How to Charge for a Catering Job

Catering charges can be roughly computed.

As an independent caterer, it can be difficult to determine how much to charge your clients. As you do more work, this will become more natural. Early on, there are simple computations you can do to give yourself an idea of a reasonable fee.

Instructions

1. Make sure you have complete information about your expenses for the event you are catering -- not only for the food, but for equipment rental, transport, employee salaries, and anything else it will cost you.

2. Compute your monthly business expenses, including advertising, equipment maintenance, insurance, and office space. Divide this sum by the average number of jobs you perform each month and add the resulting figure to the amount calculated in Step One.

3. Add an appropriate amount of profit. At the beginning of your career, it's common to have your food costs represent around 30 percent of your fee. Use this as a rule of thumb when determining profit. As your career progresses, you can lower this to 25 or 20 percent.

4. Compare the fee you've computed with the fees of similar caterers in your area. Make sure you are not significantly cheaper or significantly more expensive than them. Adjust your fee accordingly.

References

• Start A Catering Company: Pricing a catering job