The right catering software for small businesses depends on your stage. Most caterers start with one catering management system for enquiries, quotes, menus and invoices. Once freelance staff work several events a week, a workforce management platform such as Liveforce runs the people side.
This guide is clear about what Liveforce does and what it leaves to your catering system. It is written for small event caterers who book freelance waiting, bar and kitchen staff around a few regulars.
You will find the five types of catering software and the tools each stage of growth needs. The guide also marks the point where catering staff scheduling software earns its place. From then on, you can schedule freelance staff for each event in one system.
What Is Catering Software, and What Types Are There?
Catering software is the set of tools a catering business uses to sell, plan, cook for and deliver events. For a small business, it usually means a catering management system plus accounting software. Ordering and staff tools come in as the work grows.
Most catering software for small businesses falls into five types. Each type does a different job, and few caterers need all five at once.
Most small caterers buy the food-and-bookings side first and run the people side on WhatsApp.
Catering management software runs the sales and events side. It holds enquiries, quotes, menus, function sheets and client invoices together. Wedding caterers use it for tastings, menu choices and final numbers. Caterease and Total Party Planner are built for this job, with event booking, menus and payments in one place. Better Cater centres on proposals, function sheets and recipe costing. CaterSOFT is a UK system for outside, wedding and drop-off caterers.
Online ordering software gives clients a portal to order drop-off food, often for corporate lunches. Spoonfed, a UK system, pairs online ordering with production lists and delivery planning. Corporate drop-off caterers often rely on ordering software more than on proposals.
Kitchen and costing tools track recipe costs, stock and allergen information for each menu. For a small caterer, these usually come as a module inside the catering system. Total Party Planner, for example, includes menu and recipe costing.
Several of these types often arrive inside one catering system, so check what is already included.
Staff scheduling and workforce management software runs the team for each event. It covers the freelance pool, availability, bookings, briefs, check-in, and hours ready for payroll.
Liveforce is in this group, with workforce management built for events. Accounting and payroll software handles bookkeeping, tax and paying staff. Xero, QuickBooks and Sage are common choices for small businesses in the UK and US.
The Five Types of Catering Software
Pick your stage to see which types you need now.
A lightweight catering management system and accounting software cover most of the work at this stage.
The food side stays in the catering system. The people side now needs its own workforce system.
Two systems with a clear split: the catering system owns the event, the workforce system owns the team.
| Type of software | What it handles | Example tools | When a small caterer needs it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Catering managementSales and events | Enquiries, quotes and proposals, menus, function sheets, contracts and client invoices | Caterease, Total Party Planner, Better Cater, CaterSOFT | From the first regular paid bookings |
| Online ordering and deliveryDepends on your work | A customer ordering portal, production lists and delivery planning for drop-off work | Spoonfed | When drop-off and corporate lunch orders become a large share of work |
| Kitchen, recipes and costing | Recipe costing, stock and allergen information on menus | Often a module inside the catering management system, for example Total Party Planner's menu and recipe costing | When menus grow and margins need watching |
| Staff scheduling and workforce management | A freelance pool, availability, booking staff per event, briefs, check-in, and hours and expenses ready for payroll | Liveforce | Once freelance staff work several events a week |
| Accounting and payroll | Bookkeeping, tax and paying staff | Xero, QuickBooks, Sage | From day one |
Where Catering Management Software Stops
Catering management software is built around the event:
- Client
- Menu
- Guest numbers
- Function sheet
- Invoice
Several catering systems also include a way to assign staff to an event. That works well when a few employed staff cover most jobs. A caterer with a small, stable in-house team in one kitchen may need nothing more. If quotes, menus, function sheets and invoices are the whole job, a catering management system is the right buy.
Liveforce is not needed there. The same goes for a single-site restaurant, where the team barely changes from week to week.
Staff assignment inside a catering system strains when a freelance pool covers several jobs on the same day. Someone has to track availability across dozens of people, then send offers and collect confirmations. Each person needs a brief for that job. Then come check-in on site, hours, travel and expenses per job, and invoices from self-employed staff.
A wedding with 18 freelance staff means 18 offers, 18 confirmations and 18 briefs.
Two weddings on one Saturday double that. The catering system keeps doing its own job well. The staff workload sits beside it, and it belongs in a system built around people.
What Software Does a Solo or Home-Based Caterer Need?
A solo or home-based caterer usually needs two tools: a lightweight catering management system and accounting software.
- The catering system handles enquiries, quotes, menus and invoices
- The accounting software handles bookkeeping and tax
Bookings that arrive by phone and email become a quote, a confirmed menu and an invoice without retyping. That pair is enough catering software for small businesses run by one person and a few helpers.
Food trucks and pop-ups work a little differently. They take payment at the counter, so a point-of-sale or ordering tool may matter more than proposals. Their staff side is usually the owner and one or two regulars on fixed shifts.
Free plans are worth a look at this stage. They can cover menus, proposals and basic bookings. Before relying on one, check the limits on users, events, payments and data export. Moving client and menu records later takes time, so a clean export matters.
At this size, a group chat with three regular helpers is a workable staff system.
On staff, keep it simple. Everyone knows the venues, the menus and each other. A separate staff system becomes worth it once freelance staff work several of your events each week. The first sign is usually a booking that needs more hands than the regulars can cover.
What Changes When You Take On Freelance Catering Staff?
Taking on freelance catering staff gives the people side a workload of its own. The food side still lives in the catering system. Weddings and corporate events now bring freelance waiting staff, bar staff, chefs and kitchen porters. Often they cover two or three jobs on the same day.
Every booking now raises the same questions.
- Who is available,
- who has confirmed?
- Who goes to which venue?
