{
    "name": "Catering Budget Calculator",
    "url": "https://calculators.geekmidst.com/calculators/catering-budget-calculator",
    "markdown": "https://calculators.geekmidst.com/calculators/catering-budget-calculator.md",
    "category": "Food & hospitality",
    "description": "Build an event catering budget from per-guest food and drink costs, staff hours, venue and rentals, service charge and tax, and see the cost per guest.",
    "summary": "Add up the per-guest costs, staff time and fixed costs, then the service charge and tax, to get the total and the cost per guest.",
    "also_called": [
        "Catering cost calculator",
        "Event food budget calculator"
    ],
    "applies_to": "Worldwide",
    "last_updated": "2026-10-29",
    "computation": "Results are computed in the visitor’s browser on the HTML page. This API describes the calculator; it does not compute results.",
    "inputs": [
        {
            "name": "guests",
            "label": "Guests",
            "type": "number",
            "default": "100"
        },
        {
            "name": "food_per_head",
            "label": "Food cost per guest",
            "type": "number",
            "default": "22"
        },
        {
            "name": "bev_per_head",
            "label": "Drinks cost per guest",
            "type": "number",
            "default": "8",
            "optional": true
        },
        {
            "name": "staff",
            "label": "Service staff",
            "type": "number",
            "default": "6",
            "optional": true
        },
        {
            "name": "staff_hours",
            "label": "Hours per staff member",
            "type": "number",
            "default": "6",
            "unit": "hours",
            "optional": true
        },
        {
            "name": "wage",
            "label": "Hourly staff rate",
            "type": "number",
            "default": "20",
            "optional": true
        },
        {
            "name": "fixed",
            "label": "Venue, rentals and other fixed costs",
            "type": "number",
            "default": "1500",
            "optional": true
        },
        {
            "name": "service_pct",
            "label": "Service charge on food and drinks",
            "type": "number",
            "default": "10",
            "unit": "%",
            "optional": true
        },
        {
            "name": "tax_pct",
            "label": "Tax on the total",
            "type": "number",
            "default": "5",
            "unit": "%",
            "optional": true
        },
        {
            "name": "currency",
            "label": "Currency",
            "type": "currency",
            "default": "USD"
        }
    ],
    "outputs": [
        {
            "key": "total",
            "label": "Total catering budget",
            "format": "currency"
        },
        {
            "key": "per_guest",
            "label": "Cost per guest",
            "format": "currency"
        },
        {
            "key": "food",
            "label": "Food",
            "format": "currency"
        },
        {
            "key": "drinks",
            "label": "Drinks",
            "format": "currency"
        },
        {
            "key": "labour",
            "label": "Staff",
            "format": "currency"
        },
        {
            "key": "service_charge",
            "label": "Service charge",
            "format": "currency"
        },
        {
            "key": "tax",
            "label": "Tax",
            "format": "currency"
        }
    ],
    "formula": {
        "text": "Subtotal = Guests × (Food + Drinks per guest) + Staff × Hours × Rate + Fixed + Service% × (Food + Drinks);  Total = Subtotal × (1 + Tax% ÷ 100)",
        "variables": {
            "Food, Drinks per guest": "per-head costs",
            "Fixed": "venue hire, equipment and other costs that do not depend on guest numbers",
            "Service%": "service charge applied to food and drinks",
            "Tax%": "tax applied to everything"
        }
    },
    "worked_example": {
        "inputs": {
            "guests": "100",
            "food_per_head": "22",
            "bev_per_head": "8",
            "staff": "6",
            "staff_hours": "6",
            "wage": "20",
            "fixed": "1500",
            "service_pct": "10",
            "tax_pct": "5",
            "currency": "USD"
        },
        "steps": [
            "Food 100 × 22 = 2,200; drinks 100 × 8 = 800; staff 6 × 6 × 20 = 720; fixed 1,500.",
            "Service 10% × 3,000 = 300, so the subtotal is 5,520.",
            "Tax 5% × 5,520 = 276; total 5,796, or 57.96 per guest."
        ],
        "result": "Catering 100 guests comes to 5,796 including service and tax, about 57.96 per guest."
    },
    "interpretation": "Fixed costs fall per guest as numbers rise, so a smaller event costs more per head. Keep a contingency of your own on top for late guest-count changes.",
    "assumptions": [
        "Service charge applies to food and drinks only; tax applies to the whole bill."
    ],
    "limitations": [
        "Some places tax food, drinks and service differently; adjust the rate or split the calculation if so."
    ],
    "rules": null,
    "faqs": [
        {
            "question": "Is the service charge the same as a tip?",
            "answer": "Not always. A service charge is set by the caterer and may not go to staff; check your contract before adding a separate tip."
        }
    ],
    "sources": [],
    "related": [
        {
            "name": "Catering Portion Quantity Calculator",
            "url": "https://calculators.geekmidst.com/calculators/catering-portion-quantity-calculator"
        },
        {
            "name": "Buffet Food Quantity Calculator",
            "url": "https://calculators.geekmidst.com/calculators/buffet-food-quantity-calculator"
        },
        {
            "name": "Tip Calculator",
            "url": "https://calculators.geekmidst.com/calculators/tip-calculator"
        },
        {
            "name": "Percentage Calculator",
            "url": "https://calculators.geekmidst.com/calculators/percentage-calculator"
        },
        {
            "name": "Wedding Catering Cost Calculator",
            "url": "https://calculators.geekmidst.com/calculators/wedding-catering-cost-calculator"
        }
    ],
    "disclaimer": null,
    "publisher": "GM¹X CalcVerse"
}