Do cafes need invoices, or are till receipts enough?
Till receipts are enough for walk-in transactions, but every cafe also needs proper invoices for the parts of the business that are NOT walk-in: catering orders for events and offices, corporate breakfast or coffee-delivery contracts, wholesale bean accounts to other cafes or restaurants, equipment leasing arrangements, and special bookings. Most cafe owners try to handle these with Word templates and lose receipts; Inbill handles both with one account. POS Receipt for transactional and Corporate/Modern for B2B invoices.
How should a cafe price catering orders?
Build catering pricing from three distinct components: food cost (the wholesale price of the ingredients), labour cost (the prep, packaging, and delivery time at your fully-loaded staff rate), and a margin (typically 25–40% on top of food + labour). Add delivery and service as separate line items on the invoice. The mistake most cafes make is pricing catering as a multiple of menu price (e.g. "12 sandwiches × $9 menu price = $108") which ignores that catering volume often has lower per-unit cost AND higher per-order labour. Build from cost up, not from menu down.
Should cafes use Net 14 or Net 30 for corporate accounts?
Net 14 for small businesses and local corporate accounts (under 50 employees); Net 30 for larger corporate accounts that run on formal AP cycles. For wholesale bean accounts to other cafes, Net 14 is standard. Always set up a deposit or credit-card-on-file for first-time corporate clients: the few who default on Net 30 are exactly the clients with the most complex internal procurement, and you want a backup payment method ready. Inbill's hosted public link shows your payment details and opens without the customer needing an account.
How do cafes handle sales tax, VAT or GST on catering vs in-cafe sales?
Sales tax rules vary by jurisdiction and often differ between in-cafe consumption (typically taxable everywhere) and catering / take-out (sometimes taxed at a different rate, sometimes exempt for certain food categories). In the US, packaged food sometimes carries a lower rate than prepared food. In the EU/UK, restaurant VAT is usually higher than retail food VAT. Always register with your state revenue department or HMRC, read the food-service-specific guidance, and configure the right tax rates per line item in Inbill: different rates can apply to drinks vs food vs service charges. Outside the US the tax is usually VAT or GST, not sales tax. In the UK, the EU, Australia, New Zealand, India, Pakistan and many other countries you add it only once you are registered for it, at the rate your tax office sets for that service. Check with your tax office or an accountant: this page is general information, not tax advice.
Should cafes charge a service or delivery fee for catering?
Yes. Always. Delivery fees ($25–$200 depending on distance and complexity) cover van/courier cost, fuel, and the staff time to drop and set up. Service fees (typically 10–18% on the food subtotal) cover the additional labour for staffed events, set-up beyond drop-off, and clean-up. Both should appear as separate line items, not bundled into the food price. Many clients expect both on a catering order over $100, and the line items help them justify the spend internally to their accounts team.