Restaurant Bookkeepers

26/10/2026

Today’s special: work from home requests 🍽️🏡
New working from home rules in the Clerks Award start today, 26 October 2026.

Your floor and kitchen team won’t be clocking on from the couch. But if you have office, admin, accounts or bookkeeping staff, this could apply to your business.

Employees on the Clerks Award can now make a formal request to work from home. The new clause sets out:
✅ How a request is made
✅ What an agreement must include
✅ How disputes are resolved

This is separate from flexible working requests under the National Employment Standards, and separate from individual flexibility arrangements. Love it or hate it, it’s now a protected workplace right for Clerks Award employees.

Hospo owners, here’s your prep list:
👉 Check which award your back-office staff are actually on. Some admin roles in venues sit under the Hospitality Award, not the Clerks Award.
👉 Understand the rights and obligations on both sides
👉 Have a simple, consistent process ready before the first request lands
Not sure who’s on which award? Our team can help.
📞 13 000 IDEAS (1300 043 327) | 🌐 www.RestaurantBookkeepers.com.au

REPAIR. STABILISE. OPTIMISE.™

17/06/2026

💳 Card surcharges are ending from 1 October 2026.
If your restaurant, café or takeaway business currently relies on surcharges to recover merchant fees, now is the time to start planning.
Ask yourself:

☕ Do I know what merchant fees cost my venue each month?
🍔 Are my menu prices still profitable?
📈 Have I reviewed my food and labour costs recently?

The venues that understand their numbers will be best placed to absorb these changes without impacting profitability.

We've put together a practical guide explaining what the changes mean and what hospitality businesses should do now.

📖 Read the full article: https://www.restaurantbookkeepers.com.au/merchant-fees-restaurants-cafes-2026/

or contact us on 1300 043 327 or drop a message here: https://www.restaurantbookkeepers.com.au/contactus/

02/06/2026

📢 WAGE INCREASE ANNOUNCED FROM 1 JULY 2026

The Fair Work Commission has handed down its 2026 Annual Wage Review decision, with minimum award wages increasing by 4.75% from the first full pay period on or after 1 July 2026. The National Minimum Wage will increase to $26.44 per hour.

For hospitality businesses, this means it's time to start preparing for updated pay rates, payroll systems, budgets and staffing costs ahead of the new financial year. ☕🍔🍽️

At Restaurant Bookkeepers, we'll be working through the new award rates and updating our payroll processes to ensure our clients remain compliant and ready for the change.

✅ Review your payroll setup
✅ Check employee classifications
✅ Prepare for increased wage costs
✅ Watch for updated award pay guides

We'll share more information as the new award rates are released.

10/05/2026

Over the past week, many Xero users around the world have experienced intermittent outages, login problems, slow performance, and navigation errors across the platform.

According to Xero’s official status updates, the disruptions were caused by a combination of:
• product release issues requiring rollbacks
• third-party infrastructure problems
• a hardware incident involving AWS (Amazon Web Services), which impacted parts of the Xero platform

Xero has advised that systems are now stable and their engineering teams continue to monitor performance closely.

For businesses and bookkeepers, this has been a reminder of how dependent modern businesses are on cloud software and third-party systems. While cloud accounting brings enormous flexibility and efficiency, outages can still occur — even with major global platforms.

If you noticed delays in processing, reconciliation, payroll, invoicing or accessing your Xero file this week, you certainly weren’t alone.

At Restaurant Bookkeepers, we’ve been actively monitoring the situation and working with clients around the disruptions where needed and updating our clients regularly during this time.

05/05/2026

If you employ staff aged 18, 19, or 20 under the Fast Food award, their pay rates are changing.
The Fair Work Commission has announced that once these junior employees hit the 6-month mark with your business, they move to full adult pay rates.
We've put together a simple guide to what's changing and the three things you should do before December. 👇
🔗 https://www.restaurantbookkeepers.com.au/fast-food-award-junior-wage-changes/
Stay tuned to monitor these changes and when they will be implemented. Book a call with us — we work exclusively with food businesses and we're here to make this simple. Call 1300 043 327 drop an email via our website.

12/04/2026

Back from Uluru… with fresh perspective for our hospitality clients 🍃
Chris has returned from the Regional Leadership Academy with Entrepreneurs' Organization—alongside 30 business leaders from 11 countries.
A week of personal development, deep conversations, and the presence of Uluru… it really resets your thinking.
What we're bringing back to Restaurant Bookkeepers:
✔️ Simpler, clearer concepts.
✔️ Stronger leadership and guidance
✔️ Real conversations that drive better decisions
Because great businesses aren’t just built on numbers—they’re built on clarity and leadership.
Invest in yourself to invest in your business!
Give us a call to know more 1300 043 327.

REPAIR. STABILISE. OPTIMISE™



www.RestaurantBookkeepers.com.au

24/09/2025

🍔☕ Heads up for café, restaurant & food business owners (and staff!) Fair Work Inspectors are making surprise visits this week in Sydney, Brisbane, Canberra & Cairns 🚨 — checking payslips and staff records.

✅ Employers: double-check your payroll and records.
👩‍🍳 Employees: you’re entitled to clear, accurate payslips.
Note: employers must also keep timesheets for salary employees.
Call us for help with payroll: 1300 043 327 or drop a line via our contact page https://www.restaurantbookkeepers.com.au/contactus/

👉 More info here: https://www.fairwork.gov.au/newsroom/media-releases/2025-media-releases/september-2025/20250925-frac-recordkeeping-inspections-sydney-brisbane-canberra-and-cairns-media-release

We are food industry trained specialised BAS Agent bookkeepers - we know you and your numbers. No contracts. Pay as you go.

08/09/2025

Fine Food Australia is happening now in Sydney. We're here to investigate industry and tech trends that influence our hospo clients. We recommend you make your way here!

08/09/2025

NAFES - National Association of Food Equipment Suppliers. An organisation that strives to strengthen and advance the industry of manufacturers and distributors through Influence, Advancement, Education.

03/06/2025

Just announced, the Fair Work Commission has announced a 3.5 per cent increase to minimum wages.
This may have a flow on effect to various awards.
We will bring more information as it comes to hand.
Please be aware that you may need to alter your wages as at the first pay period from 1 July. This will also increase your super expenses. On top of that, super will be increasing to 12%. Need help with payroll? www.RestaurantBookkeepers.com.au