Setting up a corporate catering account: invoices and standing orders

A corporate catering account sounds like something with a login and a portal. In my kitchen it is a page in a binder and a note in my phone, and it is the reason the offices I feed every month can order lunch for forty people with a two-line email. Here is what goes on that page, why each line is there, and how to set one up with any caterer, not just me.

The short answer: a corporate catering account is a standing file with your caterer that holds three things: who to talk to (an orderer, a receiver and an accounting contact), what to deliver (a default headcount, filling split, sides and dietary notes) and how to bill it (one invoice per delivery or per month, with your PO or cost-center number on it). Set it up once and every later order is just a date and a number.

I set these up for offices in Richardson, Plano, Frisco and the rest of north Dallas all the time, usually after the second order, when it becomes clear that the same person is going to email me the same details every month. There is no fee and no form. There is a short conversation, and then it is done.

What a corporate catering account actually holds

Every caterer keeps some version of this, whether they call it an account, a client profile, or “the folder.” The point is that nobody should have to retype the suite number or the gluten-free count every time. Here is what I keep on file for each office, in the order I ask for it.

If your caterer does not ask for most of these, offer them anyway. A good kitchen will be glad to have them written down instead of reconstructed from old emails.

The three contacts, and why one is never enough

The mistake I see most is one person holding the whole account in their head. Then that person is on vacation on Tamale Day and the driver is calling a phone in a drawer.

The orderer

This is the person who can commit the company: they place the order, change the headcount, and approve a bigger order for a training day. Usually the office manager or an executive assistant. I need their mobile, because quotes and confirmations go by email but a last-minute change goes by text.

The receiver

Whoever is physically at the building when our team arrives. Sometimes it is the same person as the orderer, but in a bigger office it should be the front desk or a second name. Armando and Juan call from the lot; if that call goes to voicemail, hot food sits in a van. A second number fixes almost all of that.

The accounting contact

Someone in accounts payable, or the shared inbox they use. This is the person who will ask for a W-9, an itemized invoice, and a PO number on every line, and who will pay faster if all of that is already right the first time. I wrote a whole piece on what accounting wants from a caterer in office catering receipts, invoices and W-9s, and it is worth sending to whoever does yours.

Invoices: one per delivery, or one per month

The billing rhythm is the part of a corporate catering account that saves the most time, and it is the part offices forget to ask about. Most caterers can do either of these, and you should pick deliberately.

• One invoice per delivery is the default. Each lunch gets its own itemized invoice, sent the same day or the next. Simple, and easy to match to a single PO. Best for offices that order occasionally, or where each department pays for its own lunch.
• One invoice per month is what I do for recurring Tamale Day deliveries. Every delivery in the month appears as a line, with the date, the headcount and the total, and accounting pays once. Best for offices with a standing order, because it turns twelve small payments into one.

Whichever you choose, tell your caterer up front what has to appear on the invoice. Common asks are a PO number, a cost center, the delivery date, the number of people served, and a per-person figure for the expense report. From our menu that last one is easy: two tamales per person at $5 each is $10 a head before sides, and a dozen is $60 regardless of quantity. The full price list is on the menu page, and it does not change between a first order and a standing one.

Ask, too, how the caterer wants to be paid. Card on file, ACH, a check to the kitchen. Payment terms for our office accounts are confirmed with the written quote, and I would rather set them once than chase them monthly.

Standing orders: what “same as usual” should mean

A standing order is the reason to have an account at all. It means a date on the calendar, a default order, and a rule for changes. Here is how I set one up for an office.

1. Pick the rhythm. Monthly is the most common, often the first or last Friday. Some offices do every other week. A few do a weekly Tamale Day for a warehouse or clinic crew. My guide to starting a monthly office Tamale Day covers how to pick a day people will remember.
2. Set the default. Headcount, two tamales per person, the pork-and-chicken split, sides, salsas and crema. For a first standing order I suggest an even split; after two months you will know whether your office leans red or green, and we adjust.
3. Agree on the change rule. This is the important line. I ask offices to text me the real headcount by a set point before each delivery, and if I hear nothing, I cook the default. That way a quiet month still gets lunch, and a big month gets the right amount.
4. Agree on how to skip. The office is closed, half the team is at a conference. One text or email, and that month simply does not happen. No penalty, no drama, as long as it comes with reasonable notice.

