Shea Business Solutions runs restaurant payroll in Orlando, FL, starting at $100 per month: weekly pay runs, tipped wages, and tip allocation handled by a Certified Payroll Specialist inside QuickBooks Payroll. Books can live in the same file when you want the whole picture, and every question gets an answer the same business day.
Restaurant payroll is the hardest payroll a small business can run. The pay cycle is weekly, half the staff earns a tipped wage that changes every fall, and the tip pool has to come out right while the Friday close is still being counted. Generic payroll advice quietly assumes a salaried office. A kitchen does not work like that.
Tipped Wages Under Florida Law
Florida's minimum wage steps up every September 30 under the constitutional amendment voters passed in 2020, which means a restaurant's pay rates have a scheduled change baked into every fall. Here is where the numbers stand.
| Period | Florida minimum wage | Tipped cash wage | Tip credit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Now, through September 29, 2026 | $14.00 per hour | $10.98 per hour | $3.02 |
| From September 30, 2026 | $15.00 per hour | $11.98 per hour | $3.02 |
Two rules do the real work here. First, if a server's cash wage plus tips does not reach the full minimum for the hours worked, the employer makes up the difference, so tip records have to be accurate to the shift. Second, the September rate change has to actually land in payroll: a kitchen still paying August rates in October is accruing a wage violation one week at a time. We set the new rates in QuickBooks Payroll ahead of the change, on schedule. Figures per the published schedule summarized by Fisher Phillips.
Tip Allocation, Done Right Weekly
Tips are where restaurant payroll actually breaks. Pooled tips split across servers, bussers, and bartenders, credit card tips paid through payroll, cash tips reported by the employee, and all of it feeding tax withholding that has to be right per person, per week.
One Orlando restaurant came to us with exactly that problem: tip allocation errors compounding every week, and six months of bookkeeping behind on top of them. We corrected the tip allocation procedures, rebuilt the historical records, and automated a weekly payroll for their 15 employees that has run reliably since. Fixing the payroll also fixed the reporting: the owner saw accurate food-cost margins for the first time, because payroll and books were finally telling the same story.
Weekly Pay Runs Without the Weekly Fire Drill
A weekly cycle means fifty-two chances a year for payroll to eat a morning. We configure the run in QuickBooks Payroll so hours and tip amounts go in, and everything downstream happens on its own: withholding calculated, direct deposits out, and the run posted to the general ledger with wages, taxes, and liabilities in the right accounts. No re-keying into a second system, no reconciling two records that never match.
And when something odd surfaces the week of a run, a new hire mid-period, a garnishment, a tip pool dispute, you get an answer the same business day. For a restaurant, payroll help that replies on Thursday is not help.
Kitchen, Front of House, and 1099s
Restaurants mix worker types more than almost any other business: W-2 staff in the kitchen and on the floor, and the occasional 1099 contractor, a musician, a one-off repair, a consulting chef. Paying someone as a contractor who works like an employee builds up back payroll taxes and penalties that surface at the worst time. We set each worker up correctly at hire, keep the W-9s and pay records straight, and issue clean W-2s and 1099s in January.
The filings run on the same rails as every payroll we process: Florida reemployment tax filed quarterly, federal deposits on your required schedule, and the quarterly Form 941 reconciled to what was actually withheld. The full breakdown is in our plain-English guide to Florida payroll taxes for small business owners.
Payroll and Food Costs in One File
Labor is one of the two numbers that decide whether a restaurant makes money, and it only means something next to the other one. When payroll posts into books we reconcile, your prime cost is real: labor from actual pay runs, food costs from actual purchases, margins you can act on. That is the point of pairing payroll with our restaurant bookkeeping service, and if the books are months behind, catch-up bookkeeping gets you current first.
- Tipped wages current. Rates re-set every September 30, tip credit tracked to the shift.
- Weekly runs automated. Configured once in QuickBooks Payroll, posting to the ledger every run.
- Filings on schedule. Florida reemployment tax, federal deposits, 941s, W-2s and 1099s.
- One file, one person. Payroll from $100 per month, bookkeeping from $200, same reconciled books.
Want a real number for your restaurant? Call, or use the form at the top of this page. Every message gets a same-business-day answer.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the tipped minimum wage in Orlando, FL right now?
Through September 29, 2026, Florida's minimum wage is $14.00 per hour and the tipped cash wage is $10.98, with a $3.02 tip credit. On September 30, 2026 those rise to $15.00 and $11.98. If cash wage plus tips does not reach the full minimum, the employer makes up the difference.
How much does restaurant payroll cost in Orlando?
Shea payroll starts at $100 per month and scales with headcount and pay frequency, so a weekly-run restaurant with tipped staff is quoted individually before any work starts. Most restaurants pair it with monthly bookkeeping from $200 so payroll and food costs live in one file.
Can you fix tip allocation mistakes from past payrolls?
Yes. One Orlando restaurant came to us with tip allocation errors and six months of bookkeeping behind. We corrected the allocation procedures, rebuilt the historical records, and set up an automated weekly payroll for their 15 employees.
Do you run weekly payroll for restaurants?
Yes. We configure weekly pay runs in QuickBooks Payroll so each run posts to the books automatically, with wages, taxes, and tip amounts landing in the right accounts, and questions answered the same business day.
Do you handle Florida and federal payroll taxes for restaurants?
Yes. Florida reemployment tax, federal payroll deposits, the quarterly Form 941, and year-end W-2s and 1099s are calculated and filed on schedule, the same compliance work we run for every payroll client.
