Why catering slips through the cracks
Catering is some of the best money a restaurant makes in the Gulf: office breakfasts, majlis gatherings, weddings, Ramadan ghabqa nights and school events. It is also the work most often run from a WhatsApp chat and a spreadsheet. The quote lives in one message, the deposit in a cash envelope, and the final amount in somebody’s memory. When the event is done, the sale often never reaches the reports or the VAT figures, and if the client cancels nobody is sure what was paid. Catering orders need their own place, with a status, a menu, a price and real payments.
Create the event
- Open Catering under Orders in the sidebar and click New Event.
- Pick the Branch and, if you like, the Customer.
- Type the Event Name, Event Date and Event Time, then add the Location and the Guest Count.
- Set the Status: Inquiry, Quoted, Confirmed, In Progress, Completed or Cancelled.
- Under Menu items, click Add item and pick a product, or type any item, with its Quantity. The menu total is worked out from today’s prices, and Use as quote copies it into the quote.
- Enter the Quoted Amount (and later the Final Amount) in your currency, add Special Requirements and Notes, then Save.
The event name, the date and a quantity for every menu item are required. The list switches between Upcoming and Past, and you can filter by branch or status, or search. A completed or cancelled event is locked; Reopen event unlocks it if you need to change something.
Bill the event and take a deposit
This is the part that turns a booking note into real money. Open the event with Edit and scroll to Bill and payments. Click Bill this event and the event becomes an ordinary sale of the Catering type, at the final amount (or the quote), with the branch’s VAT and any discount. You see the Event price, the Discount, the VAT in this sale and the Total to pay. Click Take a deposit, type the amount, choose Card Terminal or Cash under Paid by, and click Record payment. Paid so far goes up and Still to pay goes down. On the event day, Take a payment collects the rest.
Because the bill is an ordinary order, the deposit and the final payment count in sales, VAT and the Z report like any other sale, and the sale is recognised once it is fully paid. A few rules keep the money straight. The event needs a branch and a quote or final amount before it can be billed. While it is billed, the price, discount and branch are locked, and Remove bill is only possible while nothing has been paid. Cash needs an open cash drawer at that branch, and cash is rounded down to the smallest coin, the same as at the till.
A worked example
A company books breakfast for 40 people at its office next Tuesday. On the first call you create the event as an Inquiry with the date, time, location and guest count. You add the menu items, for example 40 croissants, 40 coffees and 4 fruit platters, and Use as quote turns the menu total into the quote. You change the status to Quoted and send the price. When the client agrees you set it to Confirmed, click Bill this event and take a deposit by card. On Tuesday the team prepares from the menu items on the event, delivers, and the manager takes the rest with Take a payment. The event moves to Completed and locks. Every number, from the deposit to the VAT, is already in the reports, with no spreadsheet to reconcile at the end of the month.
Two habits make catering run smoothly. Link the event to a customer, so the team knows who to call and the bill carries the right name. And keep the status honest: Inquiry and Quoted events are your pipeline, Confirmed and In Progress are your commitments, and the Upcoming view shows what the kitchen has to plan for this week.
If the client cancels
Money paid on an event is refunded first, then the event is cancelled, so nothing is left hanging. Set the status to Cancelled and save. If money was paid, Refund before cancelling opens. Under Refund to, choose The way it was paid or Cash, type the Card machine refund number for card payments, and click Refund and cancel. Your role must allow refunds; if it does not, the owner or a manager does it. To delete an event, a billed event must have its bill removed, or be cancelled, first.
What is and is not included
- Included: events with status, menu, quote, final amount, deposits, part payments, refunds and VAT, all inside your normal sales reports.
- The bill from a catering event does not go to the kitchen screen. The event is often days away, so the kitchen plans its cooking from the event’s menu items instead.
- There is no customer facing catering request form. Events are created by your team.
- Catering is not part of every plan, and it needs the Catering orders permission (owner and branch managers by default).
Frequently asked questions
How do I take a deposit for a catering order?
Edit the event, click Bill this event under Bill and payments, then Take a deposit. Type the amount, choose how it was paid and click Record payment.
Does catering show in my VAT report?
Yes, once the event is billed. The bill is an ordinary sale with the branch VAT, so it reaches sales, VAT and the Z report.
Can I change the price after billing?
Only by removing the bill, and that is possible only while nothing has been paid on it.
What is the right way to cancel a paid event?
Set it to Cancelled. Wink You asks you to refund what was paid first, then cancels it.
Catering sits with the dine in tools on winkyou.com/products/qr-menu. Watch the steps at winkyou.com/support/dine-in/how-to-take-a-catering-order and winkyou.com/support/dine-in/how-to-bill-a-catering-event-and-take-a-deposit.