Catering software for function quotes, deposits and GST invoicing

Square Invoices and Xero are both good at what they are built for. Square is quick to send an invoice and take a card, and Xero is a proper accounting ledger your bookkeeper already knows. Neither has a concept of a function: a date, a headcount, a menu and a deposit weeks before any money moves, which is why so many caterers keep quotes in a Word template, the menu in a PDF and the event board on a whiteboard. OneBookPlus joins that chain in one place: function quoting with deposit terms, an order list the kitchen preps from, digital menus with dietary tags, daily sales tracking and GST invoicing with accounting behind it. If your work is mostly counter or delivery volume rather than booked functions, a POS-first tool will probably suit you better.

You build the quote line by line: per-head packages from your menu, staff hours, equipment hire, delivery. The client receives it by email and accepts online, and the quote records deposit terms (a fixed amount or a percentage) so the date is held with money rather than a promise. Accepted work flows onto your order list, and after the event the balance is invoiced with the deposit already accounted for.

Yes. Every OneBookPlus account includes a branded booking page where clients can enquire about or book tastings, consultations and event dates around the clock. You can require a deposit percentage at booking, and each booking lands in your dashboard with the client's details attached, so a bride who finds you at 10pm has committed to a tasting before you wake up.

You build the menu once: categories, items, descriptions, prices and dietary tags such as vegan, gluten-free and halal. Items can be toggled available or unavailable with one tap when the season changes or a supplier lets you down. The menu app is free and included with every plan, and dietary tags let clients self-serve the answers your phone would otherwise field.

Yes. Daily sales tracking shows what each day earned with GST split out, and every supplier invoice and ingredient run is logged as an expense against the ledger. Bank feeds reconcile your card takings automatically, and the built-in accounting gives you a P&L per month and a BAS-ready GST summary per quarter, without exporting anything to a separate accounting package.

The core platform starts free (10 invoices and 5 quotes a month, a booking page, up to 250 contacts), which is enough to run your first functions. Starter is $29/month for unlimited invoices, quotes and bookings with Stripe payments and accounting, and Growth is $69/month for caterers who want marketing automation, review collection and more team members. The menu management app is free on every plan. All prices are in AUD.

Yes. Although many basic groceries are GST-free, food supplied by a caterer as part of a catering service is a taxable supply, so once your business is registered for GST (required from $75,000 annual turnover) you charge 10% GST on your catering. OneBookPlus raises GST-inclusive tax invoices with your ABN, tracks the GST on sales and expenses, and produces a BAS-ready summary each quarter. For quick price checks, the free GST calculator linked on this page splits any figure into its GST and net components.

No. OneBookPlus does not connect to Uber Eats, DoorDash or other delivery marketplaces. It is built for the function and event side of catering: quotes, deposits, orders, menus, daily sales and GST invoicing, plus your own booking page for direct enquiries. If most of your revenue is marketplace delivery orders, a marketplace-integrated POS may suit you better; if your revenue is functions and events, this is the book for it.

How much you take is your commercial decision, and it usually tracks how far ahead the booking sits and how much you have to outlay before the day: a wedding booked a year out with hired glassware and casual staff carries more exposure than a boardroom lunch next Tuesday. What OneBookPlus does is attach the terms to the quote as either a fixed amount or a percentage, raise the deposit invoice when the client accepts, and deduct it automatically from the balance invoice after the event, so the total charged is never in dispute. Your booking page can also require a deposit percentage at the time of booking for tastings and consultations. Cancellation and refund terms are yours to write, and Australian Consumer Law applies to them, so it is worth having your terms checked before you standardise them.

Yes. Set your terms on the invoice (7, 14 or 30 days are the usual choices for corporate accounts), send it with a Stripe pay link, and let the automated reminders chase what runs past due instead of doing it yourself on a Friday afternoon. Each client's record keeps their event history and everything you have invoiced them, so when the accounts team asks which purchase order a line belongs to, the answer is on the same screen. Longer terms move the cash risk onto you, which is one reason the deposit on the function matters more than the terms on the balance.

No. OneBookPlus is your business platform: quotes, orders, menus, sales and GST. It stores dietary tags such as vegan, gluten-free and halal against menu items so the information travels from the menu to the quote to the order the kitchen preps from, which removes a common source of miscommunication. It is not a food-safety system and it does not produce allergen declarations or temperature logs. Your obligations under the Food Standards Code and your local council or state health authority sit with you and your food safety supervisor; this is general information, not legal advice.