Payments
Deposit at booking—
Balance—
Estimated total—
Free tool · Deposits
Catering deposit and cancellation schedule, with the dates filled in
Most caterers take a deposit of roughly 20–50% at booking, collect the balance a few days to two weeks before the event, and keep a growing share of the total as the date gets closer. Enter one event below and this page works out the deposit, the balance and its due date, and every cancellation window as real calendar dates — then writes the policy out in plain English so you can paste it into the quote.
The windows and percentages are an example to change, not a legal standard. Nothing leaves this page.
If they cancelled today
Days until the event—
Window—
You keep—
| If cancelled | Dates | You keep |
|---|
Policy wording for this event
How to set the windows
Tie each window to a cost, not to a round number
A cancellation policy is easier to defend, and easier for a customer to accept, when each step matches something that actually happens in your kitchen.
Far out
Deposit only
Nothing is bought and the date can still be resold. What you lose is the time spent planning and the bookings you turned away, which is what the deposit is for.
Getting close
A share of the total
Menus are final, staff are scheduled and rentals are confirmed. The date is now hard to resell, so the share you keep should rise.
Inside the buying window
The full total, or close to it
Once the food is ordered and the crew is booked, a cancellation costs you nearly the whole job. Start this window on the day you actually start spending.
Postponement
Not the same as cancelling
Many cancellations are really attempts to move a date. Letting the deposit transfer once, subject to availability, turns a lost job into a rescheduled one.
Not legal advice. Deposit and cancellation rules for consumer contracts differ by state, and a court may not enforce a fee that it sees as a penalty rather than a fair estimate of your loss. Have an attorney look at the wording once. The longer argument is in deposits, cancellations and the food you have already bought; the guest count side is in the number that changes twice.
Questions
Catering deposits, answered
- How much deposit should a caterer charge?
- There is no legal standard. Deposits in the trade commonly run from about 20% to 50% of the estimated total, and many caterers take 25–50% for weddings and large events booked months ahead. The deposit should at least cover what you lose by holding the date: the other bookings you turn away and the time spent planning.
- Should a catering deposit be non-refundable?
- A non-refundable deposit is common, but on its own it treats a cancellation six months out the same as one two days out. A sliding schedule — deposit only when it is far away, a growing share of the total as you start buying and scheduling — is easier for customers to accept and closer to what a cancellation actually costs you. More on why.
- When should the final catering payment be due?
- Commonly a few days to two weeks before the event, around the date the final guest count is due, so that you are paid before you buy the food. The calculator lets you set it in days before the event.
- What should a catering cancellation policy say?
- The deposit amount and whether it is refundable, when the balance is due, what share of the total is kept in each window before the event (with the actual dates), that cancellation must be in writing, and what happens to costs already committed on the customer’s behalf. The calculator writes this out for one event.
- Is this legal advice?
- No. Rules on deposits and cancellation fees for consumers differ by state, and some limit what a business can keep. Have an attorney review your policy once; after that, this page is for filling in the dates.
Other free tools for caterers
Who made this
Your own ordering and quoting website
These tools are free and stay free. They are made by Catering Deck, which builds websites for small catering kitchens where customers pick a package, change the headcount and see the price move, and you get a built order instead of a question. It costs $200–$300 once and $10–$20 a month, with no commission on orders. We build a demo with your own menu first, so you can see it before deciding anything.