TL;DR
Since the Ease of Paying Taxes Act (RA 11976) and Revenue Regulations No. 7-2024 took effect, the Sales Invoice — not the Official Receipt — is the primary document every Philippine restaurant must issue for each sale, whether you sell food (goods) or service. If your annual gross sales exceed ₱3,000,000 you must register for 12% VAT and issue a VAT Invoice with the buyer-facing VAT shown as a separate line; below that you stay Non-VAT and issue a Non-VAT Invoice (required for sales of ₱500 and up). Every invoice needs mandatory fields and a unique serial number. If you use a computerized POS, you must register it with the BIR before issuing receipts — for a cloud system, each restaurant registers at its own Revenue District Office (RDO). Get the registrations, books, and invoice template approved before you open. OrderEase is designed to support BIR-compliant invoicing, and our onboarding team helps you prepare the registration documents — but confirm every requirement with your own RDO, because details and deadlines change.
What Changed: The Sales Invoice Is Now Your Primary Document
For years, Philippine businesses issued an Official Receipt (OR) for services and a Sales Invoice for goods. That split is gone. Republic Act No. 11976, the Ease of Paying Taxes (EOPT) Act, took effect on 22 January 2024, and its implementing rule on invoicing, Revenue Regulations No. 7-2024, made the Invoice the single primary sales document for everyone in business — sellers of goods and sellers of services alike. For a restaurant, which is partly selling food (goods) and partly selling service, this matters: you now issue a Sales Invoice for the transaction, full stop.
The Official Receipt has not disappeared, but it has been demoted. After the transition period, an OR — whether or not it was stamped 'Invoice' — is treated as a supplementary document only and cannot be used by your VAT-registered customers to claim input tax. In practice, that means the document your customer cares about for their own taxes is the Invoice you issue, so getting the Invoice right is now the core of restaurant compliance.
VAT vs Non-VAT: The ₱3,000,000 Threshold
Your single most important tax decision is whether your restaurant is VAT-registered or Non-VAT. The line is the annual gross sales threshold of ₱3,000,000. If your gross sales or receipts exceed ₱3,000,000 in a 12-month period (or you reasonably expect to), you are required to register for Value-Added Tax and charge 12% VAT on your sales. Stay below it and you can remain a Non-VAT taxpayer, which usually means paying the percentage tax instead and issuing a Non-VAT Invoice. Note that the EOPT Act reintroduced regular updating of the VAT threshold every three years, so confirm the current figure with the BIR — ₱3,000,000 is the threshold in force as of 2026.
The practical difference shows up on every receipt. A VAT restaurant must show the 12% VAT as a separate line and break the sale into VATable, VAT-exempt, and zero-rated portions where relevant. A Non-VAT restaurant does not charge VAT but must clearly mark its invoice as Non-VAT. Choosing wrong — or drifting over ₱3,000,000 without registering — exposes you to assessments and penalties, so track your trailing 12-month sales and register before you cross the line, not after.
| VAT-Registered | Non-VAT | |
|---|---|---|
| When required | Annual gross sales above ₱3,000,000 (or you opt in) | Annual gross sales ₱3,000,000 or below |
| Tax on sales | 12% VAT, shown as a separate line | No VAT; percentage tax typically applies instead |
| Document issued | VAT Sales Invoice | Non-VAT Sales Invoice |
| Invoice required from | Every sale, regardless of amount | Sales of ₱500 and above (lower sales on request) |
| Buyer benefit | VAT-registered buyers can claim input tax | No input VAT passed to buyers |
| Key marking | 'VAT-registered'; show VAT separately; mark exempt/zero-rated lines | Invoice must clearly state it is Non-VAT |
VAT vs Non-VAT for Philippine restaurants. The ₱3,000,000 threshold and ₱500 Non-VAT invoicing floor are the figures in force as of 2026 — confirm the current values with your RDO, as the VAT threshold is now reviewed every three years.
Mandatory Fields on a Restaurant Sales Invoice
Under RR 7-2024, a Sales Invoice must carry specific information to be valid. Whether the invoice prints from a thermal POS printer or a kitchen-counter terminal, your system has to populate these fields automatically and consistently — a hand-edited or incomplete invoice is a compliance gap.
- Your registered business name and, for VAT taxpayers, a clear statement that the seller is 'VAT-registered'.
- Your Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN), including the branch code.
- The serial / invoice number — a unique, sequential identifier for BIR traceability.
- The date of the transaction.
- Quantity, unit cost, and a description of the items sold or the nature of the service.
- The total amount the customer pays, inclusive of VAT, with the 12% VAT shown as a separate line item (for VAT taxpayers).
- For VAT-exempt items, the term 'VAT-exempt sale'; for zero-rated, 'zero-rated sale', printed on the relevant lines.
- For sales of ₱1,000 or more to a VAT-registered buyer, the buyer's name, address, and TIN.
Registering a Computerized POS With the BIR
If you issue invoices by hand from a BIR-printed booklet, you need an Authority to Print. But most restaurants use a Point-of-Sale (POS) system, and a POS that generates invoices must be registered with the BIR before it can legally issue them. There are two related concepts to understand, because the rules shifted under EOPT.
POS / CRM machines vs computerized systems
A traditional cash register or standalone POS machine is registered through a Permit to Use (PTU) tied to that specific device, historically using BIR Form 1907 and a joint sworn declaration between the business and the machine's accredited supplier. A larger Computerized Accounting System (CAS) — software that generates your invoices and books — followed a different path. Under older rules the BIR issued a PTU for CAS; that PTU requirement was suspended and replaced by an Acknowledgement Certificate regime, where qualified taxpayers register the system and receive an Acknowledgement Certificate rather than waiting on a permit. The EOPT framework continued this simplification. The upshot: depending on how your setup is classified, you are either securing a Permit to Use for the POS device or registering a computerized system for an Acknowledgement Certificate.
