Strategic Bookkeeping for Ontario F&B Operators
What operators say
From busy and guessing to clear and confident.
A few people who know where their money goes now.
The problem
Most F&B owners are stuck between two people who each understand half the picture.
You're not short on options. You're short on the right one.
The bookkeeper who doesn't know kitchens
They record what happened. They can file your HST. But ask them why food cost jumped 3 points last month and they'll shrug. They've never been in your walk-in at 6am — and they can't tell you what the numbers mean for your Saturday service.
The consultant who doesn't know your numbers
They've read a lot of books about restaurants. They'll talk about menu strategy and customer experience. But they've never sat with your actual P&L, and their advice isn't grounded in what your specific business can actually afford to do.
What you need is one person who speaks both languages — who's read a P&L at 2am and run a Saturday rush at noon. Lived F&B experience plus bookkeeping expertise. One monthly invoice. One brain on your business.
Why Chef+
I've been where you are.
30 yrs
F&B operations before picking up a bookkeeping ledger.
10 yrs
Owner-operator of a double-digit profit restaurant. I know what that takes.
F&B only
Restaurants, cafes, bakeries, catering, food trucks. Nothing else. Ever.
The P.R.O.F.I.T. Framework
Six places your margins are leaking right now.
Once your cash flow is stable, this is what turns it into real profit growth. Built on 30 years of F&B operations — F&B specific, sequential, and designed to find real dollars fast.
P
Pricing Accuracy
Most operators track food cost as a percentage. Percentages hide the truth. Oils, garnishes, portion drift — hidden costs eating your margins one gram at a time.
Typical leak: $2,500–$8,000/yr
R
Recipe Standardization
Inconsistent prep means unpredictable costs. If every employee makes your product differently, your costing work is irrelevant. Portions creep up. Never down.
Typical leak: $3,600–$12,000/yr
O
Optimization of Menu
You're probably pushing bestsellers with terrible margins and burying the items that actually make money. The menu matrix fixes this — Stars, Workhorses, Puzzles, Dogs.
Typical leak: $10,000–$30,000/yr
F
Find the Leaks
Shrink, spoilage, vendor invoice errors, over-portioning, theft. If you're not counting weekly, you're bleeding 4–5% of COGS without knowing it.
Typical leak: $6,400–$16,000/yr
I
Intentional Labour Deployment
Labour is half your prime cost and most operators schedule by habit. Cross-functional deployment, revenue-based scheduling — 10–20% efficiency is sitting there.
Typical leak: $15,000–$60,000/yr
T
Turn Up Volume
Cost control without revenue growth limits your ceiling. Once the first five leaks are fixed, a 10% increase in visit frequency can lift annual revenue 20–30%.
Unlocked after steps P–I are solid
Find out which leaks are costing you the most.
The free Cash Flow Cure Diagnosis takes 8 questions, no P&L required, and gives you a plain-English read on exactly where you stand.
Who it's for
Built for operators who are serious about their numbers.
We work with
- ✓Independent restaurants, cafes, and wine bars
- ✓Catering and private-event operators
- ✓Bakeries, butcher shops, cheese stores, specialty food
- ✓Ghost kitchens, commissaries, and food trucks
- ✓Operators doing $400K–$3M in annual revenue
- ✓Owner-operators who don't have a CFO and don't need one full-time
Not for everyone
- —Businesses that want a $200/month data-entry bookkeeper — there are cheaper options
- —Operators not willing to show up to the monthly meeting — that's where the value lives
- —Pre-revenue concepts without a funded runway — come back when you're operating
Pricing
One offer. Two prices. Everything included.
Pick based on whether you need payroll handled. No hidden fees, no upsells baked into the retainer.
Without payroll
$395
per month
For operators who run payroll through their own system, or who don't have employees yet.
- ✓Full bookkeeping in QuickBooks Online
- ✓HST filing and remittance coordination
- ✓WSIB filing and remittance coordination
- ✓Monthly 1-hour P&L review — every 4th is a quarterly deep-dive
- ✓Email and text support between meetings
- ✓Monthly reports — P&L, balance sheet, cash flow
With payroll
$495
per month
Everything in the base tier, plus full payroll processing handled.
- ✓Everything in the $395 tier
- ✓Full payroll processing
- ✓Payroll remittance — CRA source deductions
- ✓T4 and T4A preparation at year-end
Onboarding: $500 one-time. Every new client. Non-negotiable. Covers QBO setup, chart of accounts, HST/WSIB setup, and a full walkthrough of the shared Google Drive workflow. If the books are a mess going in, cleanup is scoped separately at $45/hr.
Start here
Your Sales Numbers Look Fine. Your Bank Account Doesn't Agree.
The free Cash Flow Cure Diagnosis takes 8 questions, no P&L required, and gives you a plain-English read on exactly where you stand — sent straight to your inbox.
or
Email Steven directly: [email protected]