French accountant for caterers: event caterers, B2B meal trays, private chefs and deli-caterers. Multi-rate VAT 5.5/10/20%, food cost per event, deposits, casual staff (CDD d'usage) and HCR payroll. Quote within 24h.
Keeping a caterer's accounts is not the same as keeping a restaurant's. A caterer works on quotes and deposits, produces for one-off events (weddings, seminars, receptions), invoices a large share of business clients, and concentrates its payroll on casual staff hired for a few peak days. Above all, its VAT rate is not fixed: the same meal tray can shift from 5.5% to 10% depending on whether it is delivered bare or with an associated service. This mechanism, poorly managed, is one of the main sources of tax reassessment in the trade.
Hayot Expertise (Samuel Hayot, chartered accountant and statutory auditor) supports event caterers, corporate catering and meal-tray specialists, private chefs and deli-caterers (charcutiers-traiteurs). Our focus: securing your VAT split, calculating your real margin per event (not per cover), and running a payroll that juggles permanent staff and casual extras.
This page covers caterers: event organisers, corporate catering, B2B meal trays and delivery, private chefs, deli-caterers. If your main activity is sit-down table service, see restaurant. For quick on-site or take-away sales (fast food, food trucks), see fast food. For food manufacturing and distribution, see food industry. For the full sector overview, see HCR / CHR.
A specialist catering accountant secures the three things that make or break your result: the VAT split between 5.5%, 10% and 20% depending on whether a service is provided; the margin per event (food cost calculated quote by quote, casual staff built into the selling price); and a payroll combining permanent staff under a collective agreement with casual extras on fixed-term d'usage contracts. Add to this the sanitary approval required for B2B delivery, the certified NF525 cash register and the handling of event deposits. Paris-based, working across France. Quote within 24h.
Weddings, seminars, cocktails, banquets: a full service, usually with on-site staff, equipment rental and dedicated personnel. Invoicing by quote, staged deposits, strong seasonality (spring-summer for weddings, year-end for corporate parties). This is the core of the "catering accountant" search.
Services for companies and agencies (launches, parties, trade shows, seminars). A strong B2B component, re-invoicing of incurred purchases (rental, transport, extras), and per-event analytics essential to know the real margin of each operation.
Retail sale of manufactured products (charcuterie, prepared dishes, salads, cold platters) in a shop. A logic of margin on processed products, perishable management and food VAT — a world close to the food industry, which we also cover on our food industry page. This is the activity most often falling under the charcuterie de détail collective agreement (IDCC 953).
Corporate lunches, individual meal trays, delivered buffets. Recurring volume, business invoicing, and a VAT split (5.5% vs 10%) at the very heart of the business model.
Production without a dining room, 100% delivery, sometimes multi-brand on a single kitchen. Per-virtual-brand analytics, possible dependence on platforms and their commissions, food cost to isolate by concept.
A service performed at the client's home, travel involved, raw materials sometimes purchased on the client's behalf. Status, social regime and VAT treatment to be set precisely depending on the mode of operation.
Do you also run another food-trade business? Sit-down restaurant · fast food & food trucks · cafés, bars & wine bars · hotels. Overview: HCR / CHR accountant.
This is the most important — and most mishandled — technical point of the trade. Three rates often coexist on a single quote (French Tax Code, art. 278-0 bis and 279):
| Rate | When it applies | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| 5.5% | Packaged product, delivered without a service (conservation) | Bare meal trays, packaged take-away dishes, shop products |
| 10% | Immediate consumption: on-site or delivery with a service | Buffet set up, service staff, crockery, cocktail served on site |
| 20% | Alcoholic drinks and equipment rental | Wine, champagne, spirits; crockery, furniture, marquee rental |
The same meal tray shifts from 5.5% to 10% depending on whether it is delivered "bare" (the customer serves themselves: conservation logic) or with an associated service (set-up, service, equipment collection). The dividing line is not the product, but the associated service. In practice, the VAT split is mandatory, line by line, on the quote and the invoice (reference: BOI-TVA-LIQ-30-20-10).
