The operation
Fourteen people, corporate lunches, conferences, and company events, a spring season that books out by January. Every event carried its own spreadsheet: quote, menu, rentals, staffing, all copied from the last similar event. The owner closed the books by hand at the end of each month.
Where it leaked
Quotes took five to six days to assemble, and office managers book whoever answers first. The company was losing events to caterers with slower kitchens and faster inboxes.
And nothing reconciled. Deposits sat in the payment system, vendor bills in the inbox, totals in the spreadsheet. Month-end took three evenings, and menu changes didn't always reach the rental order, which is how you end up with two hundred extra napkins and no chargers.
What we implemented
This engagement started with a two-week Operations Audit: discovery interviews, a tooling walkthrough, and a ranked roadmap, with half the audit fee credited toward the build. The build followed the map.
- 01 Same-day quoting
Same-day quoting
Event shape, headcount, and menu tier go in. A branded proposal comes out the same day, with e-sign and the deposit collected on acceptance.
- 02 One event file
One event file
A single record per event. A menu change propagates to the vendor order, the staffing sheet, and the kitchen prep list on its own.
- 03 Vendor confirmations, tracked
Vendor confirmations, tracked
Every order carries a confirmed or unconfirmed state. Anything unconfirmed seventy-two hours out gets flagged before it becomes a day-of surprise.
- 04 Nightly reconciliation
Nightly reconciliation
Deposits, payments, and vendor bills get matched every night. Exceptions land in a morning email. The books close a little every day instead of all at once.
- 05 Monthly build hours
Monthly build hours
On the Dedicated tier, the system keeps growing. This season it's a staffing scheduler.
How it runs now
A client moves a conference lunch from 120 to 145 on a Thursday. The proposal re-issues, the deposit difference gets requested, the rental order updates, and the staffing sheet adds two servers. The morning email lists one exception: the linen vendor hasn't confirmed. That is the only thing a human had to chase.
The numbers
Same day
Quote turnaround, down from six days
Proposal, e-sign, and deposit in one motion.
1 in 3
Quotes that book, up from about 1 in 5
The fast quote usually wins.
0
Double-booked or missed rentals
Not one since the event file went live.
1 afternoon
Month-end close, down from three evenings
The exceptions email did the rest all month.
“I built this business on food, not spreadsheets. The morning email tells me the one thing that needs me. Everything else already matched.”
A representative engagement. Client identifying details are withheld.