20% and how much was zero-rated at 0% — you calculate that split yourself (or your accountant does) and post the sales as separate rate-coded lines each period. (Note that cold items in a delivered meal are not automatically zero-rated, because HMRC lists the delivery of cooked ready-to-eat meals among its obvious examples of catering (VAT Notice 709/1, section 2.1), which is standard-rated.) Worth being clear about what this is *not*: it is not partial exemption. VAT Notice 706 defines a partly exempt business as one making "both taxable and exempt supplies", and hot and cold food are both *taxable* supplies. A mixed menu therefore creates no restriction on input VAT recovery: the VAT on platform commission is reclaimable in full. Our [VAT on Delivery Commissions Guide](/tools/vat-commissions-guide/) covers the treatment. Cafes deal with the sales-side split more than most, given their typical mix of hot drinks and cold food — see our [cafe accounting for delivery platforms guide](/guides/cafe-accounting-delivery-uk/) for the cafe-specific setup. ### 4. No brand-level or location-level reporting by default Xero's standard reports are organisation-wide. For multi-location chains and multi-brand ghost kitchens, you need to layer tracking categories on top of the standard COA to get brand-level or location-level P&Ls. This is possible but not automatic, and many small operators never configure it — meaning they run the business without knowing which location or brand is profitable. See our [ghost kitchen reconciliation guide](/guides/ghost-kitchen-delivery-reconciliation-uk/) for the specific multi-brand setup. ### 5. No refund tracking beyond the journal entry Delivery platform refunds come out of your payout as line-item deductions. Xero records them when you enter the journal, but it does not track which refunds you disputed, which window you had to dispute them in, or what your refund rate per platform trends toward. For restaurants where refunds run 2-5% of revenue — and where a significant portion of refunds are disputable — this is a real gap. Our [guide on delivery platform refund costs](/guides/delivery-platform-refund-costs-restaurants/) covers the dispute workflow. ## The complete delivery-era Xero setup for UK hospitality Here is the setup that produces books that survive HMRC scrutiny, give you platform-level visibility, and minimise the weekly reconciliation time cost. ### Step 1: Choose the right Xero edition For a delivery-era UK hospitality business, Xero Starter is usually insufficient — its transaction limits are tight relative to the journal volume required for delivery platform reconciliation. Choose Xero Standard or above — Standard covers most single-location operators, Premium adds multi-currency if you deal with non-GBP invoices or tourist payments, and Ultimate adds advanced features most small operators do not need. Check Xero's current pricing page for edition limits and features, as these are updated periodically. ### Step 2: Set up the chart of accounts before entering any transactions Adding platform-specific codes retroactively is possible but messy — historical transactions stay in generic codes unless you re-categorise them individually. Set up the full delivery-platform-aware COA before your first transaction is entered. Our [restaurant chart of accounts guide](/guides/restaurant-chart-of-accounts-xero-uk/) covers the exact codes to add. ### Step 3: Connect bank feeds Connect your primary business bank account to Xero's bank feed. Most UK business banks have direct Xero integration — look up yours in the Xero bank feed catalogue. For business bank accounts where Xero has no direct feed, Plaid or manual CSV import are workable alternatives. ### Step 4: Configure VAT settings Set your VAT scheme (usually Standard for hospitality businesses above the threshold), enable Making Tax Digital, and configure the default VAT rates on each account code. Commission and service fee expense codes should default to Standard 20%; sales codes should default to Standard 20% or Zero Rated based on your menu. ### Step 5: Set up tracking categories (if multi-location or multi-brand) If you run more than one location or multiple brands, create tracking categories now (not later). Retrofitting tracking categories onto existing transactions is time-consuming. Create "Location" and/or "Brand" categories with the appropriate values. ### Step 6: Establish the weekly reconciliation workflow Decide who does the weekly delivery platform reconciliation (you, a bookkeeper, or an accountant), what day it happens, and what the process looks like. The discipline of a fixed weekly slot is more important than the specific day — skipping weeks leads to month-end catch-up reconciliations that are twice as time-consuming. ### Step 7: Configure the COA-aware reports you will review Build custom reports in Xero showing: - Revenue by platform (rolled up from platform-specific sales codes) - Commission and service fees by platform - Effective platform cost percentage (commission + fees as % of gross sales) - Refund rate by platform (refund clawbacks as % of gross sales) - Net platform contribution (gross sales minus commission, VAT, fees, refunds) These reports are the management accounts that actually tell you how each platform is performing. Without them, you are flying blind on the 40-60% of your revenue that flows through delivery platforms. ### Step 8: Audit the first quarter After the first quarter of live data, audit the VAT return before submission. Verify: - Total sales equal gross order value across all channels (dine-in, takeaway, Deliveroo, Uber Eats, Just Eat) - Commission VAT is reclaimed in full, rather than apportioned by sales mix - No double-counting between POS-integrated sales and delivery platform sales - Refund clawbacks are recorded as contra-revenue, not expenses Our [HMRC Readiness Checker](/tools/hmrc-readiness-checker/) runs a 5-question audit you can complete in 2-3 minutes. ## What to expect from your accountant UK hospitality-specialist accountants — firms with 5-50 restaurant, cafe, or pub clients — know the delivery platform reconciliation workflow and will typically charge £150-400 per month to handle it on top of general bookkeeping. This is the "do it for me" option, and for many operators it is a reasonable trade-off — the accountant handles the weekly platform downloads, commission calculations, the sales-side VAT split, and journal posting, and delivers management accounts each month. For general high-street accountants who do not specialise in hospitality, expect the delivery reconciliation to either be bolted onto your service at a significant extra cost (£200-400/month) or to be handled in a simplified way that may not survive HMRC scrutiny under the Digital Platform Reporting Rules. Ask specifically whether they reclaim commission VAT in full (they should) and about how they handle platform refund clawbacks. ## Where the Xero ecosystem is headed for hospitality The delivery platform reconciliation gap in the Xero App Store is well-known within the Xero hospitality community. Several small-volume tools have attempted to fill it but none have yet achieved broad UK adoption. The primary obstacles are: 1. **Multi-platform coverage** — a tool that handles only one platform leaves operators with manual workflow for the others 2. **UK VAT complexity** — platform commissions + mixed-rate sales splitting + HMRC reporting is a narrow-deep problem that requires UK-specific design 3. **Certification requirements** — Xero's app certification standards are rigorous, especially for apps with write access to journal entries PayoutLedger is building specifically to address these obstacles. Our [guide on finding a delivery reconciliation app in the Xero App Store](/guides/xero-app-store-delivery-reconciliation/) covers the evaluation criteria we are designing to meet. ## If you are switching to Xero from another platform If you are migrating from QuickBooks, Sage, or another accounting platform to Xero, the delivery-era setup is an opportunity to fix the COA structure during the migration rather than inheriting whatever structure existed before. Work with a Xero-certified advisor on the migration — they can import historical data into the new delivery-platform-aware COA structure rather than a lift-and-shift that keeps the old problems. For the first quarter post-migration, run parallel reconciliation in the old system for one or two weeks to verify the new Xero setup produces matching numbers. This catches migration errors before they affect your VAT return. ## Join the waitlist We are building PayoutLedger as a Xero App Store app for UK hospitality businesses on multiple delivery platforms. If you want to be notified when the app is available in the UK Xero App Store, join the waitlist below. --- *This guide covers UK Xero hospitality setup for delivery platforms as of 2026. It is not financial or tax advice. For guidance on your specific Xero setup, edition selection, and VAT treatment, consult a qualified accountant or Xero-certified advisor.* ## Sources - Xero — Chart of accounts guide (UK bookkeeping) - Xero Central — Chart of accounts (UK) - Xero Central — Tracking categories - HMRC — Making Tax Digital - HMRC VAT guide (Notice 700) — input tax you can reclaim - VAT Notice 706: partial exemption - Platform Operators (Due Diligence and Reporting Requirements) Regulations 2023 ]]> https://payoutledger.co.uk/guides/restaurant-chart-of-accounts-xero-uk/ https://payoutledger.co.uk/guides/restaurant-chart-of-accounts-xero-uk/ Wed, 27 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT A UK restaurant guide to setting up a chart of accounts in Xero that handles delivery platform revenue, commissions, VAT on commissions, and HMRC compliance correctly from day one. VAT Notice 700). Partial exemption requires genuinely *exempt* supplies, which a restaurant does not make. What the menu mix does drive is the split of your **sales** codes by rate. Our free [VAT on Delivery Commissions Guide](/tools/vat-commissions-guide/) covers the commission side, confirming full recovery whatever your split. **Refund treatment:** Refund clawbacks are contra-revenue — they reduce your gross sales, they are not an expense you paid. The correct treatment is to record them as a negative sale against the relevant platform's sales code, or to use a dedicated contra-revenue code as shown above. They do not attract VAT recovery because the original sale VAT is being reversed. ### Bank and clearing accounts (010-019 range) | Code | Name | Purpose | |------|------|---------| | 010 | Main business bank | Primary operating account | | 011 | Deliveroo clearing | Optional — holds expected payouts between earned and deposited | | 012 | Uber Eats clearing | Optional — holds expected payouts between earned and deposited | | 013 | Just Eat clearing | Optional — holds expected payouts between earned and deposited | **Clearing accounts are optional but recommended** for restaurants with significant delivery volume. Each platform has a payout lag (orders fulfilled on Monday may not deposit until the following Friday). A clearing account lets you recognise the revenue when earned (for accrual accounting) and separately track when it arrives in the bank — giving you a running balance of what platforms owe you. Our [guide on delivery platform payout schedules](/guides/delivery-platform-payout-schedules-uk/) covers the payout timing in detail. ### Tracking categories (for multi-location and multi-brand) If your restaurant runs multiple locations or multiple brands, do not create separate account codes per location — use Xero's **tracking categories** feature instead. Tracking categories let you tag each transaction with a location, brand, or segment without multiplying the COA. For a multi-brand ghost kitchen, create a tracking category called "Brand" with values for each brand. For a multi-location chain, create a category called "Location". You can tag both sales and commission entries, giving you per-location or per-brand P&L views without creating dozens of separate account codes. The exception is ghost kitchens running multi-brand on multi-platforms — the volume of tagging can become unwieldy, and some operators prefer per-brand account codes for clearer audit trails. Our [guide to ghost kitchen reconciliation](/guides/ghost-kitchen-delivery-reconciliation-uk/) covers when to use tracking categories versus dedicated codes. ## How VAT returns work with this structure With the COA structure above, your quarterly VAT return reflects: **Output VAT (boxes 1 and 2 on VAT return):** - Gross delivery sales split by rate — standard-rated lines at 20%, zero-rated lines at 0% (a single weighted rate is a shortcut, not the return) - Plus direct dine-in and takeaway sales at their respective VAT rates **Input VAT (box 4 on VAT return):** - Commission VAT in full - Plus service fees VAT in full - Plus standard input VAT on other business expenses **Net VAT payable (box 5):** The difference between output and input VAT. The error-prone part is the **output** side: getting the standard/zero-rated split right on gross delivery sales. Cold items in a delivered meal are not automatically zero-rated, because HMRC lists the delivery of cooked ready-to-eat meals among its obvious examples of catering (VAT Notice 709/1, section 2.1), which is standard-rated; agree with your accountant which of your delivered items, if any, qualify as zero-rated cold takeaway. The input side needs no apportionment at all, because a restaurant makes no exempt supplies and so falls outside the partial exemption regime entirely — which also means the de minimis test is not in play. ## How HMRC Digital Platform Reporting cross-references your COA Since January 2024, platforms report to HMRC under the Digital Platform Reporting Rules what they paid or credited each seller, with the fees, commissions and taxes they deducted reported separately. When HMRC cross-references your VAT and corporation tax returns against platform reports, they are checking: 1. **Reported sales are consistent with the platform reports** — add each platform's reported consideration (what it paid you) to the fees, commissions and taxes it reported separately, and the total should come close to your Sales — Deliveroo, Sales — Uber Eats, and Sales — Just Eat codes for the same period. It will not match to the penny: HMRC's manual says the consideration is calculated on a "cash basis", after refunds made in the period, so quarter-end timing shows up as differences. The COA structure above makes the comparison straightforward. 