What it means
DoorDash never becomes an account. What reaches the books is a run of card charges, and all of them belong in one meals account. The liability belongs to whichever card paid, so the order also shows up when you tie that card's statement.
The $186 lunch was $150 of food, $12 of fees and a $24 tip. The full $186 is the cost of the meal and goes to Meals as one line. Splitting the fees or the tip into other accounts makes the meals total look smaller than it was.
The books carry the full cost. Deductibility is a tax question your CPA answers on the return, where business meals are often only partly deductible. That only works if the meals account holds meals alone and each order has a note saying who ate and why. If your CPA wants client meals apart from team meals, use two accounts and keep using them.
Scan the meals account for orders with no note and fill them in while people still remember. A credit for missing items goes back to Meals, against the order it came from. The charges themselves get tied out when you reconcile the card.
The meals account feeds the Form 1120 your CPA prepares. Uber charges land on the same cards but go to travel.
Why it matters. Meals have their own tax rules, and often only part of the cost is deductible. Keep them in their own account with a note on who ate and why, and your CPA can apply the rules at year end.
DoorDash isn't a ledger, and we don't connect to it. We work only in QuickBooks Online and Xero. This page covers how DoorDash shows up in the books kept there.
The entry, worked
A working lunch for the team costs $186 on the company card: $150 of food, $12 of delivery and service fees, and a $24 tip.
| Account | Debit | Credit |
|---|---|---|
| Meals | $186.00 | |
| Credit card payable | $186.00 | |
| Total | $186.00 | $186.00 |
The whole $186 is the cost of the meal, fees and tip included, and it sits in the meals account where your CPA can apply the tax rules at year end.
Common questions
How do I categorize DoorDash orders?
To a meals account kept apart from travel, with the attendees and the business reason noted on each order.
Are business meals fully deductible?
Often not. Many business meals are only partly deductible, and the rules have changed over the years. Keep them in their own account and let your CPA apply the current treatment.
Is a company holiday party treated like other meals?
A party or outing open to all employees, like a holiday dinner, is one of the exceptions that can still be fully deductible. That's another reason to code it with a note: your CPA can only apply the exception if the books show what the event was.
Read further
General information for US companies, not tax, legal or accounting advice. Check the specifics with a CPA before you act on them.