Bookkeeping for catering businesses

What the books involve

• Event deposits and balances: each deposit recorded when a booking is confirmed and held against that event, then matched with the final invoice, so the amount owing on every booking stays clear.
• Contract clients: regular office lunches and ongoing meal contracts invoiced on the agreed terms, with remittances matched to invoices and overdue amounts listed each month.
• Costs per event: food, drinks, hired crockery, furniture and marquees, and transport charged to the event they were bought for, so each booking's margin can be read against its quote.
• Changes and cancellations: guest numbers that change after a quote, and credits or refunds on cancelled events, recorded against the original booking so its invoice trail stays complete.
• Kitchen and vehicles: commercial kitchen rent, refrigerated van running costs and equipment finance recorded on their own accounts, reconciled against bank and loan statements each month.
• Quoting or event software linked to Xero or MYOB where it allows, with deposits and invoices from the software checked against the bank feed before they are reconciled.