For caterers and personal chefs

From headcount to a quote with your name on it.

Enter the guest count and service style. Catering Calc works out the food, the drinks, the crew and the supplies, adds up every cost at your margin, and writes the client quote under your business name. Every recommended figure is a starting point. Pro lets you make each one your own.

Start your free weekSee Pro plans Try the free calculator

Pro is free for 7 days, thenPro is $179.99 a year. That is $15.00 a month, half the $29.99 monthly plan. The free calculator needs no account.

Also on iPhone and Android.

Cost and Margin for a 120-guest corporate dinner: target margin, all costs and the suggested price

A client quote from Thistle & Oak Catering: the event lines, service charge, tax and total, with no costs or margin

Two documents from one event

You see the cost and the margin. Your client sees the price.

What you seeCost & Margin, step 5

The Cost and Margin results: total food cost, all costs added up, and the suggested price at a 35 percent margin

Your food cost by the pound or the piece. Your crew by role, with each role's setup and breakdown hours. The bar, rentals and overhead you enter. Every cost added up, and the price it makes at the margin you set.

What your client seesThe quote

The client quote's price section: food and beverage, staff, rentals, service charge, tax and the total

Your business name, your terms and the price in the lines that make it, with service charge, tax and a deposit if you take them. Nothing about your costs, nothing about your margin. The kitchen gets its own prep sheet, and your client can have the bar list.

How an event runs

Five steps, in the order you already work.

1

Food

Portions by service style and meal, in pounds or pieces.

Free

2

Drinks & ice

The bar by the case, the pour and the leftovers, and the ice.

Free for hostsPro

3

Staffing

A recommended range for each role, or the crew you commit.

Pro

4

Supplies & rentals

Plates to the sleeve, linens by table size, rentals to the crate.

Free for hostsPro

5

Price & quote

A suggested price from your costs, and the client quote, prep sheet and bar list.

Pro

The shipped values are widely published catering rules of thumb rather than a standard anyone is bound to, and your own event history will beat them. With Pro, change one and every event you price after that uses yours.

Free and Pro

Food, drinks, ice and supplies are free. Pro orders it, staffs it, prices the job and writes the client quote.

FreeNo account

In your browser with no ads, and in the apps with a banner ad.

Food by the pound or the piece, by service style and meal

Passed appetizers by the piece for a cocktail reception

Wine, beer and spirits by the bottle and pack, soft drinks, coffee and bags of ice

Plates, cups, napkins, cutlery, tables, chairs and tablecloths in store packs

Try the free calculator

ProEverything in Free

One account. Every event saved and synced between the website and the phone.

Cost & Margin: a suggested price from your costs, at your margin

A client quote with your name on it, never your costs

Beverage & Ice: the bar by the case, and a Bar List for the client

Staffing: a recommended range for each role, or the crew you commit

Disposables & Equipment: plates to the sleeve, rentals to the crate

Saved events, synced wherever you sign in

Kitchen prep sheet and checklists, as PDF or text

Your own defaults on every calculator

No banner ads

Start your free week

Pro pricing

One plan, paid yearly or monthly. The free week is on the annual plan.

BEST VALUE

Annual

$179.99 / year

7 days free on your first subscription, then $179.99 a year
$15.00 a month, billed yearly
Half the price of paying monthly

Renews automatically each year. Cancel before day 7 and you are not charged. A card is taken at checkout. The monthly plan has no free trial.Renews automatically each year. Cancel any time and Pro stays on until the end of the year you paid for.

Start your free weekSubscribe yearly

Monthly

$29.99 / month

Cancel any time. No free trial on the monthly plan.

Subscribe monthly

Both plans unlock the same Pro, everywhere you sign in. Everything Pro includes, on the pricing page.

Planning a party rather than catering one?

The same free calculator works out the food, drinks, ice and supplies for your event. Pick the one you're hosting.

Party food calculator How much to make for a birthday or house party. Work it out Graduation party Open-house crowds that drift in and out all afternoon. Work it out Bar/Bat Mitzvah Adults and kids eating very differently, in one room. Work it out Holiday dinner Turkey, sides and leftovers, sized to your table. Work it out

iPhone and Android

Catering Calc on your phone.

On the App Store and Google Play.

The saved Corporate Dinner event on a phone, with all five steps complete