Free Catering Quote Template & Generator
A catering quote is guest count multiplied out across four different things, and it has to show all four. The menu prices per guest, staffing prices by position and hour, rentals price by unit, and delivery, setup, and breakdown price by event. On top of that sit a service charge and sales tax, then a deposit that holds the date. The final headcount deadline belongs on the same page, because every figure above moves with it.
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| Description | Qty | Rate | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dinner package per guest | 60 | $48.00 | $2,880.00 |
| Service staff | 12 | $38.00 | $456.00 |
| Delivery and setup | 1 | $275.00 | $275.00 |
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Use-case checklist
What to include in a catering quote
Guest count is the whole quote, and it is the number clients treat as provisional right up until the week of the event. You order protein and schedule six servers against 120; 92 people walk in; if the quote never named a guarantee deadline or a minimum, the client expects to pay for 92 and you have already bought food for 120. It cuts the other way too: 140 arrive and a kitchen staffed for 120 runs out during the second wave, which is the version people remember. A quote that fixes the headcount deadline, the guaranteed minimum, and the per-guest math makes both outcomes a calculation instead of a confrontation in a parking lot at 9 p.m.
- event date, venue, and service window
- menu and price per guest
- staffing and rental quantities
- headcount deadline
- service charge, tax, deposit, and cancellation terms
Example starting lines
| Description | Qty | Rate |
|---|---|---|
| Dinner package per guest | 60 | $48 |
| Service staff | 12 | $38 |
| Delivery and setup | 1 | $275 |
Complete it cleanly
Use quantities for guests, staff hours, and rental units. State the final headcount deadline, dietary assumptions, venue access, sales tax treatment, gratuity policy, and what happens if attendance changes.
How to make a catering quote in 6 steps
Open the quote generator
Start from this page so the quote opens with fields and sample lines already set up for caterers, food trucks, and private chefs. No account is needed to create or preview.
Enter both parties
Add your business name, address and contact details, then the customer name and address exactly as they should appear on the record.
Add the catering lines
Replace each sample line with the real work or goods. Make sure the document shows event date, venue, and service window, menu and price per guest, staffing and rental quantities.
Check the figures
Totals calculate as you type. Confirm quantities, rates, any tax line and the final total against your own records before you send anything.
Set the reference and dates
Give the quote a unique number and the correct date so it can be traced later and matched to related documents.
Review and download the PDF
Use quantities for guests, staff hours, and rental units. State the final headcount deadline, dietary assumptions, venue access, sales tax treatment, gratuity policy, and what happens if attendance changes. Preview is free; a PDF download costs $4.99, or is included with Unlimited.
Worked example
A 120-guest corporate holiday buffet at a rented hall
Orchard Lane Catering quotes Penwright Insurance Group on Sept 16, 2026 for a holiday dinner on Dec 11 at Harbor Hall, 6:00 to 10:00 p.m., 120 expected guests. Harbor Hall allows outside catering but supplies no china, linens, or staff.
- Buffet dinner: 3 entrees, 2 sides, salad, rolls, 120 guests at $42.00 per guest
- $5,040.00
- Passed appetizers, 4 varieties over a 45-minute reception, 120 guests at $11.00 per guest
- $1,320.00
- Staffing: 6 servers x 6 hrs at $32.00/hr ($1,152.00) and 2 kitchen x 7 hrs at $38.00/hr ($532.00)
- $1,684.00
- Rentals: 120 place settings at $4.25 each ($510.00) and 12 table linens at $18.00 each ($216.00)
- $726.00
- Delivery, on-site setup, and breakdown at Harbor Hall, including a 5:00 p.m. load-in
- $450.00
- Food and service subtotal
- $9,220.00
- Service charge, 18% of the subtotal, retained by Orchard Lane and not distributed as gratuity
- $1,659.60
- Sales tax, illustrative only: an example 6.5% applied here to the $9,220.00 subtotal plus the service charge ($10,879.60 base); see the note
- $707.17
- Quoted total for 120 guests
- $11,586.77
- Deposit due to hold Dec 11 (35%); balance of $7,531.40 due three business days before the event
- $4,055.37
Orchard Lane holds a guaranteed minimum of 110 guests and takes the final count on Dec 4. Below 110, Penwright still pays for 110. The tax line is illustrative in every part: the 6.5% rate, and which lines a jurisdiction taxes at all, including whether a service charge is taxed with the food, vary from place to place, so confirm both the rate and the base with your accountant before you use this on a real quote.
When this document is the right choice
Use this quote to present a fixed proposed price before work begins. A quote is best when scope and price are defined. Use an estimate instead when hidden conditions or an unfinished scope can materially change the final cost.
Frequently asked questions
When should the final headcount be due, and what do I do with the days before it?
Set the deadline against your own ordering and staffing lead time rather than a round number of days. Orchard Lane takes the count on Dec 4 for a Dec 11 event, which is the point protein is ordered and the server schedule is locked. Pair the deadline with a guaranteed minimum, 110 in the example, so the client can still lose a few guests without leaving you holding unsold food. State both on the quote, not in a follow-up email.
Is a service charge the same thing as a gratuity?
They are commonly different, and how you label it matters enough to get right. The example line says the 18% is retained by Orchard Lane to cover coordination and administration, and is not distributed to staff as gratuity, which is what lets the client decide separately whether to tip. Rules on how service charges and tips are described, taxed, and distributed vary by state and can affect payroll, so confirm the wording and the treatment with your accountant or an employment attorney before it goes on every quote.
The venue has its own rental inventory and alcohol rules. How does that change the quote?
Strip out what the venue supplies and name it, rather than quietly deleting the line. If Harbor Hall had provided china and linens, the $726.00 rental line would read as supplied by venue at $0.00 so nobody assumes it was forgotten. Do the same for alcohol: if the venue holds the license and pours, say the quote covers food and service only. Also note load-in time and kitchen access, because a venue with no hot-holding capacity changes the menu, not just the price.
What happens if a large block of guests drops out after the deadline?
The guaranteed minimum governs, and the quote should say so plainly. In the example a drop from 120 to 96 after Dec 4 still bills at 110 guests, because the food is bought and the staff are scheduled. Where you can reasonably flex is staffing: if the count falls far enough that one server is genuinely not needed, releasing that shift and crediting the hours keeps goodwill without giving back the food cost. Put that discretion in writing rather than improvising it.
How do allergy and dietary counts get onto a 120-guest buffet quote?
Treat them as counts, not as a sentence at the bottom of an email. Ask for the numbers with the final headcount on Dec 4, break them out on the quote or the attached menu (so many vegetarian, so many gluten-avoiding, so many with a named allergy), and price them separately when they need their own protein, their own pan, or a plated service in the middle of a buffet. A buffet also needs a service plan: which station each special meal sits at, whether it is held back and handed over instead, and who on your crew can answer a guest asking what is in the dressing. Requirements for allergen handling and labeling differ by jurisdiction and sometimes by venue, so confirm what applies to you locally before you standardize the wording.
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