2. **Commission costs are plausible** — HMRC knows approximate commission rates for each platform. If your Commission — Deliveroo is 5% of your Sales — Deliveroo, that is a flag (too low); if it is 40%, that is also a flag (too high). The 15-35% range is the expected band. 3. **Input VAT recovery is supported** — commission VAT is reclaimable in full, because zero-rated food is a taxable supply and does not restrict recovery. What HMRC will expect is that each claim is backed by the platform's VAT invoice or self-billing document for the period. Our [HMRC Digital Platform Reporting Rules guide](/guides/hmrc-delivery-platform-reporting-restaurants/) covers the cross-reference mechanics and what to expect if HMRC queries your return. ## Setting up the COA in Xero: step by step Xero makes adding accounts straightforward. From your Xero organisation: 1. Go to **Accounting → Advanced → Chart of accounts** 2. Click **Add account** 3. Choose account type (Revenue, Direct costs, Expenses, or Current asset/liability depending on the code) 4. Enter the code and name from the table above 5. Set the tax rate (Standard 20% or Zero Rated as applicable) 6. Save Repeat for each account. For a three-platform UK restaurant, you will add roughly 9-12 new accounts. The whole setup takes 20-30 minutes. **Test the setup:** After adding accounts, enter a dummy journal for one week's Deliveroo payout. Verify that the VAT calculation is correct on the commission line and that the net deposit matches your bank statement. Our [commission calculator](/tools/commission-calculator/) gives you an estimate to sanity-check against (it assumes 2.5% for other fees, so use the figures on your statement for the journal itself), and the [payout reconciliation checker](/tools/payout-reconciliation-checker/) will tell you whether the figures you enter from the statement explain the deposit to within 0.5% of gross sales (its tolerance) and, if not, by how much. **Document the structure:** Write a short internal note describing which code is used for what, and when. This helps when a new bookkeeper or accountant joins, and reduces the chance of miscoding under time pressure. ## Common COA mistakes to avoid ### Recording net deposits as sales The most common error: recording the bank deposit from Deliveroo as "Sales — Deliveroo" of that net amount. This understates your sales (by the commission), understates your input VAT (you lose the commission VAT recovery), and will not match the gross HMRC can rebuild from what the platforms reported. Always record gross sales; deductions go on the expense side. ### Using a single "Delivery Income" code Lumping Deliveroo, Uber Eats, and Just Eat into one code hides platform profitability. You cannot see which platform is margin-accretive and which is not — important when platforms adjust commission rates or when you consider leaving one platform. ### Missing the VAT-on-commission recovery Not posting the commission VAT as a recoverable input — either treating it as a flat expense or missing it entirely — leaves money on the table. Across a year, the recoverable commission VAT on a typical delivery-heavy restaurant is £1,500-4,000. ### Restricting VAT recovery because sales are mixed Recovering only a proportion of the commission VAT because your menu includes zero-rated items under-reclaims. Zero-rated supplies are taxable supplies and do not restrict recovery — recover 100%. Keep the effort on the sales side instead: a mixed-rate menu needs its gross delivery revenue split by rate rather than posted as one blended figure. ### Separate codes per location or brand (multi-site operators) For multi-location or multi-brand operators, creating separate codes per location × platform multiplies your COA unnecessarily. Use tracking categories instead — the same codes, tagged by location or brand. ## When to review the COA Review your chart of accounts annually, or whenever: - A new delivery platform is added (add the platform's revenue, commission, service fee, and refund codes) - A new location or brand is added (add to the tracking category, not new codes) - Your standard/zero-rated sales ratio shifts by more than 10-15 percentage points (adjust how you split sales across the rate-specific codes, not the codes themselves) - HMRC issues guidance affecting platform reporting or commission VAT treatment A well-designed COA lasts years. The underlying accounts rarely need to change — what changes is the allocation rules, the sales-side rate split, and the reporting views built on top. ## Next steps If you want a template to work from, our free [UK Restaurant Delivery Chart of Accounts template](/downloads/restaurant-chart-of-accounts-template/) is a CSV you can adapt into Xero or QuickBooks — delivery sales split by platform, commission on its own line per platform, with the VAT treatment noted against every account in plain English rather than software tax codes, so you will map codes manually rather than importing it directly. Once your chart of accounts is set up, the next step is configuring the rest of Xero for delivery-platform accounting — tracking categories, bank rules, journal templates, and bank feed reconciliation. See our [step-by-step Xero setup guide for restaurant delivery](/guides/xero-setup-restaurant-delivery-uk/) for the complete configuration walkthrough. If you want to audit your existing delivery platform reconciliation before setting up a new COA structure, our [HMRC Readiness Checker](/tools/hmrc-readiness-checker/) gives you a quick compliance score with specific actions to close any gaps. --- *This guide covers UK restaurant chart of accounts setup for delivery platforms as of 2026. It is not financial or tax advice. For guidance on your specific Xero organisation and VAT treatment, consult a qualified accountant familiar with UK hospitality.* ## Sources - Xero Central — Chart of accounts (UK) - Xero Central — Tracking categories - HMRC VAT guide (Notice 700) — input tax you can reclaim - VAT Notice 706: partial exemption - Platform Operators (Due Diligence and Reporting Requirements) Regulations 2023 - HMRC VAT rates - HMRC — IEIM901740: what platforms report as consideration (net of fees, which are reported separately) ]]> https://payoutledger.co.uk/guides/xero-app-store-delivery-reconciliation/ https://payoutledger.co.uk/guides/xero-app-store-delivery-reconciliation/ Wed, 20 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT A UK restaurant guide to searching the Xero App Store for delivery platform reconciliation apps — what exists, what is missing, and how to evaluate the options. Xero App Store is Xero's marketplace of third-party apps that integrate with your Xero organisation. Apps are categorised by function (payments, inventory, CRM, time tracking, etc.) and by industry (hospitality, retail, construction, etc.). You can filter by region — the UK filter shows apps that work with Xero UK organisations and handle UK-specific requirements like VAT and HMRC submissions. Apps in the store fall into three broad categories: - **Free apps** — typically free for basic use, with paid tiers for advanced features or higher volume - **Paid apps** — monthly or annual subscription, usually priced per user or per transaction volume - **Free with paid service** — the app itself is free but unlocks a paid professional service (e.g., bookkeeping done by the app provider's team) Each app listing shows the connection type (read-only, read-write, full sync), the Xero editions it supports (Starter, Standard, Premium, Ultimate), and user reviews from Xero users who have tried it. ## Searching the Xero App Store for delivery reconciliation If you search the UK Xero App Store for terms like "delivery", "Deliveroo", "Uber Eats", or "delivery platform", you will find: ### POS integrations that include some delivery platforms Several POS app integrations (Square, Lightspeed, some restaurant-specific POS providers) can route delivery platform orders through the POS system, which then syncs sales data to Xero. This is useful for sales-side recording but does not handle the reconciliation gap — the commission deductions, VAT on commissions, refund clawbacks, and bank deposit matching still need manual journals. ### Order aggregators Apps like order aggregation platforms can consolidate orders from multiple delivery platforms into one kitchen display system. These improve operational efficiency but do not reconcile the financial side. Gross sales data may flow to Xero but not the fee breakdowns. ### Generic reconciliation tools Several apps offer bank reconciliation assistance — typically matching bank transactions against Xero entries using rules or machine learning. These help once you have created the journal entry but cannot create the delivery-specific journal from the platform CSV. ### Industry-specific accounting apps A handful of apps target hospitality accounting specifically, usually offering a bookkeeping service wrapped in software. These can be useful if you want the whole reconciliation workflow outsourced, but the cost is closer to an accountant than a tool — typically £200-500+ per month. ### What you will not find (currently) As of 2026, there is no app in the UK Xero App Store that specifically handles the delivery payout reconciliation workflow for restaurants — importing CSVs from Deliveroo, Uber Eats, and Just Eat, matching orders against POS records, splitting gross sales by VAT rate, reconciling net payouts against bank deposits, and generating categorised journal entries. This is a genuine gap in the Xero ecosystem. For UK restaurants on multiple delivery platforms, it is the single biggest unaddressed workflow in their Xero setup. ## How to evaluate a Xero app for delivery reconciliation When a delivery reconciliation app does appear in the UK Xero App Store — from us or anyone else — these are the evaluation criteria that matter for a UK restaurant: ### 1. Supports all three major UK platforms Deliveroo, Uber Eats, and Just Eat are the dominant UK platforms. An app that handles only one or two of them leaves you with a manual workflow for the remaining platform — which means you have not solved the reconciliation problem, just reduced it. Verify all three are supported before subscribing. ### 2. Handles UK VAT on commissions correctly Platform commissions are standard-rated for VAT purposes (20%), and that VAT is recoverable **in full** — including where your restaurant sells both standard-rated food (hot meals) and zero-rated food (cold sandwiches, baked goods, drinks under certain conditions). Zero-rated supplies are taxable supplies taxed at 0%, not exempt supplies, so they do not restrict recovery (VAT Notice 700). An app applying full VAT recovery to commission is doing the right thing; one that restricts it to your standard-rated share is quietly costing you money. Where an app genuinely needs to be careful is the **sales** side: gross delivery revenue must be split by rate — standard-rated items at 20%, zero-rated items at 0% — rather than pushed as one blended line (and cold items in a delivered meal are not automatically zero-rated, because HMRC lists the delivery of cooked ready-to-eat meals among its obvious examples of catering (VAT Notice 709/1, section 2.1), which is standard-rated). A well-built reconciliation app should either prompt for that split or derive it from menu tagging. Our [VAT on delivery commissions guide](/guides/vat-delivery-commissions-guide-uk/) covers that sales-side split, and the free [VAT on Delivery Commissions Guide](/tools/vat-commissions-guide/) tool works out the commission VAT side. ### 3. Pushes categorised journals (not summary journals) A good reconciliation app does not just create a single "delivery income" journal line — it creates separate lines for gross sales, commission, VAT on commission, service fees, refunds, and net payout. That structure lets your accountant review individual cost components and lets you analyse platform profitability without re-parsing the underlying data. ### 4. Writes to dedicated account codes Each platform should push to dedicated account codes in your Xero chart of accounts. If the app writes everything to a generic "Delivery Income" account, you lose platform-level visibility. Configurable per-platform account mapping is a must-have feature. ### 5. Read-write permission with proper scope A reconciliation app needs read-write permission to Xero to create journal entries and post bank transactions. This is a significant permission — only install apps from providers you trust, and review the Xero Partner page or app listing for the provider's track record. Read-only apps cannot reconcile but can be useful for reporting. ### 6. Handles multi-location and multi-brand operators If you run more than one restaurant location or multiple brands through one kitchen, the app needs to handle the allocation. Per-location or per-brand account code mapping is essential for multi-site operators and ghost kitchens. Our [guide to ghost kitchen delivery reconciliation](/guides/ghost-kitchen-delivery-reconciliation-uk/) covers the specific multi-brand requirements in detail. ### 7. Supports the UK Xero edition Verify the app works with Xero UK (not just Xero AU or US). UK tax handling, HMRC MTD submissions, and sterling currency support are all UK-specific — a well-marketed app that only works with Xero AU will not meet your needs. ### 8. Provides audit trail for HMRC queries Under the Digital Platform Reporting Rules, HMRC can cross-reference what platforms reported against what you declared. If HMRC queries a specific period, you need to trace every payout back to the underlying platform CSV, the allocation rules applied, and the resulting Xero entries. An app that provides a clear audit trail — platform report → reconciliation → journal entry — makes HMRC queries much easier to answer. ## Xero App Store alternatives: manual process with good tools While the dedicated reconciliation app category develops, most UK restaurants manage the workflow manually with a combination of free tools and a disciplined process. Our [step-by-step reconciliation guide](/guides/reconcile-delivery-payouts-xero/) covers the full manual workflow in Xero, and our free [commission calculator](/tools/commission-calculator/) automates the per-platform arithmetic. The manual process is time-consuming (typically 2-3 hours per week for a three-platform restaurant) but produces accurate results if followed carefully. The trade-off is your time versus the subscription cost of an automated tool. ## Xero App Store discovery tips for hospitality If you spend time in the Xero App Store looking for hospitality-specific apps, a few filtering approaches help: - **Region filter: United Kingdom** — essential for UK-specific tax handling - **Industry filter: Hospitality** — shows apps that Xero has categorised as hospitality-relevant - **Connection type: Read + Write** — filters out reporting-only apps when you need write capability - **Xero edition: Standard or above** — delivery reconciliation apps typically require at least the Standard edition You can also search Xero's Xero Central community forums for "Deliveroo", "Uber Eats", or "delivery reconciliation" — the threads often include user recommendations that do not appear in the app store search directly. ## The Xero App Store as a distribution channel From the other side — for developers building apps for UK restaurants — the Xero App Store is one of the most effective distribution channels for hospitality SaaS. Restaurant owners who use Xero already have the habit of looking in the app store for problem solutions. An app that solves a real workflow problem and passes Xero's certification requirements can acquire users with very low marketing spend because the discovery happens within the tool the user already uses daily. PayoutLedger's primary distribution plan is the UK Xero App Store. This means the product is being built to Xero's app certification standards from day one — OAuth 2.0 authentication, read-write scopes limited to journal entries and bank transactions, UK VAT handling by default, and audit trails that survive HMRC scrutiny. If you are on the PayoutLedger waitlist, you will be notified when the app is live in the Xero App Store. ## Check what your current Xero workflow costs you If you have not measured how much time your current delivery reconciliation workflow takes, a quick audit is worth doing before evaluating apps. Track the time spent per week across: - Downloading platform CSVs (all platforms, all brands, all locations) - Matching orders against POS or kitchen records - Calculating commission, service fees, and VAT - Creating Xero journal entries - Reconciling bank deposits - Investigating discrepancies Multiply by 52 weeks to get an annual time cost. Compare against the annual subscription cost of automation (typically £300-600 per year for a dedicated reconciliation app). For most UK restaurants on three platforms, the break-even is well below the app subscription cost — automation is cheaper than continuing to do it manually, even at modest hourly rates. --- *This guide covers UK Xero App Store discovery for delivery reconciliation as of 2026. It is not financial advice. For guidance on your specific Xero setup and app selection, consult a qualified accountant or Xero-certified advisor.