The concrete risk: a caterer invoicing an entire reception at 5.5% when it includes service under-declares VAT. In an audit, the adjustment covers the full statute of limitations (usually 3 years), plus late interest and penalties for inaccurate invoicing (article 1737 of the French Tax Code). This is exactly the kind of error a general accountant misses — and that a specialist neutralises from the moment the standard quote is built.
In a restaurant, food cost is read per cover and per menu family. For a caterer, it is read per event: each quote is a mini income statement. The real margin depends on four items many caterers fail to consolidate:
Our role is to build a costed quote model that integrates these four items, then reconcile actual against forecast every month. The goal: to know, event by event, which prestations pull margin up and which destroy it.
The shop-based deli-caterer follows a different logic, closer to the food industry than to events. The accounting issues are:
For these files we also draw on our food industry expertise: management control adapted to the production process, cost-price reliability and working-capital steering.
A caterer hires few permanent staff and many extras, engaged on fixed-term d'usage contracts (CDD d'usage) for peak days. Three watch points:
Seasonality (weddings in spring-summer, corporate parties at year-end, a January lull) also calls for a rolling reading of cash and payroll, not a smoothed annual reading that would hide the pressure points.
Any caterer handling animal-origin food is subject to the hygiene package and the HACCP method. But the applicable regime depends on your clientele:
The accounting impact is direct: approval often requires investments (laboratory, cold room, forward-flow layout) that are depreciated and weigh on the financing plan. We factor this in from the forecast stage of any move towards B2B.
This is a tricky question, often wrongly treated as a single rule. The applicable agreement depends on the actual activity, not just the business code:
The business code alone is not decisive: it is the main activity actually performed that determines the agreement. A wrong classification leads to incorrect minimum wages, bonuses and welfare/health-insurance schemes, with possible back-payments in an audit. An entry social audit is always part of our onboarding.
Like any VAT-registered business making sales to private individuals (shop, direct sale), a caterer must use a certified cash register software — NF525 certificate or individual editor attestation, reinstated by the 2026 Finance Act — within the meaning of article 286-I-3° bis of the French Tax Code, on pain of a €7,500 fine per software (art. 1770 duodecies of the French Tax Code). The detail of this obligation, common to the whole sector, is covered on our HCR / CHR page. Each product family must be assigned the correct VAT rate. We audit your cash register's compliance (Lightspeed, Zelty, L'Addition, Tiller, Innovorder) at the start of the engagement.
The quote is the central document of the trade. Three technical points to secure:
We set up a standard schedule (deposit on order, balance before or after the event) consistent with your cash flow and legally secured.
E-invoicing affects caterers as soon as they invoice business clients: mandatory receipt of invoices on 1 September 2026, and issuance on 1 September 2027 for SMEs. Upgrading the invoicing software early avoids a disruption at the deadline.
A caterer has a cash advantage — deposits collected before the event — and a constraint — purchase peaks concentrated just before prestations, plus a highly seasonal activity. Working capital can be negative in periods of strong bookings, then tighten in the off-season.
We steer cash on a rolling basis (8 to 13 weeks), factoring in the calendar of signed events, deposit schedules and the social charges of extras. It is the only way to weather the January lull after a busy December.
A caterer's activity is mixed: sales of products (and on-premises prestations) on one side, services on the other. For 2026, the micro-BIC thresholds (art. 50-0 of the French Tax Code) are €203,100 of total turnover, of which a maximum of €83,600 for the services portion. Above this, the standard regime (régime réel) applies.
In practice, as soon as a caterer has employees and investments (laboratory, vehicle, equipment), the standard regime — which allows actual costs to be deducted and assets depreciated — is almost always more favourable than the flat micro allowance, and often mandatory. We cost the trade-off case by case.
1. VAT on delivered trays mis-split. Applying 5.5% to a prestation that includes service (or vice versa) is error number one — and the costliest in an audit.
2. Alcohol not isolated at 20%. Alcoholic drinks included in a menu or delivered with trays must come out separately at 20%.
3. Extras on CDD d'usage mishandled. Systematic use of the same employee, incomplete contracts, late declarations: all reclassification and back-payment risks.
4. Food cost not calculated per event. Without a costed quote model, some prestations lose money without the owner knowing.
