Guides

Working notes for people who quote catering for a living.

Quantities, staffing, supplies and the seasonal jobs. Every number in the app these guides point at is a starting point, not a standard. Pro lets you set your own.

4 guides

Working out quantities

How much to make, pour and pass, and what changes it.

How much food per person Portion planning by course and service style, and why guest count changes your buffer. Read Catering quantities: the complete picture Food, beverages, staffing and disposables for any event size, and how the four fit together. Read How many appetizers per person Passed hors d'oeuvres by event length, and when a cocktail hour is really the meal. Read Ice and beverage math for an open bar Ice, beer, wine, liquor and mixers for a full open bar, and the number most people underestimate. Read

6 guides

Running the job

Staff, equipment and the habits that protect your margin.

Five things most caterers miss You have Pro. What to set up first: three things change your numbers, two are conveniences. Read Staffing ratio cheat sheet How many servers and bartenders you need, by service style, so the staffing line on a quote holds up. Read Disposables checklist for off-site jobs What gets left off the truck most often, and how to stop relying on memory. Read Building a repeatable event template How a saved template turns a from-scratch quote into a five-minute adjustment. Read The real cost of over-ordering Where the cost actually comes from, and the one habit that stops it. Read How to price a catering job The order to cost a job in, the labor line most quotes leave out, and margin against markup. Read

3 guides

Corporate and seasonal work

The holiday season runs on a different clock and a different scale.

Corporate holiday party booking timeline When corporate bookings actually land, and what to have locked in by October, November and December. Read Holiday menus that scale past 150 guests Station design and service-style tradeoffs once a holiday party passes the point where the math shifts. Read Buffet vs. plated for office parties What moves in your food, staffing and timeline when a client decides on service style late. Read

From Catering Calc

Introducing Catering Calc Pro

What launched, why it is built the way it is, and what it costs.

Read the announcement

Cost and Margin results for a 120-guest corporate dinner