Catering invoice template priced per plate
Food, service, logistics and rentals — the whole event, itemised the way a customer can actually check it.
INV-001
PendingINVOICE
FROM
Chidinma Occasions
TO
Emeka & Sons Textiles — Staff End of Year
ISSUE DATE
Fri, Aug 14, 2026
DUE DATE
Fri, Aug 28, 2026
| Description | Quantity | Unit Price | VAT | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jollof rice, fried rice and salad — per plate | 150 | NGN 4,500.00 | — | NGN 675,000.00 |
| Assorted grilled chicken and beef — per plate | 150 | NGN 3,000.00 | — | NGN 450,000.00 |
| Small chops — per pack | 100 | NGN 2,500.00 | — | NGN 250,000.00 |
| Service staff — 6 servers for the day | 6 | NGN 15,000.00 | — | NGN 90,000.00 |
| Chafing dishes and serving equipment — hire | 1 | NGN 45,000.00 | — | NGN 45,000.00 |
| Logistics and delivery to venue | 1 | NGN 35,000.00 | — | NGN 35,000.00 |
Note
70% deposit confirms the booking and covers market purchase. Balance due 48 hours before the event. Final headcount to be confirmed 5 days before.
Invoice made free at wadmaster.com/invoice-generator
Opens in the free generator with these lines already filled in.
Figures are realistic examples, not a price list. What you charge is your own decision.
Per plate, per pack, per head
Food is priced per plate or per pack, because that is the number the customer is deciding — how many guests. Everything that is not food is priced per unit or per day: servers per person, equipment per hire, logistics as one line. Quoting a single event figure feels simpler and is the reason caterers get haggled down.
What to take upfront
Seventy per cent, and take it early. You buy in the market before the event, at prices that move weekly, and an event cancelled three days out leaves you holding food for a party that will not happen. A deposit that covers purchase is the difference between a cancelled booking and a loss.
The lines most caterers and event vendors forget
Every one of these is work you have already done or money you have already spent. Left off the invoice, it comes out of your margin.
- Logistics — moving food, warmers and staff across Lagos on the day
- Service staff, absorbed as 'my people will be there anyway'
- Disposables, packaging and takeaway packs for guests
- Waiting time when the event starts two hours late
- Equipment hire — chafing dishes, coolers, serving spoons
- Guests above the agreed headcount, catered for without a word
Invoicing as a caterer
- How do I handle a headcount that changes?
- Put a confirmation deadline on the invoice — five days before is common — and state that the count is final from then. You buy for the number you were given, and a customer who adds twenty guests on the morning has changed the job, not clarified it.
- Should logistics be a separate line?
- Always. Moving warmers, equipment and staff across a city is a real cost with a real price, and burying it in the per-plate figure makes your food look overpriced next to a caterer who charges for delivery openly.
- What deposit should I take for an event?
- Enough to cover what you must buy before the day, which for most caterers is 60–70%. Say on the invoice what the deposit is for. 'Confirms the booking and covers market purchase' is a reason; 'deposit' on its own sounds like a formality somebody can negotiate.
A template gets one invoice out. The next fifty are the work.
WadMaster keeps your items and your customers, so the second invoice takes a minute and you can see which ones are still unpaid.
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