Each person needs a brief:
- Call time
- Venue address
- Parking
- Dress code
- Running order
Menu and allergen notes go with it. After the event, someone has to check who arrived and what each person is owed. Self-employed staff also send invoices, and each one needs checking against the shifts worked.
Late changes multiply the work. A client adds 40 guests on Thursday. A server drops out at 6am on the wedding day. Each change means new offers, new confirmations and an updated brief for everyone affected.
Late changes land on the people side first, and they rarely arrive in office hours.
Signs the people side has outgrown your setup:
- Confirmations live in chat threads, with no single view of who is booked for Saturday.
- Briefs go out piecemeal, so someone always arrives without the address or the dress code.
- Hours come back on paper or by text, and checking pay takes days.
- One person holds it all in their head, so that person cannot take a weekend off.
Two or more of these signs usually mean the staff side needs its own system. At that point, catering software for small businesses needs a second layer for the team. A workforce system holds availability, offers and confirmations in one place.
It lets you send every booked person the brief before they travel, with menus attached. When a server drops out, you can reshuffle cover from your own pool and brief the replacement.
A staff list in a spreadsheet is usually the first thing a busy season breaks.
Before that happens, check whether the business has outgrown a spreadsheet for staffing.
What Does a Growing Caterer Need From Event Catering Software?
A growing caterer needs two systems with a clear line between them.
- The catering system owns the event: menu, guest numbers, timings, function sheet and client invoice.
- The workforce system owns the team for that event: who works, when and where, with which brief. It also holds the hours that go to payroll.
This stage is usually a founder-run business with one to five office staff. Behind them sits a pool of 50 to 300 freelancers, often still run on WhatsApp and spreadsheets. Here, catering software for small businesses becomes two products, each with its own job.
In practice, whoever takes the booking enters the event once in the catering system. The operations lead then builds the team for it in the workforce system. Each system keeps the record for its own side. That way, nobody in the office keeps two versions of one plan.
The catering system knows what the guests will eat. The staff system knows who will serve it.
The two systems meet at a few clear hand-offs. When guest numbers change, staffing levels change with them. A wedding that grows from 120 to 160 guests needs more servers on the floor.
Working out how many staff each event needs is easier when the staff plan follows the guest count. When the event ends, approved hours, travel and expenses go to payroll. Client invoicing stays in the catering system.
Caterers with more than one site face the same split. So do in-house catering teams at independent venues. Their event days bring freelance staff in beside the regular kitchen team.
How to Choose the Best Catering Software for Small Business
The best catering software for small business fixes whichever job is breaking first. Choose for the stage you are at now. If quotes and invoices are slipping, start with the catering system. If confirmations and timesheets are slipping, start with the staff side.
Even a growing caterer can find the choice hard. The Indulge Catering and Events team described it this way:
“Liveforce came highly recommended by one of our staff who already used it with another company. We were aware these types of software existed but didn't know how to choose, so this recommendation helped hugely.”
Ask your regular staff which systems they already use with other caterers.
Freelance staff often work for several caterers, so some will have used a staff app before. Their view on what is easy to pick up is worth hearing before a demo.
What to check before you buy:
- Fit to your stage, so a five-event month is not set up like an enterprise operation.
- Integrations, checking the catering system connects to your accounting software, such as Xero, QuickBooks or Sage. On the staff side, look for a public API and payroll exports in your payroll’s format.
- A mobile app your staff will actually use, tested by someone who is not tech-minded.
- Setup and support, asking who sets the account up and who answers questions in your first busy month.
- Free plan limits and data export, so you can leave without losing client and menu records.
Most current catering tools are cloud-based.
That suits event work, because staff need mobile access at venues and the office needs the same view. Desktop software installed in one office suits a single kitchen. It is harder to reach from a venue.
Read reviews from businesses your size on the major software directories. Ask each vendor what setup involves for a caterer at your stage. If staff records sit in spreadsheets today, plan for moving staff records off spreadsheets before the busy season.
Before you commit, run a menu change, a guest-number change and a drop-out through the trial.
Where Liveforce Fits in a Small Caterer's Software
Once a caterer books freelance staff across several events, the people side needs its own system. Liveforce is workforce management software for that job. Menus, orders, quotes and client invoices stay in the catering system.
- Each event’s team is built by role, from chefs and kitchen porters to waiting and bar staff. Everyone comes from the caterer’s own staff database.
- Each record holds availability, skills, rates and the documents the caterer collects, such as food hygiene certificates.
- Staffing levels are set around guest numbers and service style.
- Staff accept shifts and confirm from their phones, and a team leader can manage the crew on the day.
Before anyone travels, the brief goes out with call times, venue details, parking, dress code and running order. Menus, floor plans and allergen notes go with it as attachments.
Check-in and check-out times give a record of hours worked. The office can then approve hours and expenses per event, including travel and subsistence. Liveforce turns them into payroll-ready reports in the caterer’s own payroll format.
Self-employed staff are prompted to submit invoices built from their own signed-off shifts.
Every account has a dedicated account manager, with onboarding and ongoing training.
Staff see their shifts, confirm and check the brief in the Crew App. Liveforce does not hire, recruit or supply staff, and it does not advertise jobs. The team is the caterer’s own.
Liveforce is built for event caterers, hospitality agencies and venues running freelance teams. Indulge Catering and Events, a Wiltshire caterer, has run its sixty-strong events team on Liveforce since 2021.
Run Your Catering Team Alongside Your Catering System
If you book freelance waiting, bar and kitchen staff across several events, see how Liveforce runs that side. It works next to the catering system you already use.
Book a demo and bring last Saturday’s staffing plan to walk through.
