Catering accounting has three particularities: sales that start with a deposit and end with a balance, taxes that change depending on what is sold and how, and a high volume of small invoices (boxed lunches, platters) alongside large event invoices. Catering management software does not replace your accountant, but it should hand over clean numbers with no re-entry. Here are the seven tasks to demand.
1. Calculate the right taxes on every line
In Québec, GST (5%) and QST (9.975%) apply to most sales of prepared meals, with your registration numbers on the invoice. The software must calculate both taxes line by line, and handle special cases (zero-rated products, exempt clients) without manual correction.
In France, the VAT on a catering service depends on the nature of the sale: the reduced 10% rate generally applies to meals and services with staff consumed on site or delivered for immediate consumption, the 5.5% rate to certain food products sold for takeout, and the standard 20% rate to alcoholic beverages. A single event often combines two or three rates: the software must show them on the invoice and in the totals by rate. Your accountant confirms the rates that apply to your offer.
2. Manage deposits and balances
An event is paid in two or three instalments: a deposit at confirmation, a balance a few days before or after. The software must record each payment against the right invoice, produce an up-to-date statement of account, and accept several payment methods on the same invoice (split payments). Credit notes are used for partial cancellations.
3. Get paid online
A payment link in the confirmation email brings deposits in faster than a follow-up phone call. The software must generate that link for the deposit and for the balance, and go through a recognized payment provider.
4. Track accounts receivable aging
Unpaid invoices, sorted at 30, 60 and 90 days, with the statement of account ready to send. This is the report that protects your cash flow between seasons.
5. Talk to your accounting software
Most caterers in Québec, and many in France, work with QuickBooks Online or with an accountant who uses it. Ask what the link transfers: invoices, payments, taxes, clients. An export that does not carry the taxes leaves you re-entering half the work.
6. Report sales to the tax authorities when required
In Québec, sales of meals for immediate consumption must be sent to Revenu Québec through a certified sales recording system (MEV-WEB). The management software is generally not certified itself: it must integrate with a point of sale that is, and send your group events and online orders without double entry. Our MEV-WEB page explains who is affected.
In France, electronic invoicing between businesses is arriving in stages starting in September 2026 (receiving for all businesses, then issuing according to size). Ask your provider how it plans to comply.
7. Produce reports your accountant can read
Sales by period and by tax rate, payments by payment method, pending deposits, accounts receivable aging, in Excel. If your accountant asks every month for a file you build by hand, the list above is not covered.
How CM does it
The Caterer Manager Invoicing and payments module calculates taxes, generates payment links for deposits and final payments (Stripe, Moneris or Global Payments), handles split payments and credit notes, produces accounts receivable aging and statements of account, and sends invoices to Revenu Québec through the MEV-WEB Colossale module (option, Québec). The QuickBooks Online bridge is included from the Professionnel plan. More than 60 Excel exports are available in the Reports module.
Before you choose
Create a real invoice during the demo: an event with a deposit, two tax rates and a partial payment. If the software handles it without manual correction, your accountant will too.
