Catering Cost Per Head Calculator

How does this tool get the all-in cost per head?

It adds up every cost, including gratuity, and divides by the guest count: total ÷ guests. With 100 guests, $75 meal, $25 drinks, $800 staffing, $500 equipment and 18% gratuity, the total is $13,334, so the all-in figure is $133 per head, higher than the $100 you typed per person because fixed fees and gratuity are spread across the guests.

Is the gratuity percentage applied to food only?

No. This tool applies the gratuity percentage to the whole subtotal: food, drinks, staffing and equipment together. On the default inputs that is 18% of $11,300, or $2,034. If your caterer’s service charge applies only to food, lower the percentage to match, or enter 0 and add the charge yourself.

Does the service style menu change the price?

No. The sit-down, buffet, cocktail and stations options are labels and are not used in the arithmetic. Enter the per-person price your caterer quoted for the style you chose, and the result is the same whichever option is selected.

What if my quote already includes a service charge?

Set the gratuity field to 0. The tool cannot see inside your quote, so it will add its own percentage on top of whatever you enter. In a 60-guest run with 0% gratuity the total is $5,400, which is exactly the food, drinks, staffing and equipment.

Why does the cost per head drop when I add guests?

Staffing and equipment are flat amounts in this tool, so more guests share them. A 150-guest run with $1,700 of fixed fees carries about $11 of them per guest, while a 60-guest run with $900 carries $15. If your caterer adds staff in proportion to headcount, raise the staffing figure yourself.

What happens if I enter zero guests?

The meal and drink lines become $0, but the staffing and equipment fees and the gratuity on them are still counted, and the per-head figure is shown as $0 because there is no one to divide by. With the default fixed fees that gives a total of $1,534.

Can I price children’s meals or two menus?

Only one meal price and one drinks price are accepted. Either enter a blended average per person, or run the calculator once per menu and add the totals, remembering that fixed fees and gratuity would then be counted once for each run.

Are tax and currency handled?

No. Sales tax or VAT is not a field, so include it in the figures you enter if your quote shows prices before tax. The dollar sign is only a label, there is no currency conversion, and results are rounded to whole dollars for display.