5. B2B sanitary approval overlooked. Delivering to professionals without approval or derogation exposes you to administrative sanctions and blocks development.
6. Deposits wrongly booked. Deposits collected without declaring the VAT due, or confusion between arrhes and acompte: a source of reassessment and client disputes.
| Topic | General accountant | Specialist catering accountant |
|---|---|---|
| VAT 5.5 / 10 / 20% | Rate applied globally | Line-by-line split, secured standard quote |
| Margin | Annual result | Food cost and margin per event, every month |
| Payroll | Standard payslips | Permanent staff + CDD d'usage extras mastered |
| Collective agreement | Business code by default | IDCC 953 / 1979 trade-off by actual activity |
| Sanitary | Out of scope | B2B approval / derogation in the forecast |
| Deposits | Simple advance | VAT due, schedule, arrhes vs acompte |
Illustrative anonymised case, representative of situations encountered in our engagements; figures are indicative.
A Paris event caterer (€600k turnover, mix of receptions and B2B meal trays) was invoicing all its reception prestations at 5.5%, service included. At audit, we reclassify the "with service" portion at 10% and isolate alcohol at 20%: the voluntary correction avoids a far heavier adjustment in the event of a control. In parallel, setting up a per-event food cost reveals that low-priced B2B trays were destroying margin; a 6% price adjustment on that channel and building extras into the selling price restore 2 to 4 points of gross margin in the first year.
Whether you are launching a catering activity, acquiring a business (a deli-caterer shop, an events company) or steering the growth of an existing structure, we cover the whole cycle: choice of legal structure, forecast including sanitary and investment costs, VAT and payroll structuring, then monthly steering. See our business formation and acquisition service.
A chartered-accountancy firm registered with the Ordre des Experts-Comptables (Paris Île-de-France) and the Compagnie nationale des commissaires aux comptes (CNCC), led by Samuel Hayot, based in Paris 8e and working across France. We support reception caterers, shop-based deli-caterers and B2B specialists (meal trays, events). When your business grows — a group or a multi-site events company — and exceeds two of the three legal thresholds (€8M revenue, €4M balance sheet, 50 employees — art. L823-2-2 of the Commercial Code), we also act as your statutory auditor.
Our catering support starts from €300 excl. VAT per month, depending on the volume of entries, the number of employees and extras, and the level of steering required. Every quote is tailored after an initial discussion.
Discuss your file with Samuel Hayot, chartered accountant. First diagnostic meeting free.
Food cost consumed / Event revenue excl. VAT
Tracked quote by quote
Event revenue excl. VAT / Number of guests
Compare by event type
Extras cost / Event revenue excl. VAT
Built into the selling price
(Revenue excl. VAT - direct costs) / Event revenue excl. VAT
Positive on every channel
Days with an event / Working days in the period
Smooth seasonality
Projected balance including deposits and extras
Positive, buffer in the off-season
The catering trade covers very different realities: event and reception caterers (weddings, seminars, cocktails), B2B corporate caterers, shop-based deli-caterers, meal-tray and delivery specialists, dark catering and private chefs. Their common accounting thread: turnover built on quotes and deposits, VAT to split between 5.5%, 10% and 20% depending on whether a service is provided, a margin read per event, payroll concentrated on casual extras on CDD d'usage contracts, and strong seasonality. Add to this sanitary obligations (declaration or approval depending on the clientele), the NF525 certified cash register and the 2026-2027 e-invoicing reform for business clients.
Apply 5.5% to packaged products without service, 10% to immediate-consumption prestations (on-site or delivered with service), 20% to alcoholic drinks and equipment rental. The split must appear line by line. A secured standard quote avoids the trade's most frequent VAT adjustment.
Build a costed quote model including real food cost, extras (built into the selling price), logistics items and re-invoiced purchases. Reconcile actual against forecast each month to identify the events that destroy margin.
Document the reason for use, draw up flawless contracts and pre-hire declarations, avoid systematic use of the same employee (reclassification risk), and correctly provision paid leave and charges on a variable payroll.
