Map Categories to Revenue Accounts

When you sell a served steak, the revenue should land on 3002 Sales 12%. When you sell a beer, it should land on 3001 Sales 25%. Vendion handles this for you – but only if each category has the right VAT category. In the default mode (central chart) Vendion picks the revenue account by the effective VAT rate; you don't enter an account number per category.

Sounds like work, but it's a 10-minute one-time setup.

What is a category?

A category (also called varugrupp) is a collection of related menu items. For example:

• "Starters" – contains shrimp, tartare, soup
• "Mains" – contains fish, meat, vegetarian
• "Desserts" – contains ice cream, pie, cheese platter
• "Wine" – contains house white, red by glass, bottle
• "Beer" – contains IPA, pilsner, non-alcoholic

Every menu item belongs to exactly one category. Categories are managed under Admin → Menu → Categories.

Why must I map them?

For Vendion to build the correct voucher at Z-report, each category needs the right VAT category.

If a category has no VAT category, it falls back to the Default revenue account (default 3001, 25%) – which is wrong for e.g. served food (should be 3002 at 12% VAT).

Default revenue accounts for restaurants (central chart)

The account is chosen by the effective VAT rate – and for food/drinks the rate depends on whether it's served (12%) or taken away/delivered (6%):

So the same category can land on 3002 (served, 12%) or 3003 (takeaway, 6%) depending on how it's sold. Reconcile the chart of accounts with your accountant.

How to do it – step by step

1. Go to Admin → Menu → Categories
2. Open a category (click pencil icon)
3. Choose the VAT category (Food/non-alcoholic drink, Alcohol, Other 25%, Other 6% or Exempt)
4. Save

Vendion then picks the right account (3001/3002/3003) automatically from the VAT rate – and for food/drinks it uses 12% when served and 6% for takeaway. If you'd rather control the account per category, switch on advanced mode under Vouchers & export → Chart of Accounts and set the account on the Categories subtab.

Repeat for all your categories.

Tip: Write all categories on paper, note "Food", "Alcohol" or "Non-alcoholic drink" next to each, and set the category in Vendion all at once.

Important: VAT per item VS category

Vendion supports VAT at both category and item level. If an individual item needs deviating VAT (e.g. non-alcoholic beer in the "Beer" category), you can set VAT at item level and it overrides.

Example:

• Category "Beer" → VAT category Alcohol, 25%, account 3001
• Item "Tuborg Non-Alc" → VAT category Food/non-alcoholic drink (12% served)

Vendion books:

• Regular beer → 3001, 25% VAT → 2610 ✓
• Non-alc beer → 3002 (served, 12%) or 3003 (takeaway, 6%)

Recommendation: Create separate categories for non-alcoholic alternatives instead of mixing. It makes bookkeeping cleaner and easier for the accountant to verify.

Example 1: À la carte restaurant

Typical dinner restaurant.

Example 2: Bar / Pub

More alcohol-focused.

Example 3: Café

Coffee-focused, lots of milk and baked goods.

Cafés don't typically sell alcohol – hence no 3001 accounts (25%). If you sell pastries to go, the rate is 6% (account 3003) instead of 12%.

Example 4: Food truck / takeaway

All food is sold for takeaway → 6% VAT (not 12% as when served). Alcohol is unusual in food trucks but if sold → 25%.

Example 5: Catering

Catering is usually delivered, and then the food is 6% VAT (takeaway/delivery). If your staff serve the food on site, it's 12% instead. Alcohol is always 25%, and transport/ancillary services normally land at 25%.

Important: Catering is a complex VAT area – served vs delivered decides the rate. Call your accountant when setting up catering categories.

Common mistakes

Alcohol with the wrong VAT category (booked as 12%)

Why wrong: If an alcohol category is set to "Food/non-alcoholic drink", it's booked as 12% (3002) instead of 25% (3001). Consequence: You remit too little VAT – a serious fiscal miss. Fix: Always set the VAT category Alcohol on beer, wine, cider and spirits.

Non-alc beer/wine booked as alcohol (3001, 25%)

Why wrong: Non-alcoholic variants are 12% (food/non-alcoholic drink), not 25%. Consequence: You remit too much VAT and report the wrong revenue account. Fix: Create separate categories "Non-alc beer"/"Non-alc wine" with category Food/non-alcoholic drink → 3002.

Mixing alcohol and non-alc in same category

Why wrong: Different VAT rates in the same category make bookkeeping hard to read. Consequence: Works if VAT is at item level, but makes sales mix analysis difficult. Fix: Always separate categories for alcohol (25%) and non-alcoholic (12%).

Forgetting to set a VAT category on a new category

Why wrong: New categories without a VAT category fall to the default account (3001, 25%). Consequence: Served food gets reported as 25% instead of 12% (3002). Fix: Set the VAT category immediately when creating a new category.

Verify mapping via test order

1. Place an order in POS with one item per category you want to test
2. Pay
3. Close the day's Z-report
4. Go to Admin → Accounting → Vouchers & export
5. Open the voucher
6. Verify every row is on the correct account

If something's off – back to Categories and fix.

See also

• Map Payment Methods to Accounts
• Accounts in Vendion – Default Setup
• VAT in Vendion – Sweden
• VAT Calculation – Reverse Formula