Retail
Audit, tax, and advisory for dealerships, restaurants, and franchise businesses that run on inventory, high transaction volume, and location-level results.
Overview
Retail businesses are measured location by location and day by day. Inventory, sales tax, payroll, and point-of-sale data all have to reconcile, and owners need reporting that shows which stores, units, or departments are performing. Many retailers also answer to outside parties with their own requirements, such as manufacturers, franchisors, floor plan lenders, and landlords. Pease Bell, a Top 200 U.S. CPA firm headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, provides audit, tax, and advisory under one roof for retail businesses that want one team to understand the whole operation.
Our retail practice serves vehicle and equipment dealerships, restaurants and hospitality operators, and both franchisors and multi-unit franchisees. The work spans inventory accounting and tax methods, sales and use tax, financial statements for lenders and franchise disclosure purposes, multi-location reporting, and planning for owners who hold both the operating business and the real estate it occupies. The common thread is reporting that each outside party accepts and that owners can actually use.
How We Help Retail Businesses
Audits and Reviews
Audited and reviewed financial statements for lenders, manufacturers, franchisors, and franchise disclosure documents, prepared by a team familiar with retail inventory, revenue streams, and lease structures.
Inventory Accounting and LIFO
Inventory costing, physical count support, shrink analysis, and LIFO evaluation and calculations for retailers and dealers whose inventory represents a large share of assets and drives taxable income.
Sales and Use Tax
Multistate sales and use tax compliance, taxability reviews for products and services, and audit support for businesses collecting tax across many locations, channels, and point-of-sale systems.
Multi-Unit Reporting
Location-level and consolidated reporting that lets owners compare stores, restaurants, or franchise units on consistent terms and spot underperforming locations before they affect the whole business.
Tax Planning and Credits
Income tax planning, entity structuring, and credits relevant to retail employers, such as the FICA tip credit for food and beverage operators, coordinated across operating and real estate entities.
Outsourced Accounting
Bookkeeping, monthly close, payroll reconciliation, and controller support for growing retail operators that need dependable books across multiple locations without building a large internal accounting staff.
Explore Retail
Dealer Services
Audit, tax, and advisory for auto, truck, RV, and equipment dealerships that answer to manufacturers, floor plan lenders, and their own long-term ownership plans.
Learn more →Restaurants
Tax, accounting, and advisory for restaurants, breweries, and hospitality operators who need to control food and labor costs and keep up with compliance.
Learn more →Franchises
Audit, tax, and advisory for franchisors preparing franchise disclosure documents and for multi-unit franchisees growing across locations and markets.
Learn more →Challenges We Help Retailers Address
- ✓Inventory shrink and costing errors that distort margins
- ✓Sales tax collected across many locations, products, and channels
- ✓Manufacturer, franchisor, and lender reporting requirements on tight schedules
- ✓Comparing performance across locations with inconsistent data
- ✓Separating operating businesses from the real estate they occupy
Frequently Asked Questions
What accounting services do retail businesses need?
Most retailers need tax preparation and planning, sales and use tax compliance, and reliable monthly financial statements. Many also need inventory accounting support, location-level reporting, and audited or reviewed financial statements for lenders, manufacturers, or franchisors. The mix depends on size, number of locations, and who outside the business relies on the numbers.
Why would a retailer use the LIFO inventory method?
When inventory costs are rising, LIFO matches the most recent and highest costs against sales, which can lower taxable income. It is common among auto dealers and other retailers with substantial inventory. LIFO generally must also be used in financial statements, and reducing inventory levels can reverse prior benefits, so it requires ongoing management.
How can multi-location retailers improve reporting?
Start with a consistent chart of accounts and cost allocation method across every location, then produce standardized monthly reports comparing sales, labor, cost of goods, and occupancy by unit. Reconciling point-of-sale data to the general ledger each month helps ensure the location figures can be trusted for decisions.
Do retail businesses need an audit?
Not always. An audit is usually required by an outside party, such as a lender, franchisor, manufacturer, or investor, or by regulation, as with franchisors that must include audited financial statements in their franchise disclosure document. Where an audit is not required, a review or compilation may satisfy the users of the statements at lower cost.
Related services & industries
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