* ## Sources - Xero App Store (UK) - Xero Central - Xero Developer Documentation — OAuth 2.0 - Platform Operators (Due Diligence and Reporting Requirements) Regulations 2023 - HMRC VAT guide (Notice 700) — input tax you can reclaim - VAT Notice 706: partial exemption ]]> https://payoutledger.co.uk/guides/ghost-kitchen-delivery-reconciliation-uk/ https://payoutledger.co.uk/guides/ghost-kitchen-delivery-reconciliation-uk/ Wed, 13 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT A practical guide for UK ghost kitchen operators on reconciling delivery platform payouts when you run multiple brands through one kitchen and multiple platforms. VAT Notice 709/1, section 2.1), which is standard-rated. Your **output** VAT depends on that per-brand mix, so applying one blended rate across all brands will misstate it. Your commission VAT recovery, by contrast, is the same for every brand: full. Zero-rated supplies are taxable supplies taxed at 0%, not exempt supplies, so they do not restrict input tax recovery (VAT Notice 700). The bakery brand reclaims its commission VAT in full, exactly as the burger brand does. ### POS-to-platform mapping requires brand tags If your POS or kitchen management system does not tag orders by brand, reconciliation requires manual tracing. Most POS systems can handle this, but the setup needs to be deliberate and each order needs to be correctly routed. ## The reconciliation workflow for ghost kitchens Here is the practical workflow that works for UK ghost kitchens running two to five brands. It is not the simplest approach, but it is the one that produces books that survive HMRC scrutiny under the Digital Platform Reporting Rules. ### Step 1: Set up brand-level chart of accounts in Xero Create dedicated account codes for each brand × platform combination: - Sales — Brand A — Deliveroo - Sales — Brand A — Uber Eats - Sales — Brand A — Just Eat - Commission — Brand A — Deliveroo - (repeat for each brand × platform) This produces a lot of account codes — a three-brand, three-platform kitchen will have 9 sales codes and 9+ expense codes just for delivery revenue. That volume is the point: when HMRC asks which brand produced which revenue, you have the answer. ### Step 2: Download platform reports per brand, per week Each week, download the payout report for every brand on every platform. For a three-brand, three-platform kitchen, that is nine CSV files per week. Save them with a consistent naming convention (e.g., `2026-05-06_brand-a_deliveroo.csv`) and store them in a folder structure organised by platform and month. ### Step 3: Calculate per-brand gross sales, commission, and VAT For each brand on each platform each week: 1. Sum gross order value (before any deductions) 2. Calculate commission at the brand's specific rate 3. Calculate VAT on that commission (20% of the commission amount, since platform commissions are standard-rated regardless of what food was sold) 4. Calculate refunds deducted 5. Calculate service fees 6. Verify the net equals the bank deposit (or the brand's share of it if the platform batches brands together) Our [commission calculator](/tools/commission-calculator/) handles the per-platform calculation; you will need to run it once per brand per platform per week. ### Step 4: Split each brand's sales by VAT rate For each brand, split gross sales into standard-rated and zero-rated lines (zero-rated only for cold items that qualify as cold takeaway rather than catering). If 70% of Brand A's sales are standard-rated, 70% of Brand A's gross delivery revenue carries output VAT at 20% and the balance carries none. Run this separately per brand — do not average across brands. Commission VAT needs no equivalent step: recover 100% of it for every brand, whatever the mix. Our [VAT on Delivery Commissions Guide](/tools/vat-commissions-guide/) covers the treatment. ### Step 5: Post brand-tagged journal entries to Xero For each brand × platform combination, post a weekly journal entry with the brand-specific account codes. This produces more journals than a single-brand operator — a three-brand, three-platform kitchen creates up to nine journals per week. The upside: your management accounts can now show revenue, commission, VAT, and margin per brand per platform. That is information most single-brand operators do not have — and it is information that makes marketing spend decisions and menu engineering decisions much sharper. ## Platform-specific quirks that bite ghost kitchen operators ### Deliveroo: brand-level vs account-level fees Deliveroo sometimes charges account-level fees (e.g., subscription or platform fees) at a single parent level, not per brand. If you run multiple brands under one Deliveroo Partner account, the account-level fee allocation between brands is something you need to decide and document — Deliveroo's reports will not do it for you. ### Uber Eats: virtual brand listings Uber Eats supports virtual brands as secondary listings within one partner account. The consolidated payout report can make brand-level allocation easier than Deliveroo's approach — but it can also mask brand-level performance if you do not extract the data deliberately. ### Just Eat: separate partner accounts per brand Just Eat typically requires a separate partner account per brand, which means separate Partner Centre logins and separate payout schedules. Reconciliation is cleaner (one account per brand) but adds login management overhead. ### Refund disputes: brand-specific evidence When a customer disputes a refund, the evidence you submit (photos, order details, preparation notes) needs to come from the brand that produced the order. For a shared kitchen running multiple brands, this means the kitchen staff need to tag which brand cooked which order at the time of preparation — you cannot reconstruct it later. ## HMRC Digital Platform Reporting for ghost kitchens Since January 2024, Deliveroo, Uber Eats, and Just Eat have reported seller-level revenue to HMRC. For ghost kitchens, "seller" is usually the legal entity running the kitchen, which may have multiple brand listings reported under one seller identity. HMRC's cross-reference is against your VAT return and your corporation tax return — not against brand-level management accounts. The reporting rules assume your books correctly aggregate brand-level platform revenue into single entity-level totals. If you reconcile brand by brand but forget to roll up to the entity total, your entity-level return will not match what platforms reported. Our [HMRC Readiness Checker](/tools/hmrc-readiness-checker/) covers the specific compliance questions ghost kitchens should answer before their next VAT return. ## When to automate Single-brand operators reach the automation threshold around the second year on multiple platforms, as the weekly time cost compounds. Ghost kitchens reach it earlier — often within the first six months — because the reconciliation time scales linearly with brand count while revenue does not always compensate. A three-brand operator doing £10k/week total revenue faces the same reconciliation workload as a single-brand operator doing £30k/week, but with thinner margin per brand to absorb the overhead. The automation choice is typically between three options: 1. **Accountant reconciliation** — outsource to a hospitality-specialist accountant. Ghost kitchens typically pay £250-500/month depending on brand count and volume. 2. **Internal bookkeeper or admin** — hire part-time support to handle the weekly workflow. Typically 4-8 hours per week for a three-brand operator. 3. **Dedicated reconciliation tool** — a delivery-aware tool that imports platform data, allocates by brand, calculates VAT per brand, and pushes branded journals to Xero. PayoutLedger is building this tool specifically for UK multi-brand operators. ## What to look for in a ghost kitchen reconciliation tool If you evaluate reconciliation tools, these are the ghost kitchen specific features that make the difference: - **Multi-brand support within one kitchen entity** — not just multiple entities or multiple locations - **Per-brand commission rate tracking** — different rates on the same platform for different brands - **Per-brand sales-rate splitting** — brand-specific standard/zero-rated sales mix on the output side - **Brand-level management reporting** — revenue, margin, and platform mix per brand - **Bank deposit allocation** — the ability to split one bank deposit across brands based on each brand's reported payout - **HMRC entity-level roll-up** — brand-level management reports plus entity-level returns in one workflow Generic accounting software (Xero, QuickBooks, Sage) handles the posting but not the allocation. Generic restaurant management tools handle the kitchen operations but not the financial reconciliation. The gap in the middle is where ghost kitchens lose time. ## Join the waitlist We are building PayoutLedger specifically for UK multi-brand and multi-platform operators. Ghost kitchens running two or more brands across Deliveroo, Uber Eats, and Just Eat are exactly the ICP we designed the tool around. Join the waitlist below to be notified when we open access. --- *This guide covers UK ghost kitchen delivery reconciliation as of 2026. It is not financial or tax advice. For guidance on your specific brand structure and VAT treatment, consult a qualified accountant familiar with hospitality and multi-brand operations.* ## Sources - Platform Operators (Due Diligence and Reporting Requirements) Regulations 2023 - HMRC VAT guide (Notice 700) — input tax you can reclaim - VAT Notice 706: partial exemption - HMRC VAT rates - Xero Central — Chart of accounts (UK) ]]> https://payoutledger.co.uk/guides/xero-restaurant-delivery-accounting/ https://payoutledger.co.uk/guides/xero-restaurant-delivery-accounting/ Wed, 06 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT How Xero handles restaurant delivery platform accounting — what it does well, where it falls short, and how to fill the reconciliation gap. Xero App Store that automates delivery payout reconciliation. You download CSVs from each platform's partner dashboard manually and enter journal entries by hand. ### 2. Manual journal entries for every payout Each delivery platform payout requires a multi-line manual journal in Xero: | Account | Description | Debit | Credit | |---------|-------------|-------|--------| | Bank | Platform payout deposit | £2,695 | | | Sales — Platform | Gross order value | | £4,000 | | Commission — Platform | 25% commission | £1,000 | | | VAT on commission (T1) | Input tax | £200 | | | Refunds | Customer refunds | £105 | | This journal needs to be created for each platform, each week. For a restaurant on three platforms, that is three manual journals per week — roughly 156 per year. Our [step-by-step guide to reconciling delivery payouts in Xero](/guides/reconcile-delivery-payouts-xero/) covers the exact process. ### 3. VAT coding complexity When your restaurant sells both standard-rated food (hot meals) and zero-rated food (cold items that qualify as cold takeaway), your **sales** lines need coding at different VAT rates. Cold items in a delivered meal are not automatically zero-rated, because HMRC lists the delivery of cooked ready-to-eat meals among its obvious examples of catering (VAT Notice 709/1, section 2.1), which is standard-rated. Xero supports this — you can code individual journal lines with different rates — but it requires you to work out the split between rates for each period yourself. The commission side is simpler than most people assume. The VAT on platform commission is reclaimable in full, whatever your sales mix, because zero-rated supplies are taxable supplies taxed at 0% rather than exempt supplies. The common and costly error runs the other way: restricting the commission VAT reclaim to your standard-rated proportion, and writing the rest off as an irrecoverable cost it never was. Our free [VAT on Delivery Commissions Guide](/tools/vat-commissions-guide/) works out the commission VAT on your own figures. ### 4. No order-level visibility Xero works at the transaction level — bank deposits, journal entries, invoices. It has no concept of individual delivery orders. When you enter a journal for a Deliveroo payout of £2,695, Xero records that accurately, but it cannot tell you which of the 300 orders in that payout had incorrect commission rates or unjustified refund deductions. To verify payout accuracy, you need to work outside Xero entirely — cross-referencing the platform's CSV export against your POS records order by order, then summarising the results into the Xero journal. ### 5. No refund tracking Xero records refund deductions as part of your journal entries, but it does not track them as events you can investigate. You cannot flag a specific refund as disputed, track whether you challenged it within the platform's window, or analyse your refund rate over time. That tracking lives in spreadsheets or in your head. ## The Xero App Store gap The Xero App Store has apps for POS integration (syncing till sales), inventory management, and general payment processing. For delivery platform reconciliation — importing payout data, matching orders, calculating commission VAT, and generating categorised journals — there is currently no app. This is notable because the Xero ecosystem has apps for almost every other financial workflow a small business faces. The delivery reconciliation gap is one of the few areas where restaurant owners are left to manage entirely manually. Our guide to [finding a delivery reconciliation app in the Xero App Store](/guides/xero-app-store-delivery-reconciliation/) covers what to look for as this category fills. ## What cafes face (same problem, tighter margins) Cafes on delivery platforms face the same Xero limitations as restaurants, but with tighter margins that make the reconciliation gap more costly. Cafe order values tend to be lower (£8-15 vs £20-30 for restaurants), which means the fixed per-order costs (packaging, platform minimum fees) consume a larger proportion of revenue. Cafes also tend to sell a higher proportion of items that can be zero-rated (cold sandwiches and bakery items, for example), making the sales-side rate split more significant. Getting that split wrong by 10-15% on a cafe's delivery revenue can mean hundreds of pounds of misstated output VAT per year. For the wider Xero configuration across a hospitality business, see our [Xero for UK hospitality delivery-era setup guide](/guides/xero-hospitality-uk-delivery-guide/). ## Making Xero work for delivery accounting Until automated reconciliation tools are available in the Xero App Store, here is how to make the manual process as efficient as possible: 1. **Set up dedicated account codes** — create separate sales and expense codes for each delivery platform. Do this once and reuse the same structure for every journal. For the complete step-by-step configuration — including chart of accounts codes, bank rules, and journal templates — see our [Xero setup guide for restaurant delivery](/guides/xero-setup-restaurant-delivery-uk/). 