GST-only bills in Calgary: what to check on a till before you rely on it

Alberta has no provincial sales tax, so a restaurant bill in Calgary carries the federal GST and nothing else. That keeps receipts simpler than in Toronto or Montreal, but it does not make the till any less important. The till is where every sale, refund and cash drawer count happens, and a bad one costs you time at the end of every single day.

This is general information, not tax advice. Confirm the details with your accountant.

What tax appears on a restaurant bill in Calgary?

Restaurant meals in Alberta carry the 5 percent GST and no provincial sales tax. Prices on the menu are shown before tax, as is normal across Canada, and the GST is added on the bill. For how the same meal is taxed elsewhere, see the guide on GST, HST, PST and QST for Canadian restaurants and the one on sales tax on restaurant meals in the Prairies and Atlantic Canada.

Whatever till you use, check three things with your accountant before you rely on it:

• that GST shows correctly on every receipt
• that your GST number appears where it needs to
• that your reports give you the totals you need for your GST return

Tips and service charges are treated differently from the meal. The guide on GST on tips and service charges explains how.

What should a good till handle at the counter?

• Lines and modifiers. Extra shot, oat milk, no onions, gluten-free bun.
• Custom amounts, for the thing that is not on the menu.
• Open orders. Start one, leave it, come back. A counter with three people mid-order is normal.
• Every way to settle. Cash with change calculated, cards, and any gift card or voucher you honour.

How should a till handle tables and split bills?

Table service is a different job from a counter. Open a table, add rounds through the evening and settle at the end. When the bill comes, it should split two ways, and both should work on the same table: by item, so each person pays for what they had, or by an equal share of whatever is left. Because the equal split divides the remaining balance, a table can pay for their own mains and then divide the shared plates, which is how people actually settle up.

How do you cash up at the end of the day?

A shift opens with a float and closes with a cash count.

• A mid-shift report shows the state of the shift without closing anything.
• An end-of-day report closes the day.
• Expected cash is the float plus cash taken, minus cash refunded, so the count has a clear target.
• Adjustments should be recorded, and the owner told when one is made.

Order history holds the day, and refunds come off it. A full refund should also reverse what that order gave, such as a loyalty stamp or a voucher it used.

What happens when the internet goes down?

Connections drop, usually at the worst time. Find out in advance what your till does. If it keeps taking cash and card-reader sales offline, ask how it avoids counting a sale twice when it reconnects, and what it cannot check meanwhile, such as customer balances and stock. A card sale still has to be completed on your terminal. Anything that cannot be sent up afterwards should land in a list somebody checks, rather than disappearing.

Who should be able to do what at the till?

Staff should identify themselves so you can see who took each sale. That is for attribution. What each person is allowed to do, such as refunds, should be decided by their role, not by a code typed on a shared screen.

What payment methods do Calgary customers expect?

Card payments dominate at Canadian counters, and debit is more common than many visitors expect. Interac debit, including tap, is a standard way to pay in Canada, so a terminal that cannot take it loses sales.

• Interac debit, by tap and by chip and PIN
• Visa and Mastercard, with tap
• Phone and watch wallets
• Cash, which fewer customers carry but some still prefer

Ask your payment provider how each method is priced, since debit and credit usually cost you different amounts. The guide on Interac debit and card payment costs compares them.

How do you test a new till before switching?

Run it alongside your old one for a quiet afternoon. Ring through every kind of sale you do, including a split bill, a refund and a voucher, then cash up both and compare. Switch once the two counts match.

More from Calgary: Stampede events and selling gift cards.

More in the Canadian guides for food businesses.