Hospitality ERP Consultant, India

GST on rooms, restaurants and banquets

GST in Indian hospitality is not one rate. The treatment of hotel rooms depends on the tariff band, restaurant service can be taxed differently depending on the type of establishment and whether input tax credit is claimed, outdoor catering and banquets have their own position, and takeaway or delivery through aggregators brings further rules on who collects and pays the tax. The government has revised these provisions over time, so the current position always comes from your chartered accountant.

What the ERP needs is a clean map. Every POS item and PMS revenue code is linked to a GST treatment, and daily sales are posted by outlet and GSTIN with tax amounts kept apart. Where a business does not claim input credit on certain supplies, purchases have to be recorded in a way that makes that visible, so credit is not claimed by mistake.

Liquor adds a second regime. Alcohol for human consumption sits outside GST and is taxed under state excise and sales tax laws, so a bar bill can carry two tax systems. I keep liquor sales, purchases and stock separate in the design and test mixed bills with your CA. My broader notes on GST, e-invoicing and e-way bills are on the India ERP consultant page.

FSSAI licenses, kitchens and supplier records

Every food business in India operates under FSSAI registration or licensing, and the type of license depends on scale and activity. A group with many outlets, a base kitchen and a cloud kitchen may hold several licenses, each with its own validity and renewal date. Missing a renewal can disrupt trading at an outlet, so the information deserves better than a spreadsheet on one manager's laptop.

The FSSAI's own portal remains the official record. In the ERP, I add license number, type, premises and validity date to each outlet and kitchen, with reminders before expiry and a report by state. The same approach applies to key suppliers, where your food safety team may ask for license details before approving a vendor.

Inside the kitchen, the ERP supports food safety work without replacing it. Prepared items from a base kitchen carry production and use-by dates, transfers record when they left and arrived, and waste is captured with a reason. Your quality team decides what records are required; the system makes them easy to keep and retrieve. For recipes, counts and theoretical food cost at outlet level, see restaurant ERP.

Franchise outlets, managed hotels and multi-state GSTINs

Indian restaurant brands use a mix of models: company-owned, company-operated outlets, outlets owned and run by franchisees, and hybrids where the brand operates an outlet funded by an investor. Hotel groups combine owned properties with management contracts and franchise arrangements. Each model changes who records revenue, who buys stock and what fees flow back to the brand.

I design the ERP around those flows. Company outlets are full trading units. Franchise outlets are customers who buy branded sauces, packaging and supplies from the base kitchen and pay royalties calculated from their reported sales. Managed hotels receive owner statements and pay fees under their agreements. All of this is set up per legal entity and per GSTIN, because each state where the business is registered files its own returns.

Movements between GSTINs, such as a base kitchen in one state supplying outlets in another, may be treated as taxable supplies even within one company. I flag these in design so your CA can confirm treatment and the ERP can generate the right invoices and e-way bills where needed. The wider group model appears on ERP for hospitality groups.

Local markets, cash purchases and food cost

Many Indian kitchens still buy fresh vegetables, meat, fish and dairy daily from local markets and small vendors, some of them unregistered under GST and often paid in cash or through UPI. That flexibility keeps food fresh and costs competitive, but it is also where food cost leaks without anyone noticing.

I design controls that suit how kitchens actually work. Approved vendors and reference prices are maintained centrally, daily purchases are entered against an indent with photos of bills where useful, petty cash is reconciled each day, and purchases above a limit need approval. Tax implications of buying from unregistered suppliers are confirmed with your CA, and the ERP records the vendor status needed for that decision.

Food cost then becomes measurable. Recipes and sub-recipes are costed from actual purchase prices, POS sales by item drive theoretical consumption, and periodic counts show variance by outlet. Groups that also produce packaged items, such as sweets, bakery products or sauces sold through retail, should read my India food and beverage ERP page, since packaged food brings labeling and batch requirements of its own.

Moving off Tally and working remotely across India

Indian hospitality groups commonly keep their books in Tally, with POS reports exported daily and stock tracked in spreadsheets or the POS itself. Moving to an ERP means migrating ledgers per company and GSTIN, vendor masters with GST details, open payables, stock by outlet and kitchen, and fixed assets such as kitchen equipment and fit-outs. I plan it through structured data migration and choose a cutover date at the start of a month, avoiding the year-end close.

Platform choice depends on scale and in-house capability. I run Zoho, Odoo, ERPNext and Microsoft Dynamics 365 through Indian scenarios: a mixed food and liquor bill, a base kitchen transfer across states, a franchise royalty invoice and a GST return reconciliation. I also check how each POS exports data, since integration quality varies widely.

The engagement is remote, on IST, with recorded sessions in simple English for outlet managers and chefs, and go-live planned outside festive and wedding season peaks. Hotel PMS design is explained on ERP for hotels, and my other India material is on the India hub.