Catering Quote & Margin Planner methodology

foodCostExTax = guests × food cost per guest

prepLabourCostExTax = preparation hours × preparation loaded rate

serviceLabourCostExTax = service hours × service loaded rate

totalLabourCostExTax = preparation labour + service labour

otherVariableCostExTax = packaging and logistics cost

fixedCostExTax = venue and fixed cost

baseCostExTax = food + labour + other variable + fixed costs

contingencyExTax = base cost × contingency rate

protectedCostExTax = base cost + contingency

totalQuoteExTax = protected cost ÷ (1 − target margin)

quotePerGuestExTax = total quote ÷ guests

targetContributionExTax = total quote − protected cost

Money inputs and outputs use the currency selected in the scenario without changing the canonical methodology. Rates, margins, utilisation and buffers are entered as percentages and converted to decimal values for calculation.

• All values must be finite and remain inside visible input boundaries.
• Rates must remain below the engine-owned upper boundary.
• The same cost must not be entered in more than one category.

Guests minimum

guestCount ≥ 1 whole guests/event — A lower value is rejected before calculation.

Guests maximum

guestCount ≤ 100,000,000 whole guests/event — A higher value is rejected before calculation.

Food cost per guest minimum

foodCostPerGuestExTax ≥ 0 currency units/guest, ex tax — A lower value is rejected before calculation.

Food cost per guest maximum

foodCostPerGuestExTax ≤ 10,000,000 currency units/guest, ex tax — A higher value is rejected before calculation.

Preparation labour hours minimum

prepLabourHours ≥ 0 hours/event — A lower value is rejected before calculation.

Preparation labour hours maximum

prepLabourHours ≤ 100,000,000 hours/event — A higher value is rejected before calculation.

Preparation loaded rate minimum

prepLoadedRateExTax ≥ 0 currency units/hour, ex tax — A lower value is rejected before calculation.

Preparation loaded rate maximum

prepLoadedRateExTax ≤ 10,000,000 currency units/hour, ex tax — A higher value is rejected before calculation.

Service labour hours minimum

serviceLabourHours ≥ 0 hours/event — A lower value is rejected before calculation.

Service labour hours maximum

serviceLabourHours ≤ 100,000,000 hours/event — A higher value is rejected before calculation.

Service loaded rate minimum

serviceLoadedRateExTax ≥ 0 currency units/hour, ex tax — A lower value is rejected before calculation.

Service loaded rate maximum

serviceLoadedRateExTax ≤ 10,000,000 currency units/hour, ex tax — A higher value is rejected before calculation.

Packaging and logistics minimum

packagingLogisticsCostExTax ≥ 0 currency units/event, ex tax — A lower value is rejected before calculation.

Packaging and logistics maximum

packagingLogisticsCostExTax ≤ 10,000,000 currency units/event, ex tax — A higher value is rejected before calculation.

Venue and fixed costs minimum

venueFixedCostExTax ≥ 0 currency units/event, ex tax — A lower value is rejected before calculation.

Venue and fixed costs maximum

venueFixedCostExTax ≤ 10,000,000 currency units/event, ex tax — A higher value is rejected before calculation.

Contingency rate minimum

contingencyRate ≥ 0 decimal fraction of event base cost — A lower value is rejected before calculation.

Contingency rate maximum

contingencyRate ≤ 1 decimal fraction of event base cost — A higher value is rejected before calculation.

Target quote margin minimum

targetMargin ≥ 0 decimal fraction of catering quote revenue — A lower value is rejected before calculation.

Target quote margin maximum

targetMargin ≤ 1 decimal fraction of catering quote revenue — A higher value is rejected before calculation.

• All commercial terms, costs, rates and volumes are supplied by the user.
• Money values use one consistent ex-tax basis.
• No provider fee, jurisdiction, benchmark or demand forecast is embedded.
• Raw engine precision is retained until display.

This planner has no current policy-data dependency. Its commercial assumptions are user supplied. Registered family-level regression suites exercise the shared business-logic engine and worked-result reconciliation.

• Results depend on the completeness and classification of entered records.
• The planner does not forecast demand, customer behaviour or supplier terms.
• This is educational business decision support rather than accounting, tax, legal or financial advice.
• Labour rates, contingency and target margin are editable quote assumptions; no wage rule, tax rate, service charge, gratuity or hospitality benchmark is embedded.
• Food-safety, licensing, venue, staffing and contract obligations remain outside this commercial quote model.

This is educational decision support, not tax, accounting, legal or financial advice. Check the treatment of your actual transactions under the rules that apply to your business and seek qualified advice where appropriate.

Registered family-level suites test formula invariants and example reconciliation; the release ledger records that coverage without claiming a separate oracle for every line of public copy. There is no official threshold or benchmark to refresh for this planner. Commercial inputs remain user-supplied because they vary by business and contract.

1. 2026-07-31: Initial public release of the planner and methodology after pre-launch calculation, content, source and interaction review.