Choosing the right software for your event venue or catering business
Running an event venue or catering business means your software needs to fit the way you work, not the other way around. The market is full of tools that claim to work "for catering too", but there is a real difference between a tool you can bend to your needs and one built specifically for what you do. This article helps you make that distinction clearly.
General tools lack the depth you need
Spreadsheets, accounting packages and generic CRM tools are used by many small caterers because they are familiar and cheap. And to be fair: for tracking a handful of contacts or drafting a simple invoice, they work fine. But once you are running several events a week, coordinating multiple staff members and managing variable menus, a general tool starts to fall short.
The problem is in the detail. A spreadsheet has no fixed structure for a quote with separate line items per person, ingredient quantities and staff hours. Accounting software has no concept of a production list. A calendar app has no idea which chefs and servers are assigned to which event. You end up building that structure yourself, across several different tools, and that costs time and increases the chance of errors.
Event software is broad, but not deep enough for catering
Event software focuses on planning, communication and managing events: room bookings, guest lists, timelines, venue contracts. That is useful if you run an events agency or manage a conference centre. But when the catering side of an event is the most complex part, event software has a blind spot.
Menu composition, portion-level ingredient calculations, supplier order lists, preparation instructions per kitchen station: these are things specific to a catering operation. Event software offers at most a text field or an attachment for this. You end up using separate spreadsheets alongside your event software, which is exactly the problem you were trying to solve.
Catering software is built for your working process
Software built specifically for catering understands the structure of your work. A quote consists of dishes, drinks, staff, transport and possibly equipment hire, priced per person, per hour or per unit. From that quote you can automatically generate a production list for the kitchen and a work schedule for the team. After the event, an invoice follows that matches the quote exactly.
This is not something you build yourself in Excel. The logic is in the software, so you can focus on the event itself. Good catering software also supports client relationships: all events per client, correspondence, preferences and payment history. That is the information you need when a client calls about a new booking.
What to look for when choosing
Before you book a demo or start a trial, it is worth asking yourself a few questions:
- Quote management: can the software keep multiple versions of a quote? Can a client give digital approval?
- Production and work lists: does the software generate kitchen and staff lists directly from the quote, or do you have to prepare those separately?
- Client data: is all client information available in one place, including past events and preferences?
- Invoicing: does the invoice connect to the quote, or do you have to re-enter everything?
- Collaboration: can multiple team members work in the system at the same time, with the right access levels?
The answers tell you quickly whether a tool genuinely fits your business, or whether you would have to reshape your working process to fit the software instead.
Everything in one system: why specialisation pays off
Most tools pick one world: events or catering. Catermonkey combines both. You manage events, quotes, production lists, client data and invoicing in one system. Information does not need to be retyped from one tool to another. An approved quote automatically produces a kitchen production list, a staff schedule and a draft invoice for the accounts team.
For event venues it works the same way: all room bookings, catering arrangements and client agreements in one overview. No separate spreadsheets, no email folders full of quotes. Just one place where everything about an event comes together.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between event software and catering software?
Event software focuses on planning and communication around an event: room bookings, guest lists, timelines. Catering software goes deeper into the operational side: quotes with menu calculations, kitchen production lists, purchase summaries and invoicing based on the quote. The best tools combine both.
Can I not just keep using a spreadsheet?
For one or two events a month a spreadsheet can be enough. Once volume increases, more staff are involved or you want to track client history, a spreadsheet quickly becomes a liability. Information ends up in multiple places, versions get mixed up and you lose the overview you need to make fast decisions.
How long does it take to get started with new software?
That depends on the system. Specialist catering software is built for quick onboarding: the basic structure matches how catering businesses work, so you do not have to configure everything from scratch. Most businesses are up and running within a few days.
What does catering software typically cost?
Costs range from a few tens of pounds a month for simple tools to several hundred for full multi-user systems. Look beyond the subscription price: consider the time saved on manual work and the mistakes you avoid. For most caterers, good software pays for itself quickly.
Will my team need training to use new software?
Some learning time is always part of it, but good catering software is designed for people without an IT background. If the software fits how your team already works, the learning curve is short. When choosing, also look at the support available: is there a helpdesk, are there guides, and can you reach someone quickly when you have a question?
All your quotes, production lists and client data in one place. That is what Catermonkey does.
Try for free