Quotation Template for Philippine Caterers and Events Places

Quote the package per head, then list every inclusion

Philippine catering is sold as a package per head: ₱650 to ₱850 for a straightforward buffet, ₱950 to ₱1,500 once you add a lechon, a dessert buffet and styled tables. Events places often bundle their own rental with an in-house or accredited caterer. Write the per-head rate, the minimum guest count and the menu, then list what is inside the package line by line.

Inclusions are where Philippine quotes go wrong. Clients assume the package covers the presidential table styling, the couple's cake table, the service crew for five hours, ceiling treatment and the lights and sounds. Some caterers include all of that; many do not. A list stops the argument before it starts.

Add a corkage or outside-food line if your venue allows the family's own lechon or cake, and say what it costs. That single line settles one of the most common disputes on the wedding day.

Sample: garden wedding quotation

Saturday wedding reception for 150 guests at a garden events place in Tagaytay, 4:00 pm to 10:00 pm, quoted by a VAT-registered caterer and venue, prices exclusive of VAT.

• Reservation fee of 30% blocks the date; 40% due 60 days before; balance 7 days before.
• Minimum 130 guests; extra guests at ₱950 each. Corkage for outside lechon ₱2,500.
• Signal No. 2 or higher on the day moves the event to the covered hall at no charge.

VAT on a quote: registered, non-VAT, inclusive or exclusive

If you are VAT-registered, your services carry 12% VAT. Decide whether your quoted prices include it and say so in one sentence at the top. Showing "₱950 per head, VAT exclusive" and adding the tax as its own line is clearest for corporate clients, who need the VAT amount for their input tax claim.

If your gross sales are under the PHP 3 million threshold and you are not VAT-registered, do not add VAT. You pay percentage tax instead, and your invoices will be non-VAT invoices. Quoting "plus 12% VAT" when you are not registered creates a problem the moment you issue the invoice.

A quotation is not an invoice. It creates no tax by itself. The invoice you issue later, following the amended Section 113, is what the BIR looks at.

The reservation fee and payment schedule

Most caterers and events places ask for a reservation fee to block the date, often 20 to 30% of the package, with the next payment due a month or two before and the balance a week before the event. Write each date and amount on the quote. Say whether the reservation fee is refundable, applied to the package, or forfeited on cancellation, and on what timeline.

Be careful with forfeiture clauses that keep everything. Article 1229 of the Civil Code lets a court reduce a penalty that is iniquitous or unconscionable. A graduated schedule, where you keep more the closer the cancellation is to the date, is easier to defend than a flat "non-refundable in all cases".

Accept payments through channels you can trace: bank transfer, InstaPay, PESONet, GCash or Maya, or check. Each payment later needs an invoice or receipt with that reference.

What your quotation must show in Philippines

Rain, typhoons and the garden venue problem

Garden venues in Tagaytay, Batangas and Laguna sell beautifully until a storm signal goes up on the day. Article 1174 of the Civil Code says nobody is liable for events that could not be foreseen or were inevitable, unless the contract says otherwise. Without a clause on the quote, you and the couple will be arguing about what "inevitable" means while the tents are blowing away.

Put a weather line on the quotation and the full clause in the contract: what triggers a move to the covered hall or a postponement, whether a tent upgrade is charged, and what happens to the reservation fee if the event cannot go ahead at all.

Service charge lines and who gets the money

If you add a service charge, RA 11360 applies to hotels, restaurants and similar establishments: the charge collected must be distributed completely and equally among covered staff, excluding managerial employees. Show it on its own line and do not treat it as extra margin.

Many caterers instead price the service crew into the per-head rate. Either approach is fine, as long as the quote says which one you use.

A quick check before you send it

Read the quote once as the couple would, and once as the corporate accountant would. The first wants to know what they get; the second wants a VAT line and a TIN.

• Per-head price, minimum guests and what happens to extra guests
• Inclusions and exclusions listed, including corkage
• VAT-inclusive or exclusive stated, or non-VAT stated
• Reservation fee, payment dates and cancellation schedule
• Weather and fortuitous-event line
• Validity date and quote number

Quoting a corporate event instead of a wedding

Company Christmas parties, anniversaries and year-end dinners come with different expectations. The client's purchasing team will want your quotation on letterhead, addressed to a named officer, with your TIN, a VAT line they can match to their budget, and payment terms of 30 days after the event rather than a reservation fee in advance. Many will also ask for your BIR Certificate of Registration and a sanitary permit before they raise a purchase order.

Keep the per-head structure, but add the items corporates care about: a program host, raffle table set-up, a photo booth, and whether the hall can be accessed the night before for styling. December is the busiest month for function halls, so state a holding period for the date and what happens if the purchase order is late.

Corporate accounts may also withhold creditable withholding tax on payments to suppliers. The rate depends on the payee and the service, so ask the client's finance team what they will deduct and show on your quote that the total is before any withholding, so nobody treats the shortfall as unpaid.

Quotation questions from Philippines