Hi all

Background

I look after three restaurants, which are all separate Limited Companies and the Director has recently created a holding company (although not all the shares have been transferred in yet).  The Topco and restaurant A and B are VAT registered ( Rest C will not be UNTIL it reaches the threshold).    Cashflow is very tight so the Director transfers money from one company Bank account to another to pay invoices.  These transfers (both ways) have historically been paid through The Bank account of one Restaurant and into/out of a Sundry Creditors nominal code.

Also when Rest B was opening a lot of expenses/purchases were put through Rest A (in order to claim VAT back and because they had the cash).  Problem is there was no control over the position/no list kept separately and not enough notes to know what belongs to which.  Also as the expenses (for B) were put through the Rest A - some of these were keyed directly to a Sundry debtors account in the name of Rest B - BUT the corresponding entry was not keyed in Rest B's books.

So NOW - I have the same scenario with the new restaurant (C) and I want to get it right at least for that Restaurant (until the Accountant can decide what goes where (I dont envy him that one!!!)

I want to know the best way to go about matters.  

• For the new Rest C - I have a load of receipts/invoices to put through Rest A.    The payments for these invoices/receipts are through the Bank account of Rest A.      My thoughts are to key them to Sundry Debtors in name of Rest C in the Sage of Rest A  (without setting them up as suppliers).  Then to keep a spreadsheet of all items so I can also then journal them to Sundry Creditors in Rest C.   Would it be best to note the VAT on this spreadsheet to make it easier to tie in to the invoices/receipts.
• When and how would these expenses  etc be allocated out to the proper expense accounts and is this best done by the Accountant at the end of the year?  NB There are some Fixed Assets by way of kitchen equip/furniture etc in amongst this lot.
• Some money has been transferred from Rest C (the new one) to Rest A to cover some of the costs, but not all - how would I account for and keep track of this so that the sundry drs and creditors figure in each business is correct?

It is worth mentioning here that there are a couple of hundred of these items and even now that the Rest C is open the funds flow between the companies will continue as they Rob Peter to pay Paul on an almost daily basis - so if someone has an easy way to deal with this side too I would be extremely grateful.

Hope someone can help - its probably dead simple but Im getting a headache thinking about it!#