Caterdock
Interactive demo · one event file

From enquiry to post costing.

A made-up summer party: change something, the rest follows.

Win timeWin moneyKeep more margin

Example: client, dishes and amounts are made up. Nothing is saved.

Atelier VlasSat 19/6/2027120 guestsestimate €19,200margin, all costs 50.9%
Step 1 of 9

The enquiry comes in. You see straight away if it works.

Atelier Vlas asks for a summer party for about 120 guests. Caterdock estimates the cost line by line from your own standards and colours the margin against your target and minimum.

Try it Move the guests and the budget per person.

Caterdock | Enquirysample
New enquiryAtelier VlasSummer party, Sat 19 June 2027, farm venue near Ghent
estimate
What Caterdock already knows from the client file, the venue file and earlier events
Client: Atelier Vlasclient memory

Contact Mila · third event with you

  • PreferenceSeasonal vegetables, little meat at the reception
  • AllergyMila herself: nuts
  • DislikeNo coriander
  • BudgetAround € 160 pp excl. VAT, all in
Earlier events
  • New year reception, January 202780 guests · €118 ppCroquette, Gougère, Courgette
  • Summer party, June 2026110 guests · €149 ppCroquette, Veal, Strawberry
Venue: Hoeve Ten Vlasbloemvenue file
Kitchen
None, only a scullery
Power
2 × 16 A and 1 × 32 A three phase at the barn
Water
Tap in the scullery
Cooling
None
Loading
Paved drive up to the barn, no loading dock
Distance
Kitchen to hall 25 m
Note
No music outside after 23:00

No kitchen and no cooling: the mobile kitchen is already in the proposal.

Event planner: Studio Saffraan Eventscommission agreement

8% commission on food. Counted automatically as a cost in your margin; the client pays nothing extra.

Commission on version 1: €595

120
€160
Client budget: €160 pp excl. VAT (client memory)
Revenue€19,200estimate
Cost€9,427your standards, incl. commission
Margin, all costs (estimate)50.9%above target
Feasible: send a quote.

Margin = revenue minus all costs: food, drinks, all staff of the day (permanent cooks and maître included), equipment, transport and the planner commission. The same formula everywhere in the demo, against a 50% target and a 35% minimum.

Cost lineEstimated cost
Menu€1,500
Drinks€1,344
Service and kitchen · 10 waiters, 4 cooks and a maître, permanent staff included€5,473
Equipment€394
Transport and set up€120
Planner commission · Studio Saffraan Events€595
Lower budget? The same event as a walking dinner
Walking dinner
Drinks
Seated dinnerworked out proposal (step 2)Walking dinner
Price pp excl. VAT€162.09€123.21
Revenue€19,451€14,786
Food cost20.1%26.6%
Waiters106 (1 per 20)
Margin, all costs51.6%48.8%
Margin in euro€10,031€7,218
Gross margin before permanent staff (subtotal)61.6%62.1%

The 50.9% at the top is the quick estimate on the client budget. This column is the worked out proposal from step 2.

Croquette · Gougère · Courgette (mini) · Sea bass (mini) · Chicken (mini) · Celeriac (mini) · Strawberry (mini)

Cheaper per person, but the margin after all costs drops below your 50% target. Pick more bites, another drinks package or a higher price per bite.

Win time, win money, keep more margin.

Every department saves about an hour per event file: five hours in total. An estimate by SIR Catering, not yet measured.

Kitchen

Sales and quotes

Coordination

Logistics

Admin

More explanation: where each hour comes from
  • Kitchen 1 hour: Prep list, order list and allergens follow from the menu.
  • Sales and quotes 1 hour: Proposal, versions and margin in one file.
  • Coordination 1 hour: Event sheet and changes in one place, the same for everyone.
  • Logistics 1 hour: Packing list and tableware follow guests and menu.
  • Admin 1 hour: Post costing from the same numbers as the quote. Pro forma and invoicing are coming soon.
Your event files per month
8
Cost per hour (example, adjust)
€45
5hours per file (estimate)
40hours per month
480hours per year
€1,800per month at your hourly cost

5 hours per file × your files per month × your hourly cost.

More explanation
  • The hour per department is an estimate by SIR Catering, not yet measured.
  • For comparison: building an order list by hand easily takes 30 minutes to an hour.
  • Errors between quote, kitchen and van disappear, and what you change, you change once.
  • Compare it with the plans below.

Also in the app, and what is coming soon

In Caterdock today

  • Import recipes from photo or PDF, scan supplier price lists
  • Bring in existing prep lists and proposals as PDF
  • Sales pipeline, event planners with commission, venue files
  • Transport with kilometres, delivery notes
  • Weekly staff cost and the Week board

Coming soon

  • Planning crew and tasks across all your events
  • Invoicing today only quotes; pro forma and invoices follow, Peppol as an integration
  • Comments per dish, versions and comparison (step 3)
  • Automatic vegetarian alternative
  • Reuse a menu from a past event in one click

What does it cost, and how do you start?

Free

€ 0forever

Up to 3 active events, Legend (basic), prep list per event, order lists

Chef

€ 79per month excl. VAT

Unlimited events, full Legend, food cost per dish

Pro

€ 159per month excl. VAT

Everything in Chef, plus sales pipeline, quotes, finance dashboard and post costing

Kitchen

€ 299per month excl. VAT

Everything in Pro, plus up to 5 crew members, roles and a personal onboarding

Prices as on caterdock.com/prijzen, cancel monthly. Which plan covers the full event file flow in this demo and what the founder rate includes, you hear after a short conversation. The waitlist is non-binding; the rate is only fixed after that conversation. See pricing

How you start

  1. Account and onboardingA short questionnaire about your kitchen and role.
  2. Bring your dataImport recipes, price lists and old prep lists from photo or PDF.
  3. Your rulesTarget margin, VAT, drinks packages and staff rates.
  4. Your first event fileA real enquiry, from proposal to prep list.
More explanation
  • Account and onboarding After the questionnaire your settings are ready.
  • Bring your data Recipes go into the Legend, you scan supplier price lists, and bring in existing prep lists and proposals as PDF. Add clients, venues and planners as they come back.
  • Your rules Also the minimum of your margin and your fixed weekly staff cost.
  • Your first event file What you fill in there, you reuse in the next file.
Put me on the founder rate waitlist

Ready for your own event files?

Caterdock is built by SIR Catering, for caterers.

Put me on the founder rate waitlist
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