Food & Beverage
Send estimates with package options, collect deposits and milestone payments, get contracts signed electronically and schedule every order for its date — Square's invoicing tools, with Payaroo helping you set them up.
Square, made easier with Payaroo.
What your catering business needs
A wedding books in March for September, a law firm orders boxed lunches every other Thursday and a birthday party wants three trays ready at 4 p.m. Saturday.
Each job needs a quote the client can say yes to, a deposit that holds the date, a signed agreement and a clear plan for the rest of the money. On the day, the kitchen needs the order in front of it, and whoever runs the event needs a way to take the final payment on site.
Clients ask for options, then go quiet while you rework a spreadsheet.
How Square helps Square estimates can offer several packages — buffet, plated, family style — and the client accepts one online. Multi-option estimates and automatic conversion to an invoice need a paid Square plan.
A verbal yes isn't a booking, and chasing the rest of the money after the event is awkward.
How Square helps Request a deposit when the client accepts and schedule the balance in milestones before the event, paid by card or bank transfer. Deposits work on Square Free; milestone schedules need a paid plan.
Guest counts, cancellation terms and final-count deadlines live in scattered email threads.
How Square helps Square Contracts lets you attach an agreement to an estimate or invoice for the client to sign online, and paid plans can require the signature before payment. Square doesn't give legal advice, so the wording is yours.
Tray orders taken by phone for next Friday end up on a sticky note instead of in front of the kitchen.
How Square helps Future orders in Order Manager keep the pickup or delivery date and time with the order, and your online ordering page lets clients schedule trays days ahead.
Recommended setup
The Square tools that matter most for a catering business — and why each one earns its place.
Estimates, invoices and payment schedules in one place, with automatic reminders so you're not chasing balances by email.
Put packages side by side so the client picks one instead of asking for another round of revisions.
A deposit to hold the date and a schedule for the rest, so the final payment isn't left until the dishes are done.
Menus, guest counts and cancellation terms signed electronically and attached to the estimate or invoice.
Clients schedule party trays and boxed lunches for pickup or delivery from your own commission-free page.
Take the final balance or a last-minute add-on at the event and print a receipt on the spot.
Build event-day schedules and track hours for servers, drivers and kitchen staff.
How Payaroo helps
Tell us how your business works. We'll help you understand the Square tools that fit.
Core capabilities
Build an estimate with two or more packages and attach menus or photos; the client accepts online and it becomes an invoice. Multi-package estimates and automatic conversion need a paid plan, and on Square Free you convert by hand.
Ask for a fixed or percentage deposit up front, then split the balance into scheduled payments that match your event timeline. Milestone schedules need a paid Square plan.
Enter next Friday's boxed-lunch order in Order Manager with its delivery date and time, and it waits there with the rest of the week's orders.
Send an event agreement on its own or attached to an estimate; the client signs online and gets a PDF copy. On a paid plan you can require the signature before the client pays.
For the office that orders lunch every week, set up a recurring invoice that can charge a saved card or a verified bank account automatically.
Square's catering page points to integrations such as QuickBooks, and accounting apps connect through the Square App Marketplace. Each integration is built and supported by its maker, so check what it syncs before you rely on it.
Hardware options
You don't need every device. Start with what matches where you take payments — and add more later.
A compact, battery-powered card machine with a built-in receipt printer.
Collect the final balance at the venue and print a receipt, all on battery power.
A small Bluetooth card reader that pairs with your phone or tablet.
Pairs with a phone running the Square Invoices or Point of Sale app to take a card at drop-off.
Accept contactless cards and phone wallets on your own phone with no extra hardware.
Take a contactless payment on your phone when a client settles up at delivery.
Software and tools
Estimates, deposits, milestone schedules and reminders for events.
Event agreements clients sign online, attached to estimates or invoices.
Scheduled tray and boxed-lunch orders for pickup or delivery.
Event staffing schedules and timecards.
Accounting and other third-party apps that connect to Square.
How it works
One realistic day at a catering business, with the setup above doing the work.
Setup finder
Answer a few quick questions about your catering business. We'll stop as soon as we can point you to a useful starting setup.
Tell Buckaroo how your business works and he'll help you figure out which Square tools make sense.
FAQs
Not much. Most of the work runs through Square Invoices in a browser or on your phone. For money collected on site, Square Terminal runs on battery and prints receipts, and Square Reader or Tap to Pay on a phone covers a quick card payment at a drop-off. If you also run a café or storefront, add counter hardware for that.
Yes. A Square estimate can offer several packages side by side; the client accepts one online and it becomes an invoice. Multi-package estimates and automatic conversion need a paid Square plan. On Square Free you can send single-option estimates and convert them by hand.
You can ask for a deposit — a set amount or a percentage — when the client accepts, then split the rest into scheduled payments with automatic reminders. Deposits work on Square Free; milestone schedules need a paid plan. Clients can pay by card or bank transfer.
Square Contracts lets you send an agreement on its own or attach it to an estimate or invoice, and the client signs electronically. Paid plans can require a signature before payment. Square notes that it doesn't give legal advice, so the terms are yours to write.
Square sets its plan pricing, not Payaroo. Square Free has no monthly subscription (you pay processing fees on payments) and includes invoices, deposits and basic estimates. Package estimates, automatic conversion, milestone schedules, requiring a signature before payment, marketing and staff scheduling come with Square Plus or Premium. Square's pricing page has current details, and we'll help you decide whether the paid features pay off for your bookings.
Tell us how you book events and take orders, and we'll suggest where to begin. Square approves the account itself after reviewing your application and verifying your identity and business. Payaroo then helps you set up estimate templates, deposits and contracts.
Related businesses
Offline card payments, portable hardware, order-ahead and catering invoices.
Floor plans, tableside ordering, coursing, split checks and tip pooling.
Display-case checkout, preorders, cake deposits and daily counts that reset.
Tell us how events and orders come in, and we'll help you build the estimate-to-invoice setup around them.
Square reviews and approves every account. Call Payaroo at 972-431-0439.
Square is a product of Block, Inc. Square, the Square logo and related marks are trademarks of Block, Inc. and/or its subsidiaries. Payaroo is an independent company. Payaroo is not Square or Block, and nothing on this page describes a partnership, reseller relationship, certification or endorsement.
Square product details on this page were checked against Square's website on September 25, 2026. Square sets its own features, plans, pricing, fees, eligibility and hardware availability, and these can change. Confirm current details on Square's website before you sign up. Square pricing · Square fees
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