Catering software for Australian caterers: from corporate orders to wedding kitchens

Corporate drop offs and weddings need different screens

A corporate order is small, frequent and time critical. Twelve platters for a Collins Street office at 11:30, delivered to level 14, with an invoice to accounts payable and a purchase order number on it. Miss the delivery window once and the office manager tries someone else next week.

A wedding is large, slow and detailed. The couple books a tasting, changes the entrée twice, adds four guests and supplies a seating plan with eleven dietary requirements three days before the event. The value of the order is in the detail, and the risk is in the version the kitchen works from.

Software built only for one of these will annoy you on the other. Look for an order list that sorts tomorrow's corporate deliveries by time and suburb, alongside an event view that keeps the wedding menu, guest count and dietary list in one record with a clear latest version.

Sample catering order an Australian system should produce

Corporate end of financial year lunch for 80 staff, delivered and served at an office in Parramatta

• Illustrative Sydney prices before GST, not a rate card.
• Food served at the client's function is taxable; check any cold drop off items against the ATO food guidance.
• The total is over A$1,000, so the buyer's identity or ABN goes on the tax invoice.

Standard 3.2.2A: what the kitchen must have, and what software can help with

Since December 2023, Standard 3.2.2A of the Food Standards Code has applied to caterers handling unpackaged, potentially hazardous food that is ready to eat. FSANZ names caterers as category one businesses, which must use all three tools: trained food handlers, a food safety supervisor who holds a certificate issued within the last five years and is reasonably available, and records that show key controls are being followed.

Booking software does not replace your temperature logs or your supervisor. What it can do is make sure the person in charge knows what is coming. If the kitchen sheet for Saturday shows 160 covers of slow cooked lamb held hot for service at an off site venue, the supervisor can plan the probe checks and transport before the van leaves, rather than discovering the job on Friday afternoon.

• Food handlers: trained or able to show the right skills and knowledge.
• Food safety supervisor: certificate within the last five years, reasonably available while food is handled.
• Evidence: records such as temperature and cleaning checks, kept for category one businesses.

GST on catering: set the tax per line, not per invoice

GST is 10%, and food served at a catered function is taxable because the ATO treats the function venue as the premises where the food is consumed. Staff, equipment hire, delivery and beverages on the same order are taxable too.

Some cold food sold for consumption away from your premises can be GST free under the ATO's food rules, which is why a single tax rate for a whole order can be wrong. The safest setup is software that lets you set the tax on each line and print a tax invoice showing your ABN, with the buyer's identity on any sale of A$1,000 or more. Check borderline items with the ATO's food guidance or your accountant, then save them as menu items with the right rate so nobody has to decide again on a busy Thursday.

What to test in a demo before choosing catering software in Australia

Per head pricing only works if the menu is costed

Wedding and corporate clients think in price per head. Your margin depends on what sits behind that number: protein cost, which moves with the market, staff hours, travel to a venue in the hills, and the hire items you rent for the day.

Keep a costed version of each package and review it when supplier prices change. When a client asks to swap salmon for barramundi or add a late night snack, the coordinator should see what that does to the per head price before replying, not after the event.

Dietary lists, allergens and the version the chef cooks from

A wedding of 140 guests in Australia now routinely arrives with a dozen dietary requirements: coeliac, vegan, nut allergy, no pork, pregnancy friendly. The list usually comes from the couple in pieces, through a planner, a spreadsheet and a late text message.

The risk is not the request. It is the kitchen working from Tuesday's list when Thursday's changed two names. Your catering software should hold one dietary list per event, record who changed it and when, and print the current version on the kitchen sheet with table numbers. When a guest asks what is in the sauce, the floor staff should be able to answer from the sheet, not by guessing.

Set a cut off in your terms, such as final numbers and dietary details ten days before the event, and let the system remind the client automatically. It protects the kitchen and gives you a clear point after which changes are charged.

Where Venura fits for an Australian caterer

Venura's catering app keeps orders and events, menus, guest counts and dietary notes in one record, then produces the quote, the tax invoice with your GST per line, receipts and kitchen sheets from it. Deposits and part payments are tracked against each order, staff roles limit who sees costs, and documents can be shared by email or WhatsApp.

It runs on the web, Android and iOS, there is a free 30 day trial, and pricing for Australian caterers is quoted on request. Venura does not replace your food safety records or connect to Xero or MYOB, so plan to keep your temperature logs and bookkeeping where they are today.

Test it against your busiest real week

Before you sign anything, load last December into the trial. Twenty corporate orders across Melbourne or Sydney, two weddings and a cancelled function with a deposit. Then check three things: whether tomorrow's delivery list is right without manual sorting, whether the wedding kitchen sheet reflects the final dietary list, and whether every invoice prints the right GST.

That one exercise shows more about a catering system than any feature list, and it costs you an afternoon instead of a bad Saturday.

Catering software questions from Australia