POS and invoicing for caterers
Catering is sold weeks ahead on paper: a quote, a deposit, a final headcount, an invoice and a balance chased after the event. SeroPOS handles that paperwork in the back office and keeps your catering menu beside the counter menu on the till, so one catalogue and one set of books cover both.
Catering in SeroPOS
Quotes with a link
Send a quotation as a PDF or a link the customer can open to accept or decline.
Quote to invoice
Convert an accepted quotation into a proforma or final invoice without retyping a line.
Deposits as part payments
Record the deposit against the invoice and keep the balance due on the customer's account.
Recurring office orders
Set a weekly lunch order as a recurring invoice that is generated on schedule.
Catering menu on the till
A separate Catering POS menu sits next to your counter menu for walk-in tray orders.
Statements and ageing
Email customer statements and see unpaid invoices by age in the receivables report.
From enquiry to accepted quote
Create the quote in the back office with Add Quotation. Choose the customer, add trays, platters and per-person items from your catalogue with quantities and prices, then add delivery or setup charges, a discount and notes such as the event date and venue. Download it as a PDF or share a link. The customer opens the link to view the quote and accept or decline it.
The New Quotation notification template can email the link automatically, with your own wording and your logo. List Quotations keeps every quote in one place so you can follow up on the ones still waiting. If the headcount changes, edit the quotation and send the link again rather than starting over, and the customer always sees the current version.
Invoices, deposits and the balance
When the quote is accepted, convert it to a proforma invoice for the deposit request or straight to a final invoice. Record the deposit as a payment for part of the total, and the invoice shows as partially paid with the balance due. Pay terms on the customer, such as net 15, set the due date, and invoices can be printed on A4 or Letter with the Modern layout.
After the event, Receive Payment lists the customer's open invoices with their age, total, paid and balance, so a cheque or e-transfer can be applied in seconds. The Payment Reminder template emails a nudge, customer statements can be sent from the customer's ledger, and the receivables ageing report shows every unpaid catering invoice by how overdue it is.
Regular clients and office lunches
Weekly or monthly standing orders, such as a Friday office lunch, can be set up as recurring invoices that generate at the interval you choose. Business clients can be given a credit limit and a customer group with its own pricing, so a corporate rate applies automatically. Each client's ledger, sales and payments sit on their profile in the back office.
On the Pro plan, the CRM adds leads and follow-ups. Record an enquiry as a lead, schedule a call or email follow-up with a reminder, and convert the lead to a customer once they book. Campaigns can email past catering clients who have not ordered in a set number of days, which is how many caterers fill quiet months.
The counter, the kitchen and the costs
If you also run a café or restaurant, create a Catering POS menu from your tray and platter categories. The till shows a pill to switch between the counter menu and the catering menu, so a walk-in ordering sandwiches for twenty is rung on the same till, with a deposit as a partial payment if they collect later.
On the Pro plan, recipes cost each tray from its ingredients, waste and packaging, and production batches can record what the kitchen made for an event. The Profit and Loss report then shows catering sales against cost of goods and expenses such as rentals and staff, by product, category or date range.
Frequently asked questions
Can customers accept a catering quote online?
Yes. Each quotation has a shareable link. The customer opens it to view the quote and accept or decline it, and you can also download the quote as a PDF. The New Quotation email template can send the link automatically when you save the quote.
How do I take a deposit on a catering order?
Convert the accepted quotation to an invoice, then record the deposit as a payment for part of the total. The invoice shows as partially paid, and the balance stays due on the customer's account until you record the rest in Receive Payment.
Can I invoice the same office client every week?
Yes. Create the order as a recurring invoice in the back office and choose the interval. SeroPOS generates each invoice on schedule, and you can switch the recurrence off when the arrangement ends. Each invoice can be emailed with a link.
Is SeroPOS catering software or a POS?
Both. The back office handles quotations, invoices, deposits, recurring invoices and statements, while the SeroPOS app is the till for walk-in sales, with a separate catering menu if you need one. Both share the same products, customers and reports, so a client who books trays by quote and buys pastries at the counter has one history.
Which plan does a catering business need?
Quotations, invoices and partial payments are handled in the web back office that comes with SeroPOS. Pro at $50 a month adds CRM for leads and follow-ups, recipes and production, QuickBooks and advanced reports. Standard is $30. Both start with a 14-day free trial, no card.