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Free template · Quote / proposal

A catering quote clients can say yes to

A proposal-ready catering quote in two formats: a fillable, branded PDF you can send the same day, and a self-calculating Excel with per-person menu pricing, staffing and rental lines, automatic totals, and a built-in margin check so you never discover an unprofitable event after you've catered it.

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What makes a catering quote convert

Clients comparing caterers are comparing three things: does the food sound right, is the price legible, and do these people seem organized. A raw spreadsheet screenshot fails that third test before the first two get a chance, so the quote ships as a branded, fillable PDF — the document you actually send — backed by a self-calculating Excel where you build the numbers. Both format your figures like a menu, not a ledger:

  • Menu first, math second.Dishes described appetizingly with one per-person price per section, not fourteen ingredient rows. You're selling dinner, not a bill of materials.
  • Per-person where it scales, flat where it doesn't. Food and bar per person; staffing, rentals, and delivery as flat lines. Mixing them is how quotes become illegible.
  • No surprise fees. Service charge and tax visible on the quote. If the first time a client sees your service charge is the invoice, you've converted a sale into a dispute.
  • An expiration date. Protects you from ingredient drift and gives your follow-up email a reason to exist.

The margin check most caterers skip

The Excel version's second tab is the part that pays for itself: a quiet, private cost check (don't send this tab) that asks what the food actually costs, what the labor hours really are, and what overhead share this event carries, then shows your true margin next to the price you're about to send. If you've never priced from costs before, start with our free catering pricing calculator. It walks the same math interactively and gives you a defensible per-person price to paste into this quote.

From quote to booked event

  1. Duplicate the Excel master per lead; fill the header on the discovery call.
  2. Build the menu sections; let the totals calculate themselves.
  3. Check the margin tab. Below 20%? Reprice now, not after the event.
  4. Drop the numbers into the fillable PDF and send it with your contract attached. Quote and contract together close faster than either alone.
  5. On acceptance, the quote becomes your BEOand your invoice. (Retyping it twice is the step we're building PerPlate to delete.)

Common questions

How do I write a catering quote?

Lead with the event details (date, venue, headcount, service style), present the menu with per-person pricing, list staffing, rentals, and delivery as their own lines, show service charge and tax honestly, and close with deposit terms and an expiration date. The template structures all of it. You fill in menu and numbers.

Should I use the PDF or the Excel version?

Both ship together, for different jobs. The fillable PDF is the polished, branded document you send: open it in any PDF reader, type into the labeled fields, and email it the same day. The Excel version does the math: enter your menu against a guest count and it rolls up the subtotal, service charge, tax, estimated total, and per-guest price, and a private second tab checks your margin before you send. Most caterers build the numbers in Excel, then send the PDF.

How much should I charge per person for catering?

It depends on service style and market: as a rough 2026 US range, drop-off corporate runs ~$18–40 per person, buffets ~$30–70, and full-service plated dinners ~$70–150+. The honest answer comes from your costs: use our free catering pricing calculator to build a per-person price from food cost, labor, overhead, and target margin instead of guessing from ranges.

Should a catering quote include an expiration date?

Always. Food costs move; 30 days is standard. An expiring quote also creates a polite reason to follow up: 'your quote expires Friday, want me to hold the date?' closes more business than checking in.

What's the difference between a catering quote and a proposal?

A quote is the numbers; a proposal is the numbers plus the story: menu descriptions, your style, photos, terms. For most independent caterers the winning format is one document that reads like a proposal and totals like a quote, which is how the template is laid out.