Australian Hospitality Chart of Accounts for Xero (GST on Food + FBT)

A hospitality business sells food and drink, employs people who also eat on the premises, and sometimes entertains the corporate clients who book the function room. Australian tax treats those three very differently, and the difference turns on the word “entertainment” and on which food is taxable. This is an Australian hospitality chart of accounts built for Xero, coded for that reality. It ships as a readable reference (CSV) and a Xero import CSV.

The food you sell is taxable

A cafe is not a grocer. Basic unprepared food on a shop shelf is GST-free, but dine-in and hot takeaway food is taxable, even where the identical raw item would be GST-free at a supermarket. So the food and beverage sales account defaults to GST on Income, with GST Free Income listed only for the genuinely basic packaged lines a venue might resell as-is. Getting this right at the point of sale is where a lot of hospitality GST goes wrong.

The mirror image on the purchase side

Ingredients run the other way. Basic unprocessed food bought to cook with (flour, produce, milk) is GST-free, carrying no input credit, while packaged, prepared, and alcoholic supplies carry GST. The food and beverage purchases account therefore defaults to GST on Expenses with GST Free Expenses as the alternative, so a single account holds both, coded correctly per line. The result is a kitchen ledger where a GST-free grocery line is not silently claiming a credit it is not entitled to.

Entertainment, staff meals, and FBT

This is the split that decides deductibility. Client entertainment is BAS Excluded, because the GST credit is blocked and the cost is generally not deductible. Staff meals and functions get their own account, because food and drink amounting to entertainment provided to employees can be subject to fringe benefits tax, and where FBT applies the income tax deduction and the GST credit are unlocked. Keeping the two in separate accounts means the FBT question is asked at the right moment rather than buried in a general meals line.

Kitchen equipment and the write-off

Ovens, fridges, coffee machines, and fit-out are capital, so they map to GST on Capital in their own account. The reason to track them cleanly is the instant asset write-off: a business under A$10 million turnover can immediately deduct an eligible asset under A$20,000 for 2025-26, on a per-asset basis, with larger assets pooled. The account carries a note to that effect, and a reminder to confirm the current threshold.

How to use it

1. Open the CSV: each account carries its class, a default Xero GST code, the alternatives, and a note.
2. In Xero, go to Accounting, then Chart of accounts, then Import, and upload into a demo organisation first.
3. Confirm the rates, and switch on the advanced rates for GST on Capital.
4. Brief floor and kitchen staff that dine-in sales are taxable and that staff meals belong in their own account for the FBT review.

The day-to-day load is the supplier ledger, and that is where capture earns its keep:

• Hubdoc pulls recurring produce and beverage invoices into the file.
• ExpenseFlow reads each supplier invoice and receipt, applies the correct GST treatment, attaches the image, and posts it into Xero, while flagging a basic-food line that still carries GST and keeping staff entertainment separate from client entertainment for you to confirm.
• Dext applies supplier rules for repeat wholesalers.

Whether a given meal is FBT-bearing employee entertainment or non-deductible client entertainment is a judgement for you or your accountant; the chart gives it the right home. For the full picture, see the Australian hospitality expenses guide. On QuickBooks instead? See the Australian hospitality chart of accounts for QuickBooks.