POS system and accounting software for California businesses

California sales tax: one base rate, many local rates

California’s statewide sales and use tax rate is 7.25%, which already includes a 1% local portion. On top of that, cities and counties add voter-approved district taxes, so the rate a customer pays depends on where the sale takes place. Combined rates in parts of Los Angeles County and the Bay Area are above 10%, while some rural areas sit at the base.

For a business with one store, the job is to set the right combined rate for that address. For a chain with locations in Oakland, Fresno and Irvine, each store needs its own rate, and the return to the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration (CDTFA) reports sales by district. SeroPOS assigns tax rates per location, and SeroBooks keeps tax collected by location so the figures for the return are already split.

Restaurant tax rules California operators deal with

California taxes most hot prepared food and food served for eating on the premises, while cold food sold to go is generally exempt. The 80/80 rule changes that picture: if more than 80% of a business’s sales are food and more than 80% of food sales are taxable, then cold to-go items can become taxable too, unless tracked separately. Coffee shops and delis often fall into this.

Mandatory service charges, such as an automatic gratuity on large parties, are generally part of taxable gross receipts, while optional tips the customer chooses are not. SeroPOS lets you set tax by item and by order type (dine-in, take-away, delivery), and treat a mandatory service charge differently from a tip, so the receipt and the return follow the same logic.

• Hot prepared food: generally taxable
• Cold food to go: generally exempt, subject to the 80/80 rule
• Mandatory service charges: generally taxable
• Voluntary tips: not taxable

Selling beyond California and economic nexus

California’s own economic nexus threshold for out-of-state sellers is $500,000 in annual sales of tangible goods into the state. The more pressing question for California brands is the other direction: once your online sales into Texas, Washington or Illinois cross those states’ thresholds, you may need to register and collect there. Each state sets its own dollar and transaction thresholds.

SeroBooks watches economic nexus across all 50 states, measuring your sales into each one against its threshold and flagging when you approach it. Amazon marketplace sales are handled as marketplace-facilitated, so the tax Amazon collects is split from the tax you owe. SeroBooks for Amazon at $150 a month covers sellers whose business is mostly on Amazon.

Payroll and staffing in California

SeroPayroll is Canada-only. For California employers, payroll lives in SeroBooks Pro at $300 a month, which covers federal and state withholding and produces W-2 files in the SSA’s EFW2 format plus 1099-NEC slips, all posting to the same ledger as sales and inventory. A pay run reaches the ledger once, so wages, taxes and liabilities show up in the books without re-keying.

California employment law is demanding, including daily overtime after 8 hours, meal and rest break rules and local minimum wages in cities like San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Jose. SeroPOS includes attendance and shift tracking for staff, and we recommend reviewing your specific payroll requirements with us before moving a California payroll, so we can be clear about what SeroBooks Pro covers for you.

Restaurants and retail from LA to the Bay

SeroPOS runs taquerias in East LA, cafés in the Mission, boba shops in the San Gabriel Valley and retailers in San Diego and Sacramento on iPad, Android, Windows or Mac. It handles table plans, kitchen display, QR self-ordering and loyalty, in 16 languages including Spanish and Chinese. Card payments run through Global Payments, Stripe or PayPal.

Sero Technologies is based in British Columbia, Canada, and serves California remotely, with a US phone line at +1 (213) 265-9014, email and in-app chat. There is no California office. SeroPOS starts at $29.99 a month and SeroBooks at $79.99, both with a 14-day free trial. Annual billing is available on both.