2. **Create journal templates** — Xero does not have a template feature for manual journals, but you can duplicate a previous period's journal and update the amounts. Keep a spreadsheet template for the calculation 3. **Reconcile weekly, not monthly** — weekly reconciliation takes 30-45 minutes per platform. Monthly reconciliation takes hours because you are matching 4 weeks of data at once, and refund dispute windows have closed 4. **Track your VAT split quarterly** — calculate your standard-rated vs zero-rated delivery sales proportion each VAT quarter and apply it to your **sales** coding. Do not apply it to commission VAT entries: those are reclaimable in full 5. **Keep platform CSVs organised** — download and save each platform's payout report on the same day the deposit arrives. Create a folder structure by platform and month ## Check your current setup Start by understanding what each platform costs you. Our free [commission calculator](/tools/commission-calculator/) estimates the effective deduction rate per platform, including VAT on commission, not just the headline commission. If you are unsure whether your HMRC records are aligned with what the platforms report, use our free [HMRC Readiness Checker](/tools/hmrc-readiness-checker/) for a quick compliance assessment. --- *This guide covers using Xero for restaurant delivery platform accounting as of 2026. It is not financial or tax advice. For guidance on your specific Xero setup and VAT treatment, consult a qualified accountant.* ## Sources - Platform Operators (Due Diligence and Reporting Requirements) Regulations 2023 - HMRC VAT guide (Notice 700) — input tax you can reclaim - VAT Notice 706: partial exemption - HMRC VAT rates ]]> https://payoutledger.co.uk/guides/restaurant-profit-after-delivery-fees/ https://payoutledger.co.uk/guides/restaurant-profit-after-delivery-fees/ Wed, 29 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT How to calculate your actual restaurant profit margin once Deliveroo, Uber Eats, and Just Eat commissions, VAT, refunds, and hidden fees are included. standard 20% rate. A 25% commission on a £25 order costs £6.25 plus £1.25 VAT — a total of £7.50, not £6.25. If you are VAT-registered, the VAT is reclaimable as input tax in full: HMRC's VAT guide (Notice 700, section 10.2) 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", so zero-rated sales do not reduce it. The tables on this page treat it as a cost, which is the position of a restaurant that is not VAT-registered. Our free [VAT on Delivery Commissions Guide](/tools/vat-commissions-guide/) shows the treatment for your own sales mix. ### 2. Other platform fees Check your statement and agreement for any deduction beyond commission and its VAT, and use the amount actually deducted. Deliveroo's UK partner terms, for example, describe no separate payment-processing fee: they set the payout as "an amount equal to the GMV for your Delivery Orders during the relevant payment period, less the Delivery Service Fee, less any relevant adjustments for refunds paid to customers". ### 3. Refund clawbacks When a customer claims a refund, the platform deducts it from your next payout. You bear the cost even when the refund was triggered by a delivery issue. Refund rates of 2-5% of orders are commonly reported by UK restaurant operators in hospitality forums. For a restaurant doing 200 delivery orders per week with a 3% refund rate and £18 average refund value, that is £108/week or roughly £5,600/year disappearing from your payouts. See our [detailed breakdown of delivery platform refund costs](/guides/delivery-platform-refund-costs-restaurants/) for how to identify and challenge unjustified refunds. For the step-by-step dispute process — what evidence to gather, which categories you can challenge on each platform, and how to escalate — see our [delivery platform refund disputes guide](/guides/delivery-platform-refund-disputes-uk/). ### 4. Packaging costs Delivery orders require packaging that dine-in does not: containers, bags, cutlery packs, tamper-evident seals, napkins. Industry figures vary widely, but £0.80-1.50 per order is a common range for independent UK restaurants. Over 200 weekly orders, that is £160-300/week in packaging alone. ### 5. Marketing and promotion opt-ins If you have opted into platform marketing programmes (Deliveroo Marketer: Offers, Adverts, Rewards; Uber Eats promotions; Just Eat boosted listings), those costs are deducted from your payouts on top of commission. These can range from a few pounds per week to significant sums depending on your promotional activity. ## How to calculate your actual delivery profit margin Here is a practical formula you can apply to your own numbers: ### Step 1: Calculate gross delivery revenue Sum all orders for the period from each platform's payout report. Use the gross order value (before any deductions), not the net payout amount. ### Step 2: Calculate total platform costs For each platform, add: - Commission (gross orders x your commission rate) - VAT on commission (commission x 20%) - Any other platform fees (the amount shown on your statement) - Refund deductions (from payout report) - Marketing/promotion costs (from payout report) - Tablet rental (if applicable) ### Step 3: Calculate delivery-specific costs - Packaging costs (orders x average packaging cost per order) - Any additional delivery-specific labour (if you have dedicated prep staff for delivery orders) ### Step 4: Apply food and operating costs - Food cost (gross orders x your food cost percentage) - Allocated share of rent, utilities, insurance, staff (proportional to delivery as a percentage of total revenue) ### Step 5: Calculate the margin **Delivery profit = Gross delivery revenue - Platform costs - Delivery-specific costs - Food costs - Allocated operating costs** **Delivery margin = Delivery profit / Gross delivery revenue x 100** ## A worked example A UK restaurant doing £5,000/week in delivery orders across three platforms: | Component | Amount | |-----------|--------| | Gross delivery revenue | £5,000 | | Commission (avg 25%) | -£1,250 | | VAT on commission (20%) | -£250 | | Refunds (3% of 200 orders, avg £18) | -£108 | | Packaging (~£1 per order, 200 orders) | -£200 | | **Revenue after platform + delivery costs** | **£3,192** | | Food cost (30%) | -£1,500 | | **Gross margin on delivery** | **£1,692 (33.8%)** | That 33.8% gross margin on delivery compares to roughly 55-65% on dine-in sales for the same food. The platform costs (commission + VAT + refunds) account for 32.2% of gross revenue — more than the food cost itself. ## When delivery is worth it (and when it is not) The margin calculation above does not mean delivery is unprofitable — it means the margin is tighter and the volume needs to be higher to justify the infrastructure costs. Delivery tends to be worth it when: - **You have excess kitchen capacity** — delivery orders use capacity that would otherwise sit idle, so the marginal cost is lower than the fully allocated cost - **Your food cost percentage is below 30%** — higher-margin items absorb the platform fees better - **Your refund rate is below 2%** — keeping refunds low protects the margin - **You have negotiated commission rates** — restaurants with higher volume often negotiate lower rates Delivery is harder to justify when: - **Your food cost percentage is above 35%** — the combined food + platform cost exceeds 70% of revenue - **Your average order value is low** — platform fees are proportional, but packaging is fixed per order, so low-value orders are disproportionately expensive - **Your refund rate is above 4%** — at this point refund clawbacks alone are consuming a meaningful share of your profit ## Track it platform by platform The overall delivery margin number hides significant variation between platforms. Commission rates differ, refund rates differ, average order values differ. Calculate the margin for each platform separately to identify which platforms are genuinely profitable for your restaurant. Use our free [commission calculator](/tools/commission-calculator/) to see the per-platform cost breakdown before factoring in food and packaging. --- *This guide covers delivery platform profitability calculations for UK restaurants. Figures used in examples are illustrative — your actual margins depend on your specific commission rates, food costs, refund rates, and operating costs. This is not financial advice. Consult a qualified accountant for guidance on your specific business finances.* ## Sources - HMRC VAT rates - HMRC VAT guide (Notice 700), section 10.2: input tax you can reclaim - Deliveroo — UK partner terms (payout = GMV less the Delivery Service Fee and refunds) - Platform Operators (Due Diligence and Reporting Requirements) Regulations 2023 ]]> https://payoutledger.co.uk/guides/restaurant-delivery-management-software-guide/ https://payoutledger.co.uk/guides/restaurant-delivery-management-software-guide/ Wed, 22 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT What UK restaurants on multiple delivery platforms need from delivery management software — order aggregation, financial reconciliation, and the gaps between them. Digital Platform Reporting Rules. HMRC can now compare what you declared against what the platforms reported. If your books show a single "delivery income" entry that does not break down into gross sales, commissions, and refunds — and the numbers do not match HMRC's data — you face investigation risk. Financial reconciliation is no longer a nice-to-have. It is a compliance requirement. See our [guide to HMRC's Digital Platform Reporting Rules](/guides/hmrc-delivery-platform-reporting-restaurants/) for the full picture on what HMRC now knows about your delivery income. ## How to evaluate delivery management software When assessing any tool that claims to manage your delivery operations, ask these questions: ### For order management - Does it integrate with all three UK platforms (Deliveroo, Uber Eats, Just Eat)? - Does it work with your existing POS system? - Can you sync menus from a single source? - Does it handle platform-specific menu rules (allergen info, item availability)? ### For financial management - Does it reconcile payout deposits at order level — not just show totals? - Does it record the VAT on commissions for reclaim in full, and split delivery sales by VAT rate? - Does it generate journal entries for your accounting software? - Does it integrate with Xero, QuickBooks, or Sage via API? - Does it flag commission errors and unjustified refund clawbacks? Most tools will answer yes to the first set and no to the second. That gap is what costs you money and HMRC compliance risk. ## What you can do now 1. **Understand your actual platform costs** — use our free [commission calculator](/tools/commission-calculator/) to estimate take-home per platform after commission, VAT on commission and an assumed 2.5% for other fees 2. **Set up proper financial tracking** — even without specialised software, creating separate expense codes in your accounting software for each platform's commissions gives you visibility you currently lack 3. **Start reconciling weekly** — download payout reports from each platform dashboard and match them against your accounting records. Our [Xero reconciliation guide](/guides/reconcile-delivery-payouts-xero/) covers the exact process 4. **Check your HMRC readiness** — use our free [HMRC Readiness Checker](/tools/hmrc-readiness-checker/) to assess your current compliance position --- *This guide covers delivery management software options for UK restaurants on Deliveroo, Uber Eats, and Just Eat as of 2026. It is not financial or tax advice. For guidance on your specific setup, consult a qualified accountant.* ## Sources - Platform Operators (Due Diligence and Reporting Requirements) Regulations 2023 ]]> https://payoutledger.co.uk/guides/accounting-software-pubs-bars-delivery/ https://payoutledger.co.uk/guides/accounting-software-pubs-bars-delivery/ Wed, 15 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT What pubs and bars on Deliveroo, Uber Eats, or Just Eat need from accounting software — commission tracking, VAT on mixed-rate items, and reconciliation. VAT Notice 709/1, section 2.1) lists "delivery of cooked ready-to-eat food or meals (with or without crockery or cutlery)" among its obvious examples of catering, and catering is standard-rated whether the food is hot or cold. Agree with your accountant how your delivered cold items are treated. The commission your delivery platform charges is also standard-rated for VAT at 20%. If you are VAT-registered, you can reclaim that commission VAT as input tax **in full** — a mixed hot/cold menu does not restrict it. **Example:** If 75% of your delivery sales are standard-rated hot food and 25% are zero-rated items, you still reclaim 100% of the commission VAT. Zero-rated supplies are taxable supplies taxed at 0%, not exempt supplies, and VAT Notice 700 allows recovery of input tax relating to "supplies you make which are liable at the standard rate, reduced rate or the zero rate." Partial exemption only bites where a business makes genuinely **exempt** supplies, such as financial services, insurance and certain property. A pub's food and drink sales are taxable, not exempt. Gaming-machine takings that fall within machine games duty are exempt (VAT Act 1994, Schedule 9, Group 4), so a pub with a fruit or gaming machine can be partly exempt. The commission VAT on delivery sales relates wholly to taxable supplies, so it is still recoverable in full. Where the 75/25 split does matter is the **output** VAT on the sales themselves: standard-rated items at 20%, zero-rated items at 0%. Post those as separate revenue lines rather than one blended figure. The costly error here runs one way: - **Underclaiming** — restricting the commission VAT reclaim to your standard-rated share, or not reclaiming any of it — leaves money on the table, potentially hundreds of pounds per year For the worked example — and the two mistakes most pub accountants make on mixed-rate menus — see our [VAT on delivery commissions guide](/guides/vat-delivery-commissions-guide-uk/). Our free [VAT on Delivery Commissions Guide](/tools/vat-commissions-guide/) tool confirms the treatment for your own hot/cold ratio. ## What to look for in accounting software If your pub or bar is on delivery platforms, evaluate your accounting software against these criteria (for a food-led site, our guide to [accounting software for restaurants](/guides/best-accounting-software-restaurants-delivery/) covers the restaurant version): ### 1. Separate tracking for delivery revenue You need to track delivery platform income separately from bar sales, food service, and other revenue streams. At minimum, you need distinct codes for: - Deliveroo gross sales - Uber Eats gross sales - Just Eat gross sales - Commission expense per platform - VAT on commissions (input tax) - Refund deductions per platform - Service fees per platform A single "delivery income" line captures none of the detail you need for reconciliation — or for answering HMRC queries. ### 2. Multi-line journal support Delivery platform