How to use ReceiptPro for caterers and event services in Nigeria

For a caterer, the number of guests, menu, delivery arrangements and service scope can change several times before an event. A useful quotation makes those assumptions visible. ReceiptPro NG can prepare the document and later record a sale, but the event booking, preparation plan and deposit ledger remain your responsibility.

Set up the business and choose item kinds deliberately

During account setup, choose Food & drinks for a catering business and enter the business name and contact information. Upload your logo in Settings. Food business examples normally lean towards goods, so inspect the kind of every entry rather than assuming all catering charges behave alike.

A saved item called Buffet catering per guest can be a Service when it represents a contracted catering service. Delivery and serving-team charges can also be Service entries. Packaged drinks sold from counted stock can be Goods. The distinction controls stock movement, not whether a description sounds related to food.

ReceiptPro does not calculate recipes, ingredient consumption or portions from a bill of materials. Recording 120 catering services does not automatically deduct rice, oil or meat. Keep your ingredient purchasing, kitchen preparation and food-safety records in the tools and procedures appropriate to your operation.

Turn an enquiry into a saved proforma

Choose Create Invoice in Easy Mode or Invoice Generator in Standard Mode. Keep the document type as Proforma / quote while the organiser is deciding. Add the billing contact, then add clear lines for the package, guest quantity and separately chargeable extras.

For a fictional small event, the quotation is:

• Buffet catering package: 120 guests at ₦2,500 = ₦300,000.
• Serving team: 1 service at ₦20,000 = ₦20,000.
• Equipment hire: 1 service at ₦15,000 = ₦15,000.
• Quoted total: ₦335,000.

Tax, discounts and delivery charges are omitted from this worked example. Only omit delivery in a real quotation if it is genuinely included or not charged. Use your business's applicable tax settings rather than treating this simplified arithmetic as tax guidance.

Save proforma keeps the proposal without changing sales, expenses, stock or customer debt. It is not a booking confirmation and does not prove that a deposit arrived. Preview invoice simply lets you inspect the layout and figures.

Handle guest-count changes before recording

Suppose the organiser increases the same menu from 120 to 140 guests. Edit the saved, unrecorded quote: 140 × ₦2,500 is ₦350,000; with the unchanged ₦20,000 and ₦15,000 charges, the revised total is ₦385,000. Confirm whether extra staffing or equipment changes the price too.

Keep written acceptance of the updated scope separately. Use invoice terms available on Growth and Pro to state relevant conditions, but do not rely on a small document footer as your only event agreement. ReceiptPro does not manage event calendars, venue bookings, kitchen tickets or cancellation administration.

Choose A4 portrait for long menus and conditions. Logo position can be left, centre or right; keep the logo small enough that the guest count and amount remain easy to read. An 80 mm layout is better suited to a short collection receipt than a detailed event specification.

Keep a deposit from becoming a false paid sale

Using the original ₦335,000 quotation, imagine a confirmed ₦100,000 bank-transfer deposit. The separate collection record should show ₦100,000 received and ₦235,000 remaining. If the revised ₦385,000 price is accepted instead, that same deposit leaves ₦285,000. These are alternatives for the same event, not two sales.

ReceiptPro does not automatically allocate deposits or part-payments to an event invoice. Keep the agreed total, each actual payment, date, reference and balance in a separate accurate ledger. Do not select fully paid for the whole event after the first deposit. Do not record the remaining balance as another complete event sale.

An agreed transaction with nothing paid can use the fully unpaid credit workflow on Growth or Pro. That is different from a partially paid event. If your operation depends on automatic deposit balances, this release is not a complete booking-and-payments system; decide on a suitable complementary process before accepting bookings.

Complete the record and keep the evidence

When you use the separate Record sale action, choose a supported payment status that reflects what actually happened. If all agreed charges have eventually been paid through the same bank-transfer method, verify the total against the individual bank records and retain the deposit ledger; the app does not reconstruct that history for you. Avoid recording a job again if an earlier sale already exists.

Starter offers a free account, up to 50 catalogue entries and on-screen documents. Growth and Pro enable printing, browser PDF where supported and WhatsApp text sharing; Pro adds custom styling. Online staff work needs protected setup and internet, not automatic offline event-team sync.

Read the detailed deposit-record guide, see restaurant counter workflows, or compare the plans before choosing your event-record process.