Restaurant Invoice Template

Setup takes about 20 minutes. Download the .xlsx file and open it in Excel or Google Sheets — no macros or plugins needed. Start with the Catering Menu & Rates sheet: enter your standard packages, per-person rates, à la carte items, and any flat-fee services like delivery or staffing. Then populate the Client List with your regular corporate accounts and event venues. Once those two tables are complete, creating any new invoice is a matter of selecting from dropdowns rather than typing from scratch.

To create an invoice, go to the Invoice sheet, enter the invoice number and event details (date, venue, guest count), and select the client from the dropdown. In the line items section, pick each item from the Catering Menu dropdown, enter the quantity or headcount, and the rate and total fill in automatically. Add your service charge percentage and the gratuity calculates itself. If a deposit has been received, enter it in the deposit field and the balance due updates immediately. Print or export to PDF to send — the layout is formatted to look clean on a standard page.

After sending, log the invoice in the Invoice Log and set the status to Outstanding or Deposit Received depending on where things stand. Update to Paid when the final payment clears. For events booked weeks in advance, use the Deposit Tracker sheet to monitor which upcoming events still have outstanding deposits — this is where catering operations most often lose money, by running an event before confirming the deposit is in hand. A weekly 10-minute check of the Invoice Log and Deposit Tracker keeps your receivables current without letting anything slip through the cracks.

Most restaurants use invoices in one of three situations: catering and private events billed to corporate clients or event hosts, wholesale food supply to other businesses, and on-account dining for corporate accounts. In all three cases, a generic invoice template creates friction. Catering invoices need per-person pricing, gratuity, and deposit tracking — none of which appear on a standard business invoice. Wholesale food orders need itemized product lines with unit prices and delivery charges. The result is that most restaurant operators either cobble something together in Word or spend 30 minutes reformatting a generic spreadsheet before every event.

Restaurant catering invoices carry two risks that don't apply to most service businesses. The first is pricing errors: quoting a 200-person event at the wrong per-person rate, forgetting to include gratuity, or applying tax to non-taxable catering services are all costly mistakes that are hard to correct after the fact. The second is deposit exposure: catering operations routinely commit food costs, labor, and equipment rental weeks before the event date. Without a system to confirm deposits are received before you start prepping, you're extending unsecured credit to clients who haven't yet committed. This template addresses both by building the deposit workflow into the invoice system rather than treating it as a separate accounting task.

The operational workflow for catering invoicing works in three stages. At booking, create the invoice with the estimated headcount and menu, calculate the required deposit (typically 25–50% of the total), and send it immediately. When the deposit clears, mark it in the Deposit Tracker and update the Invoice Log status. After the event, adjust the invoice for the final guest count and any additions, apply the deposit already received, and send the final balance. This three-stage workflow — estimate, deposit, final — is standard in the catering industry and is exactly what this template is structured around.