Catering invoice app: send bills from your phone and follow up

Send invoices from your phone after catering events and send reminders so customers pay on time.

Who it's for

You run a catering business that feeds weddings, housewarmings, birthday parties and office lunches. It is you, your head cook, and a team of boys you call for each event. The food is never the problem. The problem is the Monday after a Saturday wedding, when three parties are done, the bills are not written, and you cannot remember which family paid the advance and which one said they will settle later.

The problem today

Right now the quote goes out on WhatsApp as a typed message or a photo of a page from the notebook. The bill is written by hand after the event, or on a bill book, and sometimes not at all for the smaller parties. The advance comes by UPI and goes into the same account as everything else. One month later you are scrolling through chats trying to find out whether the Sharma family paid the balance. Asking feels awkward, so you delay, and then you forget. Money that is already earned just sits with the customer. The cook is paid, the vegetables are paid for, and the balance is still pending.

What the app does, screen by screen

1. New enquiry and quote — The owner enters the event date, the place, the number of plates, the menu and the rate, and sends the customer a quote they can open on their phone.
2. Quote for the customer — The customer opens their quote on a link, sees the menu and the total clearly, and accepts it or asks for a change without any back and forth on chat.
3. Event list — The owner and staff see the events coming up, with date, venue, plate count and what is still pending on each one.
4. Make the bill — After the event the owner adjusts the final plate count, adds extra items like water bottles or live counters, and sends the bill as a link the customer can pay from.
5. Payments received — The owner records the advance and the balance against each event, whether it came online or in cash, so one bill always shows what is paid and what is left.
6. Who owes what — The owner sees every unpaid bill in one list with how long it has been pending, and sends a polite reminder on WhatsApp in one tap.

Who uses it and what it keeps track of

• Customers — Name, phone number, where they are, which family or office they belong to, and every event you have done for them. Only the owner sees the full list.
• Events — Date and time, venue, type of function, number of plates, menu agreed, rate per plate, and the staff put on that event. Staff see only the events they are on.
• Quotes and bills — What was quoted, what was finally billed, extra items added, the total, and whether the customer has accepted or paid. The customer sees only their own.
• Payments — Advance and balance, the date it came, whether it was online or cash, and what is still pending against the bill. Owner only.

What it changes for the business

The bill goes out the same evening instead of next week, because it is made on your phone from the event you already entered. The advance and the balance sit against one event, so you never have to search old chats to remember who paid. Nothing goes unbilled because a small party got forgotten. The reminder goes out on its own time, politely, so you are not the one chasing a wedding family. Money that is already earned comes in while the event is still fresh in their mind, and you know at any moment exactly how much is outstanding.

The one decision that matters

The one decision is whether you take an advance through the app before the event or bill the whole amount after. If you bill only after, the quote stays simple and customers say yes faster, but you carry the cost of vegetables and staff yourself and the balance becomes harder to collect once the function is over. If you ask for an advance, the customer is committed, your buying money is in hand, and the final balance is a smaller amount that people pay without argument. Take the advance. Keep it a part of the total, show it on the quote itself so there is no surprise, and let the customer pay it from the same link. Allow cash advances to be entered by hand, because many families will still hand you notes.

What to build first, and what can wait

Build the quote, the bill, the payment record and the reminder first. That is the whole money loop and it is what hurts today. Leave menu costing, vegetable purchase, staff wages and monthly profit reports for later. Also leave photos of past events and a public menu page for later. If the bill goes out on time and the balance comes in, the app has already paid for itself, and you will know better what report you actually want.

How BooDoo builds it

You describe the app in plain words, in your own language, and BooDoo builds it. You get a real backend with a database and sign-in, so the owner, the staff and the customer each open their own screen. The same request gives a website on its own live address, and an Android app you can publish on Google Play under your own account if you want one. Payments and WhatsApp buttons are added through ready integrations. Later, when you want deposits or a new report, you just describe the change.

How you'll know it works

The bill for Saturday's wedding is sent before Sunday night, and your pending list is shorter at the end of the month than it was at the start, without you making a single uncomfortable phone call.

Build it

Paste this in and it gets built.

I run a catering business for weddings, housewarmings and office lunches. I want an app where I enter an enquiry with the date, venue, number of plates, menu and rate per plate, and send the customer a quote link they can open on their phone and accept. After the event I want to correct the final plate count, add extras like water bottles, and send the bill as a link they can pay online. I take an advance before the event, so the app should show advance and balance separately and let me enter cash payments by hand. Give me one screen that lists everyone who still owes money with how old the bill is, and a WhatsApp button to send a polite reminder. My staff should see only the events they are put on. Website for me, and an Android app also.