Catering Quote & Price-Per-Head Calculator
Excel (.xlsx) — also opens in Google Sheets & Numbers
A catering quote calculator prices an event per head from what it actually costs you: the food, plus the staff, hire and travel that a quote built on ingredients alone leaves out. Enter the guest count and the food cost per head of each course, set a target food cost %, add staffing, hire and travel per head, and the sheet gives you the price per head and the full quote, ex-VAT.
What's inside
- Food, staff, hire and travel — per head and total
- Target food cost % does the pricing for you
- Stops the #1 catering mistake: quoting too low
- Worked example built in — just type over it
What it does
Enter your guest count and food cost per head, add staffing, equipment hire and travel, and the calculator prices the whole job — per head and total — with your target food cost percentage doing the pricing for you.
It exists to stop the number one catering mistake: quoting too low because the quote only covered the ingredients. Labour, travel and hire are first-class lines here, not an afterthought.
Who it's for
Caterers, private chefs and kitchens taking on event work — from a 20-cover buffet to a 200-cover wedding. A worked example is built in, so you can see a full quote before typing your own.
Worked example: an 80-guest garden wedding buffet
The Quote Builder tab opens with this job filled in. Food is entered as cost per head for each course:
| Line | Per head |
|---|---|
| Sharing starters | £2.20 |
| Main + 2 sides | £5.80 |
| Dessert | £1.90 |
| Soft drinks | £0.80 |
| Food cost per head | £10.70 |
At the sheet's 30% target food cost, £10.70 ÷ 0.30 = £35.67 food price per head. Staffing (£4.00), equipment hire (£1.50) and travel (£0.75) are then added on top at cost, so the price per head is £41.92 ex-VAT and the total quote for 80 guests is £3,353.33 ex-VAT.
The sheet then checks the job: total food cost £856.00, estimated gross profit £1,997.33 after food, staff, hire and travel, and food cost at 25.5% of the whole quote. That last figure is lower than 30% because the staff, hire and travel lines raise the price without adding food.
How to use it
- Type the event name and the number of guests.
- List each food and drink item with its cost per head (up to 12 lines). Cost each item first with the free food cost calculator if you only know the batch cost.
- Set your target food cost %. The food price per head appears.
- Add staffing, equipment hire and travel per head. For staff, divide the total wage bill for the job by the guest count.
- Read the price per head and the total quote, then check the food cost % of the quote and the gross profit line before you send it.
Why the staff, hire and travel lines matter
On the example job those three lines add £6.25 a head, £500 across 80 guests. Leave them out and the quote still looks profitable on paper, but the margin pays the waiting staff and the van. For a full method, see the guide to calculating a catering quote per head.
What it does not do
It prices ex-VAT; add VAT on top if you are VAT-registered. It does not cost your recipes for you (enter a cost per head you have already worked out), and it adds staff, hire and travel at cost rather than with a markup, so put any margin you want on those into the per-head figures.
Questions people ask
Is this a subscription?
No. It is a one-off £11.99, with no VAT charged: buy it once, download the file and it is yours to keep. It works offline.
Does it work in Google Sheets?
Yes. Upload the .xlsx to Google Drive and open it with Google Sheets; the formulas carry over. It also opens in Apple Numbers.
Can I change the 30% target?
Yes. The target food cost % is a cell you type into. Many caterers use 25–35% depending on the menu and how much service is included.
Does it work for drop-off catering with no staff?
Yes. Set staffing and hire to £0 and keep the travel or delivery line; the quote is then food price per head plus delivery.
Goes well with
Try the numbers first, free: the food cost & GP calculator and the recipe costing tool run in your browser.