Catering Quote Calculator · guide
Short answer: price = total cost ÷ (1 − margin − overhead), divided by guests. The part that catches caterers is that only some costs grow with headcount, so a flat per-head price quietly loses money on small events.
With $1,400 of fixed cost and $10 of food per guest, 30 guests cost $56.67 per head and 120 guests cost $21.67. The calculator prints this tier table so you can quote different headcounts without redoing the sheet.
Take the per-guest price you will actually quote, subtract overhead and the per-guest cost, and divide the fixed costs by what is left. That is the break-even headcount. Put a minimum at or above it in the contract, with the price per head for fewer guests stated.
A deposit of half the quote at booking is common because ingredients and staff are committed early. Sales tax, service charges and gratuity are usually shown on separate lines; whether they apply, and who keeps them, depends on your state, so check the local rule instead of assuming.
node cli.mjs quote event.csv --guests 60 --price 28
Enough that cost divided by one minus your margin and overhead share gives the price. With a 30% margin and 10% overhead that is cost divided by 0.6, so a $26 per guest cost needs a price near $43. The calculator does this from your own lines.
Staff, rentals and fuel cost the same whether 40 or 60 people come, so below a certain headcount the event loses money. The break-even guest count is where the price you quoted covers those fixed costs, and the minimum should sit at or above it.
Many caterers aim for food at roughly 25 to 35 percent of the quote and staff at a similar level, but menus differ widely. The tool warns at 35 percent for each and the levels are yours to change.