A DDPP declaration is enough for supply to the end consumer. B2B delivery requires sanitary approval, unless a derogation applies (local retail outlets, 80 km radius, limited quantities, CERFA 13982). Factor investments (laboratory, refrigeration) into the financing plan and depreciation.
Wherever you are in France, we deploy a 100% digital interface to deliver fast, highly-structured accounting and financial steering.
Samuel Hayot is a French chartered accountant and statutory auditor registered with the Paris professional bodies.
The firm is based in Paris 8 and operates with a delivery model designed for businesses located across France.
Pennylane, Dext, Silae and an automation-first setup built for visibility and speed.
Visible phone number, simple contact path, fast engagement letter and tighter qualification of the mandate.
30 complimentary minutes with Samuel Hayot to challenge your reporting and surface your priority levers.
Three rates coexist. 5.5% for food products and non-alcoholic drinks sold in packaging allowing conservation (trays delivered without service, packaged take-away dishes). 10% for immediate-consumption prestations: on-site sales and delivery combined with a service (buffet set up, service staff, crockery). 20% for all alcoholic drinks and equipment rental. The VAT split is mandatory, line by line, on the quote and the invoice (BOI-TVA-LIQ-30-20-10).
Because the criterion is not the product but the associated service. A tray delivered 'bare', which the customer consumes whenever they choose, falls under conservation and the 5.5% rate. The same tray delivered with a service (set-up, dressed buffet, staff, crockery) becomes an immediate-consumption prestation, taxed at 10%. Invoicing an entire serviced reception at 5.5% under-declares VAT and exposes you to an adjustment over the statute of limitations.
It depends on the actual activity, not just the business code. A deli-caterer or a reception organiser focused on manufacturing/retail most often falls under the charcuterie de détail collective agreement (IDCC 953), which expressly covers the activity of caterer, event organiser. A caterer attached to a restaurant activity may fall under the HCR agreement (IDCC 1979). A wrong classification distorts minimum wages, bonuses and welfare schemes: an entry social audit is essential.
If it supplies its products directly to the end consumer (shop, served prestation), a simple declaration to the DDPP is enough. If it delivers animal-origin food to other establishments (B2B), it must in principle obtain a sanitary approval. A derogation is possible for deliveries to local retail outlets, within an 80 km radius (up to 200 km by prefectoral decision) and in limited quantities, requested via the CERFA 13982 form. Approval often requires investments (laboratory, refrigeration) to depreciate.
For a service, VAT is due as soon as the deposit is received. The deposit must therefore be invoiced with its VAT and booked accordingly, not treated as a simple tax-free advance. Beware also of the arrhes / acompte distinction: arrhes (article 1590 of the Civil Code) allow withdrawal, while an acompte firmly commits the parties. The wording on the quote matters if an event is cancelled.
Per event, not per cover. Each quote is a mini income statement: real food cost (including safety overproduction and waste), extras cost built into the selling price, logistics items (rental, transport, crockery) and the treatment of re-invoiced purchases. We build a costed quote model, then reconcile actual against forecast every month to identify the events that create or destroy margin.
A caterer's activity is mixed. For 2026, micro-BIC requires total turnover of at most €203,100, of which a maximum of €83,600 for the services portion. In practice, as soon as a caterer has employees, extras and investments, the standard regime — which allows actual costs to be deducted and assets depreciated — is almost always more advantageous, and often mandatory. The trade-off is costed case by case.
Extras are hired on fixed-term d'usage contracts (CDD d'usage), allowed for jobs that are temporary by nature in the sector. The main risk is reclassification as a permanent contract if the same employee is used systematically. You need a genuine, documented reason, flawless contracts and pre-hire declarations despite the urgency, and correct provisions (paid leave, charges) on a highly variable payroll. We secure the administration and payroll of your extras.
Our catering support starts from €300 excl. VAT per month, depending on the volume of entries, the number of employees and extras and the level of steering required (dashboard, per-event food cost, rolling cash). Every quote is tailored after an initial discussion. The first diagnostic meeting is free.
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Chartered Accountant, registered with the Institute of Chartered Accountants.
Regulated French accounting and audit firm based in Paris 8, built to support companies across France with a digital and decision-oriented approach.
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