Restaurants Back-Office Services
Back-office services for restaurants. Award-compliant payroll (Restaurant or Hospitality Award), industry-specific bookkeeping, compliance and IT support.
Applicable Award
Restaurant Industry Award 2020 (standalone restaurants) or Hospitality Industry (General) Award 2020 (restaurants operated within a hotel, pub or club)
Compliance guide:Restaurant Industry Award →
For Restaurants, the entire back-office — award-compliant payroll (typically under the Restaurant Industry Award 2020, or the Hospitality Industry (General) Award 2020 for a restaurant operated within a hotel, pub or club), BAS, bookkeeping, managed IT and Essential Eight cybersecurity — can run through one accountable Valont team, on a fixed monthly fee, quoted for your business. Award-compliant payroll, BAS obligations, supplier management, and compliance tracking all compete for time that should be spent on customers and growth. Valont provides back-office services specifically configured for restaurants, with genuine understanding of the award provisions, financial metrics, and operational realities that define your industry.
The Award: typically the Restaurant Industry Award 2020
Which award applies depends on the business, the work each employee actually performs, their classification and whether they are full-time, part-time or casual. The Fair Work Ombudsman's coverage summary places standalone restaurants under the Restaurant Industry Award 2020; a restaurant operated in or by a hotel, motel, pub or registered club falls under the Hospitality Industry (General) Award 2020 instead. Check coverage for your own business rather than assuming one award covers everyone, and use the Fair Work Pay Calculator for the current rate for a given award, classification and shift.
Classifications: Food and Beverage Level 1 through Level 5 (same as café), plus Wine Waiter classification for sommelier roles.
Ordinary hours: 38 hours per week, averaged over roster cycle.
Penalty rates: the award sets separate rates for Saturdays, Sundays, public holidays and evening or late-night work, and they vary by classification and by whether the employee is full-time, part-time or casual — casual employees have their own rates in the award's penalty table. Rather than work from a remembered percentage, look up the current rate for the specific classification and shift on the Fair Work Pay Calculator and apply the rate in effect on the day worked.
Minimum engagement: 2 hours per shift for casual employees.
Key allowances: split shift allowance, meal allowance, uniform/laundry, tool allowance for chefs (own knives).
Getting these provisions wrong creates systematic underpayment that compounds with every pay period. The Fair Work Ombudsman actively monitors compliance in this sector, and the penalties for deliberate underpayment were significantly increased under recent legislation. Valont's payroll specialists configure your payroll software with the exact award rules for each employee classification, eliminating manual interpretation errors.
Sources: award coverage — the Fair Work Ombudsman's summaries of the Restaurant Award [MA000119] and the Hospitality Award [MA000009] (read 8 September 2026); pay and award rules — Fair Work Ombudsman and the Fair Work Commission; superannuation, BAS and tax — the Australian Taxation Office.
Challenges Specific to Restaurants
- Liquor licensing compliance — RSA currency, licence condition monitoring, patron capacity
- Menu costing and gross margin analysis per dish category
- Stocktake and inventory management — food waste, spoilage, and beverage reconciliation
- Multi-revenue-stream accounting — dine-in, takeaway, catering, functions, delivery
- Tip distribution and reporting — correct PAYG treatment of tips
- Seasonal trading patterns — cash flow management across quiet and peak periods
These aren't generic business challenges — they're the specific operational and compliance issues that restaurants owners deal with daily. A generalist bookkeeper or payroll provider may not understand or address them. Valont does, because our service is configured around your industry's actual requirements.
Financial Metrics That Matter
Standard P&L reporting isn't enough for restaurants. You need industry-specific metrics to make informed decisions:
COGS % by category (food vs beverage), covers per service, average spend per head, wage cost per cover, beverage pour cost, function profitability
We configure your reporting to track these metrics monthly, giving you the visibility to identify margin drift, optimise operations, and make confident business decisions based on data rather than gut feel.
How Valont Helps Restaurants
Finance Hub
Industry-configured bookkeeping with Lightspeed, Square, Revel POS → Xero/MYOB, MarketMan/Lightspeed Inventory, Deputy/Tanda rostering. BAS prepared from correctly coded, fully reconciled data. Real-time reporting with the industry-specific metrics above. Cash flow forecasting that accounts for your seasonal patterns and payment timing.
People Hub
Award-compliant payroll processing under the award that covers your restaurant — typically the Restaurant Industry Award 2020, or the Hospitality Industry (General) Award 2020 for a restaurant within a hotel, pub or club — with each employee's coverage and classification checked rather than assumed. Every penalty rate calculated from the award's current schedule, every allowance applied. STP reporting with each pay run. Superannuation initiated on schedule. Ongoing payroll audits reviewing all classifications and rates against current award provisions.
Operations Hub
Managed IT support and Essential Eight cybersecurity. Your POS, accounting, payroll, and rostering systems monitored and maintained. Data backup with regular restoration testing. Staff devices protected with endpoint security. MFA enforced across all business-critical systems.
How Pricing Works
10-25 staff: Finance + People Hub on a fixed monthly fee quoted for your business. Operations Hub adds a per-user monthly fee. Fixed-fee, no hourly billing, month-to-month engagement.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do you understand the Hospitality Industry (General) Award?
Yes. Our payroll specialists are experienced with the Hospitality Industry (General) Award 2020 and the Restaurant Industry Award 2020, including their classification structures, penalty rate schedules, allowance provisions, and overtime calculations. We configure payroll software (KeyPay or Employment Hero) with the specific award rules and conduct quarterly audits to ensure ongoing compliance.
Can you integrate with our existing software?
Yes. We integrate with the industry-standard platforms: Lightspeed, Square, Revel POS → Xero/MYOB, MarketMan/Lightspeed Inventory, Deputy/Tanda rostering. We work within your existing systems and recommend changes only where they deliver genuine operational benefit.
What makes Valont different from a general bookkeeper?
A general bookkeeper processes transactions. Valont configures your entire back-office around restaurants-specific requirements — from award-compliant payroll and industry-specific reporting metrics to integrated IT and cybersecurity. We understand the operational challenges unique to restaurants and build our service around them.
How much does this cost for Restaurants?
10-25 staff: Finance + People Hub on a fixed monthly fee quoted for your business. This replaces the combined cost of separate bookkeeper, payroll provider, and the owner's admin time. Fixed-fee with no hourly billing — the same price regardless of how many questions you ask.
Built for Restaurants, Not Adapted From a Template
Your back-office should understand your industry. Ours does.
Book a Discovery ConversationOur Services
Integrated back-office for Restaurants businesses.
Finance Hub
- Bookkeeping
- Managed Payroll
- BAS & Tax Compliance
- Cash Flow & Reporting
- Accounts Receivable
- Finance Broking
- Grants & Incentives
- Outsourced CFO
People Hub
- Award Compliance
- HR & IR Advisory
- Employer Advice Line
- Recruitment
- Onboarding & Offboarding
- Rostering Optimisation
- WHS & Safety
- Team Culture & Insights
- Fair Work Representation
Related industries
Back-office for other Hospitality businesses
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