Meals and entertainment covers food and hospitality bought in the course of business.
Why it is a separate account
Not for tidiness. It is treated differently from other costs for tax, and the treatment differs between kinds of meal — a meal while travelling, a meal with a customer, and food provided to staff are not necessarily treated alike.
Recorded among general expenses, that distinction is lost and the whole category becomes difficult to substantiate.
What has to be recorded
More than the amount. Substantiation generally requires the date, the amount, where it was, who was present, and the business purpose.
The practical approach is capturing it at the time, on the receipt, because none of it is reconstructable months later — see record retention.
The limits change
Deductibility percentages for business meals have moved more than once in recent years, and entertainment is treated differently again.
For that reason this article does not state a percentage. The current treatment is a question for the business's accountant, and the reason to keep the records is that the treatment is theirs to apply rather than the owner's to guess.
Meals for staff
Food provided to employees is treated under its own rules and can differ from a meal with a customer, which is another reason the two are worth separating in the accounts.
Where it goes wrong
Personal meals run through the business. It is among the most commonly examined categories precisely because it is the easiest to misuse, and it draws attention to everything around it — see separating business and personal money.