payouts arrive as single bank deposits. To record them accurately, you need to create journal entries that break out the gross sales, commissions, VAT on commissions, refunds, and fees — typically 5-6 lines per journal. Your accounting software must support multi-line manual journals with mixed VAT codes on different lines. Our [guide to reconciling delivery payouts in Xero](/guides/reconcile-delivery-payouts-xero/) shows the exact journal format, which applies equally to pubs and bars on delivery platforms. ### 3. Bank feed matching against multi-line journals When the delivery platform deposit hits your bank account, your software should let you match that single deposit against the multi-line journal you created. This is standard in most cloud accounting software, but the ease of the workflow varies significantly. ### 4. HMRC compliance and Making Tax Digital Since January 2024, delivery platforms report your revenue directly to HMRC under the Digital Platform Reporting Rules. Each platform reports what it paid you, with the fees, commissions and taxes it deducted reported separately. Added back together, those should come close to your gross delivery sales for that platform once refunds and timing are allowed for: HMRC's manual says the figure is calculated on a "cash basis", after refunds made in the period. MTD compatibility for VAT returns is also essential. ### 5. Handling both wet and food sales alongside delivery Your accounting software needs to handle the full mix: bar sales through the till, food sales (dine-in and takeaway), and delivery platform income — each with different VAT treatments, payment timing, and reconciliation requirements. The ability to run reports by revenue source is critical for understanding which channels are actually profitable. ## The reconciliation gap No accounting software currently automates the delivery platform reconciliation workflow for pubs and bars. You still need to: 1. Download CSV payout reports from each platform dashboard 2. Cross-reference orders and verify commission rates 3. Split delivery sales by VAT rate, and record the VAT on commissions for reclaim in full 4. Create manual journal entries in your accounting software 5. Match bank deposits against those journals This is the same challenge that restaurants face, and the gap exists across the entire hospitality sector. Purpose-built reconciliation tools are designed to fill this gap. ## What delivery platforms cost your pub (the real numbers) Use our free [commission calculator](/tools/commission-calculator/) to estimate what each platform costs you each week after commission, VAT on commission and an assumed 2.5% for other fees (an illustrative allowance, not a published platform charge). The headline commission rate is typically 15–35%, but the effective deduction rate is higher once VAT and other deductions are included. For a pub doing £3,000/week in delivery orders at 25% commission, the real weekly cost is £900 once the 20% VAT on that commission is included (more if your statement shows refunds or other deductions) — not the £750 the headline rate suggests. ## Getting started 1. **Audit your current setup** — can you report delivery revenue by platform, separately from bar sales? If not, your tracking needs restructuring 2. **Set up dedicated tracking codes** for each platform's revenue, commissions, and fees 3. **Split your delivery sales by VAT rate**, and check your commission VAT reclaim using our [VAT on Delivery Commissions Guide](/tools/vat-commissions-guide/) 4. **Start weekly reconciliation** — matching platform payout reports against your accounting journals catches errors early 5. **Check your HMRC exposure** with our free [HMRC Readiness Checker](/tools/hmrc-readiness-checker/) — delivery platform reporting rules apply to pubs and bars equally If you run a cafe rather than a pub, the same mixed-rate VAT challenges apply — see our [cafe accounting for delivery platforms guide](/guides/cafe-accounting-delivery-uk/) for the cafe-specific bookkeeping setup. --- *This guide covers accounting software considerations for UK pubs and bars on delivery platforms. It is not financial or tax advice. For guidance on your specific accounting setup, consult a qualified accountant.* ## Sources - Platform Operators (Due Diligence and Reporting Requirements) Regulations 2023 - HMRC VAT guide (Notice 700) — input tax you can reclaim - VAT Notice 706: partial exemption - VAT Act 1994, Schedule 9 (exemptions), Group 4 item 1A: machine games - HMRC VAT rates - HMRC — Food products and VAT (Notice 701/14), section 3.7.2: drinks that are standard-rated - HMRC — IEIM901740: what platforms report as consideration (net of fees, which are reported separately) ]]> https://payoutledger.co.uk/guides/delivery-platform-payout-schedules-uk/ https://payoutledger.co.uk/guides/delivery-platform-payout-schedules-uk/ Wed, 08 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT When Deliveroo, Uber Eats, and Just Eat actually pay UK restaurants — payout cycles, delays, and how to match deposits against your orders. Deliveroo Partner Hub. The CSV export breaks down the payout into individual order lines, showing commission applied, refunds deducted, and any adjustments. ### Uber Eats - **Payout frequency:** Weekly (default for most UK restaurants) - **Payout day:** Varies by agreement and bank processing - **Coverage period:** Rolling weekly cycle - **Format:** Single net lump sum — same deduction structure as Deliveroo - **Delay:** Typically 5–7 business days after the close of the payout period Uber Eats payout details are available through Uber Eats Manager. The payment statement shows order-level data including commissions, refunds, and adjustments. ### Just Eat - **Payout frequency:** Weekly - **Payout day:** Varies by agreement - **Coverage period:** Rolling weekly cycle - **Format:** Single net lump sum - **Delay:** Typically 7–10 business days Just Eat's Partner Centre provides payment reports with detailed breakdowns. The report format and level of detail may vary depending on your service tier and agreement type. Because Just Eat reports at the weekly-total level rather than order by order, its payouts need a slightly different approach — our [step-by-step guide to reconciling Just Eat payouts](/guides/just-eat-payout-reconciliation-uk/) covers the weekly-invoice workflow. ## The timing problem Three platforms, three different payout cycles, three different delays. Here is what a typical month looks like: | Week ending | Deliveroo arrives | Uber Eats arrives | Just Eat arrives | |-------------|------------------|------------------|-----------------| | Sun 1 Mar | ~Wed 11 Mar | ~Mon 9 Mar | ~Thu 12 Mar | | Sun 8 Mar | ~Wed 18 Mar | ~Mon 16 Mar | ~Thu 19 Mar | | Sun 15 Mar | ~Wed 25 Mar | ~Mon 23 Mar | ~Thu 26 Mar | | Sun 22 Mar | ~Wed 1 Apr | ~Mon 30 Mar | ~Thu 2 Apr | Notice that the last week's orders do not arrive until the following month. This creates timing differences in your accounting: March revenue is partially received in April. If you do monthly management accounts, you either: - **Accrue the unpaid revenue** — correct but requires estimating the outstanding amount - **Record revenue when paid** — simpler but your monthly P&L does not reflect actual trading activity For VAT-registered restaurants filing quarterly returns, the timing issue is less acute — most payouts settle within the quarter. But for monthly reporting, especially if you track profitability per period, the stagger matters. ## Why net lump sums make reconciliation difficult Every platform pays you a single bank deposit that bundles together: - Gross order revenue (hundreds of individual orders) - Minus commission on each order - Minus VAT on each commission charge - Minus refund clawbacks - Minus service fees - Minus marketing deductions (if opted in) - Minus tablet rental (if applicable) - Plus or minus adjustments from previous periods Your bank statement shows one incoming payment. To verify it is correct, you need to reconstruct the calculation from the platform's payout report — matching every order, checking every commission rate, confirming every refund. For a restaurant doing 100 orders per week on one platform, that is 100 line items to verify. Across three platforms, 300 line items per week. Over a year, roughly 15,000 individual transactions — all arriving as 156 lump-sum deposits. ## How to match payouts against your records ### Step 1: Download the payout report on the same day the deposit arrives When you see a platform deposit in your bank feed, immediately download the corresponding payout report from the platform dashboard. Waiting even a few days makes matching harder — the report covers a specific period, and if you are not sure which deposit corresponds to which report, you lose track. ### Step 2: Check the gross total first Before going order by order, compare the gross order value in the payout report against what your POS system recorded for the same period. If these do not match, you have a structural problem — orders in the platform that are not in your POS, or vice versa. Common causes of gross total mismatches: - **Test orders** that were placed and cancelled but still appear in platform data - **Orders accepted on the tablet but not entered in the POS** (common in restaurants that have not integrated their POS with the platform) - **Timing differences** — an order placed at 23:55 on Sunday might appear in the following week's payout ### Step 3: Verify the deduction total Add up all deductions in the payout report: commission, VAT on commission, refunds, fees. Subtract from the gross total. This should equal the deposit in your bank. If it does not: - Check for adjustments from previous periods (corrections, chargebacks, promotional credits) - Check for rounding differences (usually pennies — anything over £5 needs investigation) - Check whether the payout report covers exactly the same orders as the deposit ### Step 4: Enter the journal entry In your accounting software, create a manual journal that breaks out each component. Our [guide to reconciling delivery payouts in Xero](/guides/reconcile-delivery-payouts-xero/) walks through the exact journal format with correct VAT coding. ## Cash flow implications The payout delay affects your cash flow planning: - **You pay suppliers on delivery** — food costs are incurred immediately - **You pay staff weekly or monthly** — labour costs are fixed - **Platform revenue arrives 7–10 days later** — you are effectively financing the platform's float For a restaurant doing £5,000/week across platforms, there is always roughly £5,000–10,000 of earned revenue sitting in the platforms' payout pipeline. This is working capital you cannot access. If your cash flow is tight — and for many independent restaurants, it is — this delay can create pressure points around rent day, VAT payments, and supplier invoices. Understanding the payout schedule lets you plan around it rather than being surprised. ## Cross-period adjustments Platforms occasionally make adjustments to previous payouts. These appear as positive or negative line items in the current payout report: - **Commission corrections:** The platform applied the wrong rate and is correcting it - **Refund reversals:** A previously deducted refund is being returned (the customer's claim was overturned) - **Promotional credits:** Marketing spend rebates or campaign credits These adjustments are easy to miss because they relate to orders from a different period. If you are not reading the payout report line by line, they get absorbed into the lump sum without explanation. ## Making payout tracking manageable The 2–3 hours per week that manual reconciliation takes is the honest time cost for doing it properly. Here are ways to make it more manageable: - **Pick one day per week** for all three platforms' reconciliation — Tuesday or Wednesday works well because most weekly payouts have arrived by then - **Create journal templates** in your accounting software so you are not building from scratch each week - **Track your running refund rate** per platform — if it spikes, investigate immediately rather than at month-end - **Keep payout CSVs organised** — create a folder structure by platform and month so you can find them during year-end or if HMRC asks ## Check your platform costs Use our free [commission calculator](/tools/commission-calculator/) to estimate what each platform costs you each week — before the payout delay even enters the picture. Knowing your effective deduction rate per platform helps you assess whether the volume each platform brings justifies the cost and the cash flow impact. For the end-to-end reconciliation workflow once the payouts do arrive — including how to handle all three platforms' different report formats — see our [multi-platform delivery reconciliation guide](/guides/multi-platform-delivery-reconciliation-uk/). --- *This guide covers delivery platform payout schedules for UK restaurants as of March 2026. Payout timing varies by platform agreement and may change — check your specific platform dashboard for current payout schedules. This is not financial advice. Consult a qualified accountant for guidance on revenue recognition and cash flow planning.