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Finance · Small business and commerce

Catering Quote and Portion Contribution Calculator

Turn a headcount and entered event costs into a quote target. The target is gross contribution margin after the costs you include, not a market-rate recommendation.

Supported range: 1–10000000; whole numbers only. The number of portions included in the quote.
$
Supported range: 0–10000000. Estimated ingredients for one guest's portion.
$
Supported range: 0–1000000000. Combined fixed staffing, equipment, and service cost you enter.
%
Supported range: 0–99.99. Share of quote remaining after entered costs.

Method and assumptions

Total event cost = guests × ingredient cost per guest + fixed service cost. Quote total = total cost ÷ (1 − target margin). Quote per guest divides that total by headcount; contribution is quote less entered costs. Guest count must be at least one so per-guest outputs have a defined denominator.

Worked example

For 75 guests at $8.50 ingredient cost and $420 fixed service cost, total entered cost is $1,057.50, or $14.10 per guest. At a 30% contribution margin, the total quote is $1,510.71, about $20.14 per guest, leaving about $453.21 contribution.

How to use the result

Check portion assumptions, staffing and event-specific expenses before sending a quote. The tool does not include a default tax, service charge, gratuity, delivery charge, or local pricing benchmark.

Input meanings and limits

  • Guest count: The number of portions included in the quote.
  • Ingredient cost per guest: Estimated ingredients for one guest's portion.
  • Fixed labor and service cost: Combined fixed staffing, equipment, and service cost you enter.
  • Target contribution margin: Share of quote remaining after entered costs.

Inputs accept finite, nonnegative values in the displayed ranges; percentages are bounded to 0–100% (with 99.99% maximum where division by the remaining share is used), and whole-unit or month fields require integers. Currency figures are shown in USD for convenience; enter values in one consistent currency. This is a planning worksheet, not financial, legal, tax, or accounting advice.

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