The office that inspired most of this ordered the same way for months before we wrote it down, and one of their reviewers said that everyone there looks forward to tamale day. That is the goal: a lunch the team counts on, that costs the office manager about thirty seconds a month.

Dietary notes and the details that keep people safe

An account is the right place to write down the things that should never have to be repeated. Our tamales are made with gluten-free corn masa, and the chicken tamales use chicken breast in a tomatillo salsa, but the kitchen is not a certified gluten-free facility and the burritos come on flour tortillas from the same room. For an office with a celiac colleague, that goes on file so I label accordingly every time. Same for the person who cannot do spice, or the group that always wants extra crema.

The FAQ page covers what is and is not in the food, and I am always glad to answer the specific question by phone. What I do not want is for the answer to live only in one email from months ago. Write it into the account, and it travels with every order.

Multiple locations and multiple approvers

Bigger companies sometimes need one account that feeds two or three offices. That works, with one adjustment: each location gets its own receiver and its own delivery notes, while the orderer and the accounting contact stay shared. The invoice can be one document with a section per site, or one per site, whichever matches how your cost centers work. I wrote about the logistics of the same-day version in catering the same lunch to several offices on the same day, and the account structure is the same whether the deliveries are on one day or spread across the month.

If a manager needs to approve spending above a certain size, put that on file too. I will send the quote to the orderer as usual and copy the approver when an order is bigger than the standing default, so a training day for eighty does not stall in someone’s inbox.

Setting it up: what to send in one email

You do not need a meeting. Send your caterer a single message with the nine lines from the table above, and ask two questions: what has to be on the invoice for accounting, and what the change rule is for headcount. With me, that email gets a reply the same business day with a standing quote, and from then on your monthly order is a date and a number. If you would rather start with a one-off lunch and grow into a standing order, the step-by-step guide to ordering for a company meeting is the place to start.

Ready to set up your office account?

If your office is in Richardson, Plano, Frisco, Allen, McKinney or Dallas, send me the headcount, the delivery details and the name of whoever pays the invoices, and I will put together a standing quote for Maggie’s tamales the same day. One file, one invoice a month, hot food at the door on the day you picked. Request a corporate catering quote and mention that you want a recurring order, or call and we will set it up over the phone in five minutes.

Frequently asked questions

How do I set up a corporate catering account?

Email your caterer three contacts (who orders, who receives, who pays), a default order (headcount, fillings, sides, dietary notes) and your delivery details, then ask what must appear on the invoice and how headcount changes should be sent. With Maggie’s there is no fee or form; I reply the same business day with a standing quote and keep everything on file for every order after that.

Can I get one monthly invoice for recurring office catering?

Yes. For a standing Tamale Day order I send one invoice per month that lists every delivery with its date, headcount and total, and accounting pays once. Offices that order occasionally usually prefer one itemized invoice per delivery so each lunch matches a single purchase order. Tell me which you want, and what PO or cost-center number has to be printed on it.

What is a catering standing order?

A standing order is a delivery that repeats on a set rhythm, most often monthly, with a default headcount and menu already on file. You only get in touch to change the number or skip a month; if I hear nothing, I cook the default and deliver at the usual time. It saves the office manager from re-ordering from scratch and gives the team a lunch they can count on.

What does accounting need from a caterer?

Usually a W-9, an itemized invoice with the delivery date and the number of people served, and any purchase order or cost-center number your company uses. Some also want a per-person cost for expense reports. Ask for all of it on the first invoice, and have it noted in the account, so every later invoice arrives in the format that gets paid fastest.

Can one catering account cover several office locations?

Yes. Keep one ordering contact and one accounting contact, and give each site its own receiver, delivery notes and default headcount. The invoice can be one document with a section for each location, or one per site, depending on how your cost centers work. Deliveries can land on the same day or on different days in the month.

How do I change the headcount on a standing catering order?

Text or email the new number to your caterer before the agreed cutoff for that delivery, and it becomes the count for that day only; the default stays on file. With me, a quick message with the real headcount is all it takes, and going down a little is always easy. A big increase is usually fine with a few days of notice.