* ## Sources - Platform Operators (Due Diligence and Reporting Requirements) Regulations 2023 ]]> https://payoutledger.co.uk/guides/vat-delivery-commissions-guide-uk/ https://payoutledger.co.uk/guides/vat-delivery-commissions-guide-uk/ Wed, 01 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT How VAT applies to Deliveroo, Uber Eats, and Just Eat commissions — why a mixed hot/cold menu does not restrict your reclaim, where the real apportionment sits, and the mistakes UK restaurants commonly make. standard rate of 20%. The platform charges you the commission amount plus VAT on that commission. **Example:** - Your agreed commission rate: 25% - Order value: £40 - Commission: £10 - VAT on commission (20%): £2 - Total commission cost to you: £12 That £2 VAT is input tax. If you are VAT-registered, you can reclaim it. ## The mixed-rate menu: what it changes and what it does not Most UK restaurants sell a mix of: - **Standard-rated food (20% VAT):** Hot meals, hot takeaway food, food heated to order, food kept hot after preparation. The detailed rules are in HMRC's VAT Notice 709/1 on catering and takeaway food. - **Zero-rated food (0% VAT):** Cold takeaway food (sandwiches, salads, cold wraps), certain bakery items sold cold — but not automatically when it goes out as part of a delivered meal. The same notice (section 2.1) lists "delivery of cooked ready-to-eat food or meals (with or without crockery or cutlery)" among its obvious examples of catering, and catering is standard-rated whether the food is hot or cold. Whether cold items in your delivery orders are zero-rated depends on the facts, so agree the treatment with your accountant. This mix has one real consequence and one imagined one. It is worth being precise about which is which, because getting it backwards costs real money. ### What it does change: the output VAT on your sales Your delivery sales are not one number for VAT purposes. Hot food carries output VAT at 20%; zero-rated cold takeaway food carries none. If your menu includes zero-rated items and you post a single gross delivery-sales figure at one rate, your output VAT is wrong — usually overstated, sometimes understated, always hard to defend in an enquiry. This is the apportionment that genuinely applies to a mixed menu, and it happens on the **sales** side of the return. The [VAT treatment of the delivery charge itself](/guides/vat-on-delivery-charges-uk/) is a separate (though related) question. ### What it does not change: your commission VAT reclaim Zero-rated supplies are **taxable** supplies — taxed at 0%, but taxable. VAT Notice 706 puts it plainly: "Most taxable supplies require VAT to be charged at the standard rate, but some taxable supplies will attract VAT at the reduced or zero rate." That matters because input tax recovery follows the right to deduct, not the rate. VAT Notice 700 states that you can normally reclaim input tax relating to "supplies you make which are liable at the standard rate, reduced rate or the zero rate." So if your restaurant makes only standard-rated and zero-rated supplies — which describes almost every UK restaurant — **100% of your commission VAT is reclaimable input tax**, whatever your hot/cold split. A cafe selling 80% cold food reclaims exactly the same proportion of commission VAT as a pizzeria selling none: all of it. ## When partial exemption actually applies Partial exemption is a real regime, but it is triggered by something a restaurant almost never does. VAT Notice 706 defines it: a business is partly exempt if it "makes, or intends to make, both taxable and **exempt** supplies and incurs tax on costs which relate to both." **Exempt** supplies are a specific category — financial services, insurance, certain land and property transactions, some health and education. Food and drink is not on that list. A restaurant selling hot meals and cold sandwiches makes two kinds of *taxable* supply and no exempt supplies at all, so it is not partly exempt and no restriction applies. HMRC's partial exemption manual is consistent with this: PE12000 describes "the restriction of input tax claims to the amount related to making supplies that carry a right to deduct." Zero-rated supplies carry that right. The manual does not treat zero-rated supplies as restricting recovery, and citing it for that proposition — as this guide previously did — is a misreading. The same goes for the **de minimis** rules, which are sometimes invoked here. De minimis governs *exempt* input tax: it lets a partly exempt business recover small amounts of exempt input tax in full. If you have no exempt supplies, you have no exempt input tax, so there is no de minimis test to apply and nothing to fall below it. ## The two most common mistakes ### Mistake 1: Restricting the reclaim because some of your food is zero-rated This is the expensive one, and it is common precisely because it sounds prudent. A restaurant sees that 20% of its delivery sales are cold food, concludes that 20% of its commission VAT must be "irrecoverable", and writes it off as a cost. **What happens:** You under-reclaim, permanently. On £1,000/month of commission the VAT is £200. Writing off 20% of that is £40/month — £480 a year given away for no reason. And because it looks conservative, nobody queries it. **The fix:** Reclaim the full commission VAT as input tax. Code the whole VAT amount as standard-rated input (T1 in Xero, or your software's equivalent). There is no split to calculate on the commission side. ### Mistake 2: Not reclaiming any commission VAT Some restaurants — and some generalist accountants — code the entire commission as a cost with no VAT reclaim, either because they are unsure about the treatment or because they assume a mixed menu makes the calculation complicated. **What happens:** You lose the lot. On £1,000/month of commission charges, the VAT component is £200 — £2,400 a year. **The fix:** Identify the VAT on your commission invoices (the platform's periodic invoice shows the VAT amount separately) and enter the full amount as input tax. There is a third error worth naming, though it sits on the sales side: **posting delivery sales as a single gross figure** and applying one VAT rate to the lot. That one does need fixing, and the next section shows how. ## How to handle a VAT period correctly Here is the calculation, end to end, for a restaurant with a mixed menu. ### Step 1: Split your delivery sales by rate For the VAT period (this example assumes the £3,300 of cold items qualify as zero-rated cold takeaway rather than catering; if they are catering, they belong on the standard-rated line): | Item | Gross sales | Output VAT | |------|-------------|-----------| | Standard-rated delivery sales (VAT-inclusive) | £15,000 | £2,500 | | Zero-rated delivery sales (cold items treated as cold takeaway) | £3,300 | £0 | | **Total delivery sales** | **£18,300** | **£2,500** | The £2,500 is £15,000 ÷ 6 — the VAT fraction of a VAT-inclusive standard-rated figure. The zero-rated sales carry no output VAT, but they still belong in your turnover. **This is the apportionment step that a mixed menu actually requires.** Skip it and your output VAT is wrong. ### Step 2: Total your commission VAT Add up the VAT charged on commissions across all platforms for the period: | Platform | Commission | VAT on commission | |----------|-----------|------------------| | Deliveroo | £3,750 | £750 | | Uber Eats | £2,800 | £560 | | Just Eat | £2,200 | £440 | | **Total** | **£8,750** | **£1,750** | ### Step 3: Reclaim it — all of it Reclaimable input tax = **£1,750**. No apportionment, no irrecoverable residue. The 82/18 split between standard-rated and zero-rated sales governed step 1 and has no bearing here, because both categories are taxable supplies carrying the right to deduct. ### Step 4: Enter in your accounting software In Xero, QuickBooks or Sage: - **Sales:** two lines — £15,000 gross at the standard rate (£2,500 output VAT), £3,300 at zero rate (nil). - **Commission:** £8,750 to your platform-commission expense account, with the full £1,750 coded as reclaimable input tax (T1 or equivalent). No "irrecoverable VAT" code is needed on the commission, because none of it is irrecoverable. ## What about restaurants that only sell hot food? If your delivery menu is 100% hot food (pizzas, curries, fried chicken, noodle dishes — all standard-rated), step 1 collapses to a single line and everything else is the same. Your commission VAT was always fully reclaimable. It is still worth checking your menu, because the sales split matters even where the reclaim does not: - Cold sandwiches and wraps can be zero-rated as cold takeaway (though not automatically within a delivered meal, as above) - Certain desserts served cold may be zero-rated Bottled water is not on that list: HMRC treats it as always standard-rated, along with most cold soft drinks such as carbonated drinks and squashes. If even a small proportion of your delivery sales are zero-rated, your **output** VAT needs splitting. Your commission reclaim does not. ## Use our VAT calculator Our free [VAT on Delivery Commissions Guide](/tools/vat-commissions-guide/) lets you enter your split between standard-rated and zero-rated sales and confirms the treatment — full recovery on the commission VAT, whatever the split. For the broader VAT picture — food VAT rates, the registration threshold, and Making Tax Digital — see our [restaurant VAT guide for the delivery era](/guides/restaurant-vat-delivery-era-uk/). --- *This guide covers VAT on delivery platform commissions for UK VAT-registered restaurants as of August 2026. VAT rules are subject to change — check the latest HMRC guidance for current rates and thresholds. This is not tax advice. For guidance on your specific VAT position, consult a qualified accountant or VAT specialist.* ## Sources - HMRC VAT rates - HMRC VAT guide (Notice 700) — input tax you can reclaim - VAT Notice 706: partial exemption - HMRC VAT Partial Exemption Guidance — PE12000 - HMRC VAT Notice 709/1 — Catering, takeaway food and VAT - Platform Operators (Due Diligence and Reporting Requirements) Regulations 2023 - HMRC — Food products and VAT (Notice 701/14), section 3.7.2: drinks that are standard-rated ]]> https://payoutledger.co.uk/guides/delivery-platform-refund-costs-restaurants/ https://payoutledger.co.uk/guides/delivery-platform-refund-costs-restaurants/ Wed, 25 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT How delivery platform refund clawbacks eat into your margins — and the steps UK restaurants can take to identify and challenge unjustified refunds. Digital Platform Reporting Rules. Our [guide to reconciling delivery payouts in Xero](/guides/reconcile-delivery-payouts-xero/) shows exactly how to code refund deductions in your journal entries. ## The bigger picture: refunds and HMRC compliance Since January 2024, delivery platforms report to HMRC what they paid you, with the fees, commissions and taxes they deducted reported separately. If you are not recording refunds properly, your books could overstate or understate your income depending on how you handle the deductions. - **Overstated:** You recorded the original sale but not the refund reversal - **Understated:** You recorded the net payout (after refunds) as revenue instead of the gross amount Either way, the number does not match what HMRC has. Getting refund accounting right is not just about recovering money — it is about keeping your records defensible. ## What accurate refund tracking reveals Restaurants that reconcile at order level consistently discover: - **The true cost of each platform** — not just commission, but commission plus refunds plus service fees - **Patterns in refund claims** — specific items, times of day, delivery areas, or repeat customers that drive refund volume - **Whether a platform is worth the margin erosion** — if one platform's refund rate pushes your effective deduction above 40%, the volume may not justify the cost The first step is visibility. You cannot challenge what you cannot see. ## Check your commission exposure Use our free [commission calculator](/tools/commission-calculator/) to estimate your take-home per platform after commission, VAT on commission and an assumed 2.5% for other fees. Then compare that estimate against your payout reports — the gap shows your refunds and any deductions the estimate does not cover. --- *This guide covers delivery platform refund clawbacks for UK restaurants as of March 2026. Refund rates cited are commonly reported ranges from UK hospitality forums and restaurant operator discussions — your actual rate will vary. This is not financial or legal advice. For guidance on refund disputes or accounting treatment, consult a qualified accountant.* ## Sources - Platform Operators (Due Diligence and Reporting Requirements) Regulations 2023 - HMRC — IEIM901740: what platforms report as consideration (net of fees, which are reported separately) ]]> https://payoutledger.co.uk/guides/deliveroo-vs-uber-eats-vs-just-eat-commission/ https://payoutledger.co.uk/guides/deliveroo-vs-uber-eats-vs-just-eat-commission/ Wed, 18 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Side-by-side breakdown of Deliveroo, Uber Eats, and Just Eat commission rates for UK restaurants — including hidden fees, VAT, and actual take-home. UK merchant pricing page and Just Eat's partner signup page, whose "Still have questions?" section states: "We take a 14% commission for every order you accept ... for which you use your own delivery drivers ... We take a 30% commission for every order you accept and where we deliver for you." Both checked 2026-08-10. Two caveats before you plan against these. First, a published rate is the standard signup offer, not a guarantee of your agreement — rates are negotiable and depend on location, order volume and tenure, so an established restaurant and a new one may be on different terms. Second, the delivery model matters more than the platform: on both platforms that publish, taking delivery in-house roughly halves the commission. Just Eat is also the trickiest platform to reconcile, because it reports at the weekly-total level rather than order by order — our guide to [reconciling Just Eat payouts](/guides/just-eat-payout-reconciliation-uk/) walks through the weekly-invoice workflow. ## Beyond the headline: the fees that add up The commission percentage is only the starting point. Each platform layers on additional charges: ### Other fees and deductions Check your own agreement and statements for anything deducted beyond commission and its VAT. Deliveroo's UK partner terms describe no separate payment-processing fee: they set the payout as "an amount equal to the GMV for your Delivery Orders during the relevant payment period, less the Delivery Service Fee, less any relevant adjustments for refunds paid to customers", and say any marketing (Marketer) charges "will be deducted from the amounts payable to you". ### VAT on commissions All three platforms charge VAT at the standard 20% rate on their commission and service fees. This is a service charge, and services are VAT-able. On a 25% commission, that 20% VAT adds another 5 percentage points to your effective deduction. If you are VAT-registered, this VAT is input tax and you can reclaim it **in full** — including where you sell both standard-rated items (hot food) and zero-rated items (cold takeaway food). Zero-rated supplies are taxable supplies taxed at 0%, not exempt supplies, and VAT Notice 700 allows recovery of input tax relating to "supplies you make which are liable at the standard rate, reduced rate or the zero rate." Partial exemption only restricts recovery where a business also makes genuinely **exempt** supplies, which a restaurant selling food and drink does not. What a mixed menu does require is apportioning your **output** VAT on sales by rate. See our guide to [VAT on commission rules](/guides/vat-delivery-commissions-guide-uk/) for the mechanics. ### Refund policies This is where the platforms diverge most — and where restaurants lose money they do not expect: | Platform | Who bears refund cost? | Dispute window | Typical refund rate | |----------|----------------------|---------------|-------------------| | Deliveroo | Restaurant bears most costs | Limited | Varies | | Uber Eats | Restaurant bears most costs | Limited | Varies | | Just Eat | Restaurant bears most costs | Limited | Varies | All three platforms deduct refund amounts from your next payout. The restaurant pays even when the refund was triggered by a rider error (late delivery, damaged packaging) or a fraudulent customer claim. Restaurants across the UK commonly report that a significant proportion of refund claims appear unjustified — items the POS confirms were packed, duplicate claims for the same order, or quality complaints on sealed containers. Without order-level reconciliation, these are nearly impossible to identify and challenge. ## Worked example: the same £40 order on each platform Here is what a £40 food order looks like after deductions, using the **published** rates for the two platforms that publish and an indicative reported rate for Deliveroo. **Platform-delivered orders:** | Deduction | Deliveroo (25%, reported) | Uber Eats (30%, published) | Just Eat (30%, published) | |-----------|--------------------------|---------------------------|--------------------------| | Order value | £40.00 | £40.00 | £40.00 | | Commission | -£10.00 | -£12.00 | -£12.00 | | VAT on commission (20%) | -£2.00 | -£2.40 | -£2.40 | | **Your take-home** | **£28.00** | **£25.60** | **£25.60** | | **Effective deduction** | **30.0%** | **36.0%** | **36.0%** | **Self-delivered orders** (your own drivers), for the two platforms that publish a self-delivery rate: | Deduction | Uber Eats (13%) | Just Eat (14%) | |-----------|----------------|---------------| | Order value | £40.00 | £40.00 | | Commission | -£5.20 | -£5.60 | | VAT on commission (20%) | -£1.04 | -£1.12 | | **Your take-home** | **£33.76** | **£33.28** | | **Effective deduction** | **15.6%** | **16.8%** | Two things fall out of this. A headline "30%" is really 36% once VAT is on top — that gap is where accounting errors live, and where HMRC discrepancies start. And the delivery model swings the cost far harder than the choice of platform: roughly 36% against roughly 16% on the same order. This example excludes refunds and marketing opt-ins, which push the effective rate higher. To turn take-home per order into an actual margin — once refunds, packaging, and food costs are layered in — see our guide to [calculating restaurant profit after delivery fees](/guides/restaurant-profit-after-delivery-fees/). ## Payout schedules: when you actually get paid | Platform | Payout frequency | Typical delay | Format | |----------|-----------------|--------------|--------| | Deliveroo | Weekly | 1–2 weeks after orders | Net lump sum | | Uber Eats | Weekly (varies) | 1–2 weeks after orders | Net lump sum | | Just Eat | Weekly | 1–2 weeks after orders | Net lump sum | All three platforms pay in net lump sums — a single bank deposit that bundles dozens or hundreds of orders with all deductions already subtracted. None of them provide order-level detail in your bank feed. This creates the core reconciliation problem: you receive one payment but need to verify hundreds of individual transactions to confirm it is correct. Multiply by three platforms, and you have a weekly reconciliation task that takes 2–3 hours if done properly. ## Which platform costs you the most? The honest answer: it depends on your specific agreement. But there are patterns: - **Uber Eats and Just Eat publish near-identical rates** — 30% where the platform delivers, 13% and 14% respectively where you do. On published figures there is very little between them - **Deliveroo publishes no standard rate** (its partner terms give a figure only for Marketplace+ rider-network orders), so it cannot be compared on a like-for-like published basis at all — for the deduction-by-deduction picture, see our [full breakdown of Deliveroo commission rates](/guides/deliveroo-commission-uk-restaurants/) - **The real cost difference is in the hidden fees** — service charges, refund frequency, and marketing programme costs vary more than the headline commission The most expensive platform is not necessarily the one with the highest commission rate. It is the one where you have the most refund clawbacks, the highest service fees, and the least visibility into what is being deducted. ## What this means for your accounting If you are on multiple platforms, your accounting needs to track each one separately. A single "delivery income" line in your books loses all of this detail — and since January 2024, HMRC receives your revenue data directly from each platform under the Digital Platform Reporting Rules. Your books need to show: - Gross revenue per platform (before any deductions) - Commission expense per platform - VAT on commissions per platform - Refunds per platform - Service fees per platform If your current setup does not separate these, read our [step-by-step guide to reconciling delivery payouts in Xero](/guides/reconcile-delivery-payouts-xero/) for the exact journal entry format. ## Compare your actual numbers Use our free [commission calculator](/tools/commission-calculator/) to enter your own order values and rates for each platform and estimate your take-home after commission and VAT on commission. It also deducts an assumed 2.5% for other fees, which you can compare against your statements. It shows an estimated effective deduction rate — not the headline number. --- *This guide compares delivery platform commission structures for UK restaurants (written March 2026, last revised October 2026). Rates are negotiable and vary by agreement — check your specific contracts. Uber Eats and Just Eat rates cited are the platforms' own published figures (checked 2026-08-10); Deliveroo figures are indicative ranges reported by UK restaurant operators, as Deliveroo publishes no standard UK rate (its partner terms, checked 2026-10-15, state a figure only for Marketplace+ rider-network orders). This is not financial or tax advice. Consult a qualified accountant for guidance on your specific situation.* ## Sources - Platform Operators (Due Diligence and Reporting Requirements) Regulations 2023 - HMRC VAT rates - HMRC VAT guide (Notice 700) — input tax you can reclaim - VAT Notice 706: partial exemption - Uber Eats — UK merchant pricing - Just Eat — UK partner signup ("Still have questions?" — published commission rates) - Deliveroo — UK partner terms (fees set as "a percentage of GMV"; payout = GMV less the Delivery Service Fee and refunds; Marketer charges deducted from payouts; 35% plus VAT for Marketplace+ rider-network orders) ]]> https://payoutledger.co.uk/guides/hmrc-delivery-platform-reporting-restaurants/ https://payoutledger.co.uk/guides/hmrc-delivery-platform-reporting-restaurants/ Wed, 11 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Since January 2024, Deliveroo, Uber Eats, and Just Eat report your revenue to HMRC. Here's what that means for UK restaurants and how to prepare. Digital Platform Reporting Rules, which require digital platforms to report seller revenue data to HMRC annually. The first reporting deadline was 31 January 2025, covering activity from 1 January to 31 December 2024. For UK restaurants on delivery platforms, this changes the compliance landscape fundamentally. HMRC can now compare what you declared on your tax return against what the platforms reported. If the numbers do not match, you are at risk of investigation. ## What HMRC now knows about your restaurant Under the Digital Platform Reporting Rules, each delivery platform reports the following to HMRC: - Your business name and registered address - Your tax identification numbers (UTR, VAT number) - The total amount paid or credited to you, broken down by calendar quarter - The number of transactions in each quarter - Platform fees, commissions, and taxes deducted - The bank account your payouts were sent to This is not order-by-order data -- the platforms report quarterly totals, not a line for every meal. But it is precise enough to matter. HMRC knows what each platform paid you in each quarter and, separately, the fees, commissions and taxes it deducted. Adding those back gives a figure close to your gross sales on that platform, which HMRC can check against the income on your return. ## The enforcement picture HMRC has been increasingly active in cross-referencing platform data against tax returns. Now that platforms report seller revenue directly under the Digital Platform Reporting Rules, any gap between the income a platform reports and the figure on a trader's return is straightforward for HMRC to identify. The penalties for inaccurate tax returns range from percentage-based penalties on the unpaid tax (typically 15-30% for careless errors, up to 100% for deliberate understatement) to daily penalties for failing to respond to information notices. HMRC has also been expanding its compliance workforce, with a focus on the digital economy. The investment in additional compliance officers signals that HMRC intends to use the platform data actively, not just collect it. ## Why restaurant books commonly do not match Most restaurants on delivery platforms have a gap between their declared income and what HMRC has received from the platforms. This is rarely intentional -- it is usually one of these accounting errors: ### 1. Lump-sum entries instead of order-level accounting The most common mistake: entering a single "Deliveroo income" journal based on the bank deposit. The deposit is a net figure (after commissions, refunds, and fees), but your revenue should be reported gross. If the platform's figures add back to £4,000 of gross orders (what it paid you plus the commission, fees and VAT it deducted) and your books show £2,847 in revenue (the net payout), that is a £1,153 discrepancy. **Fix:** Record gross revenue and separate out commissions, VAT on commissions, refunds, and fees as distinct expense lines. See our [guide to reconciling delivery payouts in Xero](/guides/reconcile-delivery-payouts-xero/) for the exact journal entry format. ### 2. Missing payouts A payout arrives, gets coded vaguely, and is forgotten. Or it arrives in a different period than expected due to the platform's payout schedule. The orders are in HMRC's data but not properly recorded in your books. **Fix:** Reconcile platform payouts weekly, not monthly or quarterly. Match every deposit against the platform's payout report. ### 3. Refund accounting errors When a platform issues a customer refund, it deducts the amount from your next payout. If you do not record this refund, your gross revenue figure is overstated compared to the platform's data -- or understated if you recorded the original sale but not the refund reversal. **Fix:** Record refunds as a separate line in your reconciliation journal, not netted against sales. ### 4. VAT on commission miscoding Getting the VAT on commissions wrong does not directly affect your income reporting, but a misstated VAT return is its own risk. The commission VAT itself is reclaimable in full — a mixed hot/cold menu does not restrict it, because zero-rated supplies are taxable supplies rather than exempt ones. What the platform reports to HMRC is what it paid you, with the fees, commissions and taxes it deducted reported separately. Together those add back to roughly your gross sales, so the figure worth getting right is on the sales side: record gross delivery revenue rather than net deposits, and split it by VAT rate rather than applying one blended rate to a mixed-rate menu. For the treatment and the two most common mistakes, see [our full VAT on delivery commissions guide](/guides/vat-delivery-commissions-guide-uk/). For the related question of how VAT applies to the delivery charge itself (as distinct from the commission), see our guide to [VAT on delivery charges in the UK](/guides/vat-on-delivery-charges-uk/). ## What you should do now ### Check your records against platform data For each delivery platform, compare your accounting records to the platform's annual summary: 1. **Log into each platform dashboard** and download the annual or period summary for 2024 and 2025 2. **Rebuild total gross sales** from the platform's figures (what it paid you plus the commission, fees and VAT it deducted) and compare them against what you reported as revenue for that platform in your accounts 3. **Check total commissions paid** against what you recorded as commission expense 4. **Verify refund totals** match between the platform report and your accounts If there is a material gap, speak to your accountant before the next reporting deadline. ### Start reconciling properly going forward Even if past records have gaps, getting the process right from today limits future exposure. Our [step-by-step Xero reconciliation guide](/guides/reconcile-delivery-payouts-xero/) walks through the exact workflow. ### Consider automation Manual reconciliation across three platforms takes 2-3 hours per week. Errors are easy to make and hard to spot until HMRC points them out. PayoutLedger is being built to automate the reconciliation workflow: upload your CSVs, get VAT-correct journals, push to Xero. [Join the waitlist](/#waitlist) for early access. You can also check your current compliance readiness with our free [HMRC Readiness Checker](/tools/hmrc-readiness-checker/), or download the [HMRC Delivery Platform Crackdown Guide](/downloads/hmrc-crackdown-guide/) for the self-audit checklist and penalty framework in one place. ## The opportunity in accurate books Accurate reconciliation is not just about avoiding HMRC penalties. It also reveals: - **Commission errors:** Platforms sometimes charge rates above your agreed percentage. Without order-level checking, you will never spot this - **Unjustified refunds:** Restaurants estimate roughly one in three refund claims are unjustified. Regular reconciliation makes the pattern visible - **True profitability by platform:** When you know the exact effective deduction rate per platform (including all hidden fees), you can make informed decisions about which platforms are worth being on The restaurants that reconcile properly do not just avoid HMRC trouble. They recover money they did not know they were losing. For the full VAT picture — food VAT rates, commission VAT recovery, the registration threshold, and Making Tax Digital — see our [restaurant VAT guide for the delivery era](/guides/restaurant-vat-delivery-era-uk/). --- *This guide covers HMRC's Digital Platform Reporting Rules as they apply to UK restaurants on delivery platforms, reviewed June 2026. This is not legal or tax advice. For guidance on your specific tax position, consult a qualified accountant or tax adviser.* ## Sources - Platform Operators (Due Diligence and Reporting Requirements) Regulations 2023 - …regulation 4 — reporting of information to HMRC (the 31 January reporting deadline) - HM Revenue & Customs - HMRC — IEIM901740: what platforms report as consideration (net of fees, which are reported separately) ]]> https://payoutledger.co.uk/guides/best-accounting-software-restaurants-delivery/ https://payoutledger.co.uk/guides/best-accounting-software-restaurants-delivery/ Wed, 04 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Accounting software for restaurants on Deliveroo, Uber Eats or Just Eat: the four types of package, what each handles, a worked example and a checklist. 