Free Caterer Invoice Generator

A caterer's invoice should price food per head with the guest count as the quantity, since this is the core of any catering bill. List service staff as a separate line item, including captain, servers, and bartenders with hours, since labor is often twenty-five to forty percent of the total. Pass rentals like china, glassware, linens, tents, and bar through at cost or with a disclosed markup, since these are tangible and the client may want to source their own. State gratuity or service charge clearly, typically eighteen to twenty-two percent, and what it covers. Include the final-count policy, billing at actual or contracted minimum whichever is higher, so there is no dispute when eighty booked becomes seventy-two actual. The most common mistakes are quoting a flat catering fee with no per-head or staff breakdown; burying gratuity in the food price instead of showing it as a line, which clients hate when they see the breakdown; not enforcing the final-count policy, then eating twelve hundred dollars in food when eighty booked becomes sixty-five actual; and forgetting to bill for rentals. One practical tip: never cater an event without full prepayment.