Why a cloud POS registers per merchant, at each RDO
This is the point cloud-based restaurants most often get wrong. There is no single nationwide 'one accreditation covers all stores' shortcut for a multi-tenant cloud platform. Registration is tied to the taxpayer — your restaurant — and to the Revenue District Office where your business is registered. Each merchant registers its use of the system at its own RDO, submitting samples of the system-generated invoices and books for that business. If you run several branches under different RDOs, expect to register at each. A cloud vendor can supply the documentation, sample print-outs, and technical details, but the registration itself is filed by you, the taxpayer, with your RDO.
Books and Records the BIR Expects
Issuing correct invoices is half the job; keeping the matching records is the other half. A restaurant generally needs registered books of accounts and the supporting sales records the BIR can audit. A computerized system is expected to generate these in the prescribed format.
- Registered books of accounts — manual, loose-leaf, or computerized — covering your journals and ledgers.
- A sales journal and the sequential record of every invoice issued, reconcilable to your daily sales.
- A purchase journal and your input VAT records (for VAT taxpayers claiming credits).
- Daily sales summaries / Z-readings if you use POS or cash-register machines.
- Retention of records for the period the BIR requires, available for inspection on request.
Reliable, automatic sales reporting is also where a good POS earns its keep beyond compliance — the same data that satisfies the BIR drives your day-to-day decisions. If you are weighing systems, our guide to POS pricing in the Philippines breaks down what to expect at each tier.
Penalties and Why You Register Before You Open
Operating without proper registration, failing to issue valid invoices, or using an unregistered POS can lead to BIR assessments, surcharges, interest, and compromise penalties — and in serious cases, closure of the establishment. The EOPT Act did adjust some penalty provisions, including reduced compromise rates for certain invoicing and registration violations, but 'reduced' is not 'free', and the disruption of a compliance problem during your first months of trading is far costlier than getting set up correctly. We are deliberately not quoting specific peso penalty amounts here, because they vary by violation and are periodically revised — ask your RDO for the figures that apply to your case.
How OrderEase Helps You Get Ready
OrderEase is a cloud QR-ordering, POS, and kitchen-display system built for Philippine restaurants. On the compliance side, it is designed to support BIR-compliant invoicing: it produces structured Sales Invoices with the mandatory fields, maintains controlled, sequential serial numbering, separates VAT where applicable, and keeps clean sales records you can reconcile and present. It also lets diners order and pay — including GCash, Maya, and QR Ph — with each payment matched to the correct ticket, so your sales data stays consistent end to end.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q：Do restaurants still issue Official Receipts?
A：No, not as the primary document. Under RA 11976 (the Ease of Paying Taxes Act) and RR 7-2024, the Sales Invoice is now the primary document for every sale, for sellers of both goods and services. The Official Receipt has been demoted to a supplementary document and, after the transition, cannot be used by VAT-registered buyers to claim input tax. Restaurants should issue a Sales Invoice for each transaction.
Q：When does my restaurant have to register for VAT?
A：When your annual gross sales exceed ₱3,000,000, you are required to register for VAT and charge 12%. Below that threshold you can remain Non-VAT and typically pay percentage tax instead. The EOPT Act reintroduced reviewing the VAT threshold every three years, so confirm the current figure with the BIR — ₱3,000,000 is the threshold in force as of 2026. Track your trailing 12-month sales and register before you cross it.
Q：What information must appear on a restaurant Sales Invoice?
A：At minimum: your registered business name (with 'VAT-registered' if applicable), your TIN with branch code, a unique serial/invoice number, the transaction date, the quantity, unit cost and description of items, and the total amount due. VAT taxpayers must show the 12% VAT as a separate line and mark VAT-exempt or zero-rated lines accordingly. For sales of ₱1,000 or more to a VAT-registered buyer, also include the buyer's name, address, and TIN.
Q：Do I need to register my POS system with the BIR?
A：Yes. A POS or computerized system that generates invoices must be registered with the BIR before it can issue them. Depending on classification, that means securing a Permit to Use for a POS/cash-register machine, or registering a computerized system and receiving an Acknowledgement Certificate (the regime that replaced the suspended PTU for computerized accounting systems). Register before you start issuing invoices from the system.
Q：Does a cloud POS come pre-accredited so I can skip registration?
A：No. There is no nationwide shortcut for a multi-tenant cloud platform that exempts individual restaurants. Registration is tied to you as the taxpayer and to the Revenue District Office where your business is registered, so each merchant registers its use of the system at its own RDO — and at each RDO if you operate multiple branches. A vendor can provide documentation and sample outputs, but you file the registration yourself.
Q：Is OrderEase BIR-accredited and does it file my taxes?
A：OrderEase is designed to support BIR-compliant invoicing — structured Sales Invoices, controlled serial numbering, and auditable sales records — and our onboarding team helps you prepare the registration documents your RDO will ask for. However, OrderEase is not claiming to be BIR-accredited today, it does not auto-file or remit anything to the BIR, and it is not a substitute for your own registration. Always confirm your obligations with your RDO or a tax professional.
Conclusion
BIR compliance is not the exciting part of opening a restaurant, but it is the part that can shut you down if you skip it. The rules are clear enough once you know them: issue a Sales Invoice for every transaction, register for 12% VAT if you cross ₱3,000,000 in annual gross sales, put the mandatory fields and a unique serial number on every invoice, register your POS with your own Revenue District Office before you issue from it, and keep the books that back it all up. Build these steps into your launch timeline, lean on a system designed to support compliant invoicing, and verify the specifics with your RDO. Do that, and the BIR becomes a checklist you complete once rather than a crisis you manage later.