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) - Deliveroo — UK partner terms (fees set as "a percentage of GMV"; 35% plus VAT for Marketplace+ rider-network orders) ]]> https://payoutledger.co.uk/guides/reconcile-delivery-payouts-xero/ https://payoutledger.co.uk/guides/reconcile-delivery-payouts-xero/ Wed, 25 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT Step-by-step guide to reconciling Deliveroo, Uber Eats, and Just Eat payouts in Xero, including VAT on commissions and journal entry coding. Deliveroo Partner Hub. Under Invoices, download the weekly invoice (PDF, with a CSV in some accounts), which breaks out gross sales, commission, commission VAT, and refunds for the week - **Uber Eats:** Log into Uber Eats Manager. Go to Payments and download the Payment Details report — the only one of the three with a true per-order CSV - **Just Eat:** Log into Just Eat Partner Centre. Access the weekly invoice (typically a PDF) showing total sales, commission, and the net amount paid to your bank The level of detail differs by platform: Uber Eats gives you a per-order breakdown, while Deliveroo and Just Eat report at the weekly-invoice level (gross sales, commission, VAT on commission, refunds, net payout). Either way, you need to split each payout into its component lines to create accurate journal entries — a single lump-sum entry hides the commission, VAT, and refund detail your books need. ## Step 2: Set up Xero tracking codes Before entering your first platform journal, set up dedicated tracking in Xero. You need separate nominal codes (or tracking categories) for: - **Gross platform sales** -- the total order value before any deductions (a revenue account) - **Commission expense** -- the commission charged by each platform (a cost of sales account) - **VAT on commission (input)** -- the VAT charged on the commission (recoverable if VAT-registered) - **Refunds** -- customer refunds deducted from your payout - **Platform fees and adjustments** -- marketing charges and any other deductions shown on the statement Using a single "Deliveroo income" line captures none of this detail. If HMRC queries your records, a single line entry gives you nothing to substantiate your figures against the quarterly payment totals, and the fees deducted, that HMRC already has from the platform. This split-the-payout principle is the foundation of [restaurant bookkeeping in the delivery era](/guides/restaurant-bookkeeping-delivery-era-uk/), which covers why gross-revenue recording matters and the four things delivery-era books have to do. ## Step 3: Create the journal entries For each platform payout, create a manual journal in Xero with the following lines: **Example journal for a Deliveroo weekly payout of £2,695:** | Account | Description | Debit | Credit | |---------|-------------|-------|--------| | Bank (current account) | Deliveroo payout w/c 10 Feb | £2,695.00 | | | Sales -- Deliveroo | Gross order value | | £4,000.00 | | Commission -- Deliveroo | 25% commission | £1,000.00 | | | VAT on commission (T1 input) | VAT on commission | £200.00 | | | Refunds -- Deliveroo | 7 refunds | £105.00 | | The journal balances: £2,695 + £1,000 + £200 + £105 = £4,000. If the statement shows other deductions, such as marketing charges, add a platform-fees line for them. ## Step 4: Handle VAT on commissions correctly This is where most restaurants and generalist accountants make errors. The commission charged by delivery platforms is a service subject to VAT at the standard 20% rate. The VAT on this commission is input tax -- you can reclaim it if you are VAT-registered. That holds even if your restaurant sells both standard-rated items (hot food, soft drinks) and zero-rated items (cold takeaway food, certain bakery items). Zero-rated supplies are taxable supplies taxed at 0%, not exempt supplies, so they carry the right to deduct — VAT Notice 700 allows recovery of input tax relating to "supplies you make which are liable at the standard rate, reduced rate or the zero rate." **The correct approach:** Code the entire commission VAT as T1 (standard-rated input). All of it is reclaimable, whatever your hot/cold split. **The common mistake:** Restricting the reclaim to your standard-rated proportion — reclaiming only 80% of the commission VAT because 20% of sales are zero-rated. That under-reclaims, and it is not required. Partial exemption applies only where a business makes genuinely **exempt** supplies alongside taxable ones, and a restaurant selling food and drink makes none. Where the sales split does need reflecting is the revenue side of the journal: standard-rated sales to a standard-rated code, and any zero-rated sales to a zero-rated one. Note that cold items in a delivered meal are not automatically zero-rated, because HMRC lists the delivery of cooked ready-to-eat meals among its obvious examples of catering (VAT Notice 709/1, section 2.1), which is standard-rated; agree with your accountant which of your delivered items, if any, qualify as zero-rated cold takeaway. For a deeper walkthrough, see our [VAT on delivery commissions guide](/guides/vat-delivery-commissions-guide-uk/). ## Step 5: Match payouts against bank deposits Once the journal is entered, go to Xero's bank reconciliation screen. The Deliveroo payout should appear as an incoming deposit. Match it against the journal you just created. If the deposit amount does not match your calculated payout exactly, common reasons include: - **Timing differences:** Orders at the edge of the payout period may be included or excluded - **Adjustments:** Platform corrections from previous periods - **Currency rounding:** Minor rounding differences on individual orders For any discrepancy over £5, investigate before entering an adjusting line. Small, unexplained adjustments compound over time. ## Step 6: Verify against HMRC's data Since January 2024, delivery platforms report your revenue directly to HMRC under the Digital Platform Reporting Rules. Each platform reports what it paid you, with the fees, commissions and taxes it deducted reported separately. Add those back together and the result should come close to your gross sales figures in Xero for that platform once refunds and timing are allowed for, because HMRC's manual says the figure is calculated on a "cash basis", after refunds made in the period. The best way to check: compare your Xero sales account totals for each platform against the gross order values in the platform CSVs for the same period. Any mismatch means either your journal entries are wrong or you have missed a payout. ## How long this takes (honestly) For a restaurant on three platforms doing moderate volumes, manual reconciliation takes approximately: - **Downloading CSVs:** 10-15 minutes (logging into 3 dashboards, finding the right reports) - **Cross-referencing orders:** 30-60 minutes per platform (checking refunds, verifying commission rates) - **Creating Xero journals:** 15-20 minutes per platform (data entry, VAT coding) - **Bank matching:** 10 minutes - **Total:** 2-3 hours per week Over a year, that is 100-150 hours of bookkeeping. At accountant rates (£150-400/month), you are paying £1,800-4,800 annually for this single task. ## A faster way PayoutLedger is being built to automate this workflow: upload your platform CSVs, get VAT-correct journal entries, and push them into Xero. [Join the waitlist](/#waitlist) to be first to try it. In the meantime, try our free [commission calculator](/tools/commission-calculator/) to estimate your take-home per platform, or download the [Delivery Platform Reconciliation Checklist](/downloads/reconciliation-checklist/) to run the weekly procedure by hand. If a period will not tie out, the [payout reconciliation checker](/tools/payout-reconciliation-checker/) will show the size of the variance and, where it is more than 0.5% of gross sales (the tool's tolerance), its most likely causes. For a complete overview of how all three platforms compare in their report formats and what each step of the combined workflow involves, see our [multi-platform delivery reconciliation guide](/guides/multi-platform-delivery-reconciliation-uk/). --- *This guide covers delivery platform reconciliation for UK VAT-registered restaurants using Xero. The same principles apply to QuickBooks and Sage, though the specific journal entry process differs. This is not financial or tax advice. Consult a qualified accountant for guidance on your specific VAT position.* ## Sources - Platform Operators (Due Diligence and Reporting Requirements) Regulations 2023 - HMRC VAT guide (Notice 700) — input tax you can reclaim - VAT Notice 706: partial exemption - HMRC — IEIM901740: what platforms report as consideration (net of fees, which are reported separately) ]]> https://payoutledger.co.uk/guides/deliveroo-commission-uk-restaurants/ https://payoutledger.co.uk/guides/deliveroo-commission-uk-restaurants/ Wed, 18 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT A breakdown of Deliveroo commission rates for UK restaurants in 2026, including service fees, VAT on commissions, and how much you actually take home per order. UK partner terms do not describe a separate payment-processing fee. They set out the payout as "an amount equal to the GMV for your Delivery Orders during the relevant payment period, less the Delivery Service Fee, less any relevant adjustments for refunds paid to customers". The Delivery Service Fee is the commission itself, plus VAT. If your statement shows any other deduction, check it against your own agreement. ### Marketing and promotion opt-ins If you have opted into Deliveroo's marketing tools (Marketer: Offers, Adverts, Rewards), those costs are deducted from your payouts: Deliveroo's Marketer terms say "Marketer Charges will be deducted from the amounts payable to you". These can range from a few pounds per day to significant sums depending on your promotional activity. ### Refund clawbacks When a customer claims a refund -- for missing items, quality issues, or late delivery -- Deliveroo deducts the refund amount from your next payout. The restaurant bears the cost even when the issue was caused by the delivery rider. This is [the hidden cost of refund clawbacks](/guides/delivery-platform-refund-costs-restaurants/) -- quieter than commission but material across a month. Restaurants across the UK estimate that roughly one in three refund claims are unjustified. A missing item that your POS records show was packed and confirmed. A quality complaint on a sealed container. A duplicate claim for the same order. These add up: a restaurant doing 300 orders per week on Deliveroo might see 5-10 refunds, of which 2-3 are questionable. ### Equipment Deliveroo's partner terms say "You will need a tablet and a printer to start accepting Delivery Orders". Existing partners can keep their existing equipment; new partners are given "two options for equipment", priced on Deliveroo's sign-up pages, and "Each option is subject to a one-off joining fee". The terms give no figure, so check your own agreement for what you pay. ## Your real take-home: a worked example Here is the full picture on a typical week for a UK restaurant doing £4,000 in Deliveroo orders: | Fee type | Rate | Amount | |----------|------|--------| | Gross order value | — | £4,000.00 | | Commission (25%) | 25% | -£1,000.00 | | VAT on commission | 20% of commission | -£200.00 | | Refunds (7 orders avg £15) | — | -£105.00 | | **Net payout** | — | **£2,695.00** | | **Effective deduction rate** | — | **32.6%** | The contracted rate was 25%. The actual deduction rate is 32.6%, and higher again in any week with marketing charges. That gap -- more than 7 percentage points -- is where most accounting errors live. ## VAT on commissions: the detail most restaurants get wrong Deliveroo's commission is a service, and services in the UK are subject to VAT at the standard 20% rate. This means: - On a £10 commission, Deliveroo charges you £12 (£10 + £2 VAT) - The £2 VAT is input tax -- you can reclaim it on your VAT return if you are VAT-registered - But you need to account for it separately in your books This holds whatever you sell. If your restaurant sells both standard-rated items (hot food) and zero-rated items, you still reclaim the whole commission VAT: zero-rated supplies are taxable supplies taxed at 0%, not exempt supplies, and VAT Notice 700 allows recovery of input tax relating to supplies "liable at the standard rate, reduced rate or the zero rate." Coding the commission VAT as a single standard-rated input (T1) is the correct treatment, not an overclaim. What your sales split does drive is the **output** VAT on the food itself — standard-rated items at 20%, zero-rated items at 0% — which needs posting as separate revenue lines. Cold items in a delivered meal are not automatically zero-rated, because HMRC lists the delivery of cooked ready-to-eat meals among its obvious examples of catering (VAT Notice 709/1, section 2.1), which is standard-rated. See our full guide on [mixed-rate VAT treatment](/guides/vat-delivery-commissions-guide-uk/) for the worked example. This is technical enough that many generalist accountants get it wrong, and the usual direction is underclaiming: restricting the commission reclaim to the standard-rated share and writing off the rest as a cost that was always recoverable. ## How Deliveroo pays you Deliveroo pays UK restaurants on a weekly cycle. The payout arrives as a single net lump sum -- not broken down by order. For how this compares against Uber Eats and Just Eat, see our guide on [how often each platform pays](/guides/delivery-platform-payout-schedules-uk/). This is the fundamental reconciliation challenge: you receive one payment that represents hundreds of individual orders, each with different commission rates, refund deductions, and promotional costs. To verify the payout is correct, you need to: 1. Download the weekly statement from Deliveroo's Restaurant Hub — see our [step-by-step Deliveroo reconciliation guide](/guides/deliveroo-payout-reconciliation-uk/) for the full workflow 2. Match individual orders against your POS records 3. Verify the commission rate applied to each order 4. Check refund deductions against actual complaints 5. Calculate VAT on commissions correctly 6. Enter the categorised journal entries into your accounting software Most restaurants skip steps 2-5 and enter a single "Deliveroo income" journal. Since January 2024, this approach carries real risk. ## HMRC is watching: Digital Platform Reporting Rules Since January 2024, Deliveroo (along with Uber Eats and Just Eat) is required to report your revenue directly to HMRC under the Digital Platform Reporting Rules. HMRC now receives what each platform paid or credited to you, broken down by calendar quarter, with the fees, commissions and taxes it deducted reported separately -- enough to rebuild your gross and check it against the income on your return. If your accounting records show a lump-sum entry that does not match what HMRC has received from the platform, that is a red flag. A mismatch between the gross figure HMRC can rebuild from the platform's report (what it paid you plus the fees, commissions and taxes it deducted) and the figure on your tax return is exactly the kind of discrepancy HMRC's data-matching is designed to surface. Accurate reconciliation is no longer optional -- it is a compliance requirement. For the full picture on what HMRC knows and how to prepare, see our [guide to HMRC's Digital Platform Reporting Rules](/guides/hmrc-delivery-platform-reporting-restaurants/). ## What you can do about commission costs You cannot avoid commission fees if you want to be on Deliveroo. But you can: - **Reconcile weekly** -- catch errors early, before they compound over months - **Track your effective rate** -- know your actual deduction rate, not just the headline - **Challenge unjustified refunds** -- check every refund against your POS records within the platform's dispute window - **Review your commission agreement annually** -- if your order volume has increased, you may have leverage to negotiate - **Account for VAT correctly** -- ensure your accountant understands mixed-rate VAT treatment on delivery commissions ## Estimate your take-home Use our free [commission calculator](/tools/commission-calculator/) to estimate what you keep from each delivery platform after commission and VAT on commission. It also deducts an assumed 2.5% for other fees, which is an illustrative allowance rather than a Deliveroo charge; your settled payouts give the real figure. Enter your weekly order values and compare the estimates for Deliveroo, Uber Eats, and Just Eat side by side. --- *This guide covers Deliveroo commission structures for UK restaurants (written March 2026; Deliveroo's UK partner terms re-checked 15 October 2026). Commission rates are subject to change -- check your Deliveroo Partner Hub agreement for your specific rate. This is not financial or tax advice. For VAT treatment queries, consult a qualified accountant.* ## Sources - Platform Operators (Due Diligence and Reporting Requirements) Regulations 2023 - Deliveroo Merchants - Deliveroo — UK partner terms (fees set as "a percentage of GMV"; payout = GMV less the Delivery Service Fee and refunds; equipment and joining fees; Marketer charges deducted from payouts; 35% plus VAT for Marketplace+ rider-network orders) - HMRC — IEIM901740: what platforms report as consideration (net of fees, which are reported separately) ]]>