Free tool
Estimate catering price per guest from food, staffing, transport and overhead. Check the modeled surplus, service charge and tax before quoting.
Cost / Person
$26.43
100 guests
Price / Person
$31.10
at 15% margin
Total Quote
$3,980.35
$39.80/pp all-in
Modeled surplus
$466.45
15% margin
Service styles use illustrative staffing ratios and fixed food buffers: drop-off 10%, buffet 12%, family style 10%, cocktail 8%, plated 3%. Enter food cost before the buffer. Override staffing for your actual plan.
+12% buffer for buffet service
Modeled surplus is the base quote minus entered costs. It excludes service charge and tax and is not business net profit. Tax and service charge each use the base quote; tax is not applied to the service charge. Confirm the correct tax base for your event.
Highlighted row is your target margin
Meal food cost including the style buffer is 36% of the base quote. This ratio excludes bar costs, labor and overhead.
Entered labor is 19% of the base quote. Include prep, service, cleanup and payroll costs in your hours and rates.
Cost every catering menu in one place
Build reusable recipes for each menu. When a supplier price changes, DishCost updates the food cost for you.
Read the worked catering pricing guide and check menu inputs in the recipe costing template.
See how one ingredient price changes several dishes. Try the sample menu without an account.
How it works
Illustrative USD example: 100 guests at $10 raw food cost each. Buffet applies a fixed 12% food buffer, so food is $1,120. Five servers at $20/hour for 5 hours cost $500; two prep/setup/cleanup workers at $15/hour for 3 hours cost $90. Add $500 rentals and $150 transport: direct cost is $2,360. Overhead at 12% adds $283.20, for $2,643.20 total cost. A 15% margin gives a $3,109.65 base quote, or $31.10 per guest. A 20% service charge and an illustrative 8% tax, each on the base quote, give $3,980.35 total. These are assumptions, not recommended rates.
Cost the planned menu and divide by guests. The tool applies a fixed allowance: buffet 12%, plated 3%, family style 10%, cocktail 8%, drop-off 10%. Do not include that same buffer twice.
Enter paid hours and loaded hourly costs for service and prep/setup/cleanup. Add rentals, transport and an overhead allowance. Automatic staffing ratios are model presets; use the manual server count for your actual plan.
Base price = entered job cost / (1 - margin as a decimal). Surplus is base price minus modeled cost, not business net profit. Service charge and tax are each added on the base quote; the tool does not tax the service charge.
The formula
Base Quote = Entered Job Cost ÷ (1 − Margin / 100)
Tips
Use the actual staffing plan and loaded rates. Include kitchen prep, loading, service and cleanup; a server ratio alone does not cover the job.
Enter food cost before the selected style's fixed buffer. If your food estimate already includes extra portions, separate that allowance first.
The tool adds service charge and tax to the same base quote. It does not calculate tax on the service charge or decide the correct rules for your event.
FAQ
Choose Corporate Lunch, Buffet, 100 guests, $10 food per person, automatic staffing, $20 server rate and 5 event hours. Enter 2 setup workers, $15/hour and 3 setup hours; $500 rentals; $150 transport; 12% overhead; 15% margin; 20% service charge; 8% tax. Leave bar service off.
The raw menu can be $5.50 main, $2 side, $1.50 salad and $1 dessert per guest. Buffet adds 12% only to food. Five servers cost $500 and the crew costs $90. Assume those crew hours cover all prep, loading and setup/cleanup, and that both rates already include payroll costs. Kitchen, insurance and admin costs are included in the overhead allowance. Confirm those assumptions before using the quote.
Food $1,120 + labor $590 + rentals $500 + transport $150 = $2,360 direct cost. Overhead is $283.20, so total modeled cost is $2,643.20. Divide by 0.85: the unrounded base quote is $3,109.6470588. The tool shows $3,109.65, $31.10 per guest and $466.45 modeled surplus before charges.
Service charge is $621.93 and tax is $248.77. Both use the base quote; tax does not include the service charge. Total is $3,980.35, or $39.80 per guest. Confirm your event's tax rules and round the customer invoice consistently. Read the complete catering pricing guide for the quote and model limits.
No. It is the base quote minus the costs entered into this calculation. A 15% margin means that surplus is 15% of the base quote. Missing costs, actual waste, cancellations, financing and income tax can change the business result. Service charge and sales tax are outside this surplus calculation.
Use a margin that fits your budget. The tool does not establish an industry profit target. Check the food-only ratio with the food cost percentage calculator.
Add buffered food, labor, rentals and transport. The tool applies overhead to that direct-cost subtotal, then divides by guests. In the example, $2,643.20 / 100 = $26.432 cost per guest before margin. Separate the recipe ingredient calculation from the full event cost.
The tool assumes one server per 20 buffet guests, 15 family-style guests, 10 plated guests or 25 cocktail guests, rounded up. Drop-off sets automatic on-site servers to zero. These are calculator presets, not service standards. Use the manual count for your menu, venue, timing and service plan. Setup workers and bartenders are separate inputs.
Compare each service plan's food and labor costs. This tool uses a 12% buffet food allowance with 1:20 automatic staffing, versus a 3% plated allowance with 1:10 staffing. At the same 100 guests, $20/hour and 5 hours, that is $500 versus $1,000 of server cost. The food buffer moves in the other direction. These modeled differences are not a promise of how any event will run.
A required service charge is different from a voluntary tip. The IRS explains that mandatory charges are not tips and that amounts distributed to employees are wages. Disclosure and tax treatment can also depend on local rules.
This calculator adds the service charge to the base quote but does not allocate it to wages or expenses. It also calculates tax on the base quote only. Confirm the applicable tax base and any payroll costs before sending an invoice.
Agree on a guaranteed guest count, the deadline for changes and how extra guests are billed. Put those terms in the proposal. The calculator uses the guest count entered; it does not manage contracts or enforce a guarantee. Its food buffer adds cost, not extra billable guests.
List menu and portions, the guest guarantee, service timing, staffing, included rentals, transport, base price, service charge and tax. State what changes the quote and how cancellations are handled. The tool's PDF and CSV contain pricing information; they are not a catering contract.
Use the recipe costing template to check the menu inputs, then try the sample menu to see how ingredient prices affect several dishes.
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