Catering software for Irish caterers: the 9% VAT rate, written allergens and deposits

From 13.5% to 9%: what changed on a catering bill on 1 July 2026

Revenue says restaurant and catering services were at the reduced rate of 13.5% until 30 June 2026 and moved to the second reduced rate of 9% from 1 July 2026. Alcohol, soft drinks and bottled water remain at 23% even when they are part of a meal. Equipment hire such as crockery, glassware and furniture is standard-rated.

A wedding order for a marquee can therefore have food and service at 9%, the soft drinks and wine at 23%, and the crockery hire at 23%. A service charge included on the catering bill follows the catering rate. One tax cell for the whole order cannot do this. Each line needs its own rate, and the software needs to remember the right rate for each item you sell.

Written allergen information belongs at the event, not back at the kitchen

Under S.I. 489 of 2014, food businesses in Ireland must give information on the 14 regulated allergens for non-prepacked food. The FSAI's guidance for caterers is direct: when you prepare and serve food at an event, it is your responsibility to make sure written allergen information is available to the people eating it. You can provide the written declarations at the location.

For platters of mixed items, the FSAI accepts a stand-alone sign beside the platter listing the allergens for each type. For food made to order, allergens may be communicated directly before the sale, but they still have to be communicated.

This is where catering software saves real work. If allergens are recorded once against each dish, the menu card, the buffet signs and the kitchen sheet can all print from the order. When the menu changes on Wednesday, so do the signs.

Sample catering order: marquee wedding in Co. Galway

Outside catering for 120 guests at a marquee wedding in Co. Galway, served after 1 July 2026. Prices are illustrative.

• Illustrative prices, not a rate card.
• Catering moved from 13.5% to 9% on 1 July 2026; soft drinks, bottled water and alcohol stay at 23%.
• Written allergen information for the 14 regulated allergens must be available to guests at the event.
• Issue a VAT invoice for the deposit by the 15th of the month after it is received.

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

Deposits are taxed when you receive them

Revenue treats a deposit or prepayment as a supply at the time it is received, so VAT is chargeable on it in that period, at the rate in force when the payment arrives. You must also issue a VAT invoice for each advance payment no later than the 15th day of the month after you received it.

For caterers who took deposits in spring for autumn weddings, that meant some deposits at 13.5% and balances at 9% on the same order. Software should date-stamp each payment and its VAT, raise the invoice when the deposit is recorded, and keep the trail so your accountant does not have to rebuild it from bank statements.

Marquee weddings and the equipment list

Outside catering in Ireland often means a field, a marquee and nothing else. Every plate, glass, chafing dish and generator has to be on a list, counted out and counted back. The equipment you hire in becomes a cost line; the equipment you hire out becomes a 23% line on the client's bill.

Ask whether the software builds a pack list from the menu and the guest count, so 150 guests and a five-course meal produce the right number of plates and cutlery without a separate spreadsheet. Then change the count to 162 and see whether the list follows.

Pricing per head when costs move after you quote

Most Irish wedding caterers quote a per-head price months before the day, often before the couple has a final count. Food, staff and fuel costs can move in that time, and so can the VAT rate, as 2026 showed. A per-head price that worked at quote stage can be thin by the time the stock is ordered.

Catering software helps by keeping the cost behind each menu, so you can see today's cost per guest rather than last winter's. It should also store the quote's validity date and any review clause you included, and show both when the client asks to add guests late.

None of this needs a complicated tool. It needs the menu, its cost and the quote to sit on the same order record.

Corporate lunches, repeat orders and eInvoicing

Weddings are the headline work, but many Irish caterers earn their steady income from offices: boardroom lunches, training days and Christmas parties. These orders repeat with small changes, arrive at short notice and are paid on account rather than by deposit.

Software should let you copy last month's order for the same client, change the count and the date, and keep the invoice terms that client has agreed. A statement of what each corporate account owes, by order, saves the end-of-month chasing that eats into a small team's week.

Revenue's timeline brings mandatory eInvoicing and real-time reporting for domestic business-to-business transactions to large corporates first, in November 2028. Cross-border EU traders follow in November 2029 and EU-wide rules apply from July 2030. Revenue also says businesses must be able to receive eInvoices from suppliers who are required to issue them.

A caterer that serves corporate clients or buys from large wholesalers will meet this sooner than one doing private weddings only. It is not urgent this year, but it is a reason to choose software that keeps clean, exportable invoice data.

Where Venura fits for an Irish caterer

Venura's catering app keeps orders on a calendar, builds quotes, invoices and receipts with the VAT rate you set on each line, tracks deposits and balances, and prints event and kitchen sheets. Staff have their own roles, and documents can be shared by email or WhatsApp. It runs on the web and in native Android and iOS apps, in euro.

It fits event and wedding caterers who want the order, the documents and the money in one place. It does not file VAT returns, it does not connect to Revenue, and it is not a till system. Plans for Ireland are quoted on request after a free 30-day trial. Bring a real marquee wedding, with its allergens and equipment list, to the demo.

Catering software questions from Ireland