What is a Catering Service Charge?

A Service is Charge is simply the fee for all service staff and operational expenses associated with a catered event.

Knowing what that fee is and what you get for your money, however, isn’t always as simple to understand, since many caterers are not upfront with the information and each company has a different standard and philosophy on the level of service it includes.

For some caterers the final service charge can equal 35% to 45% of the total cost of the event, even if the initial proposal featured a lower number. This happens when a caterer charges for every server and bartender that works an event or if there is a labor charge in addition to the service charge. Unfortunately, some caterers may even sacrifice the number of servers, and ultimately the level of service given, just to fit a client’s budget. Labor shouldn’t break your budget and service shouldn’t be sacrificed!

Kahn’s Catering invoices a standard all-inclusive 25% service charge for all events. There are no additional labor or staffing fees and your proposal will include this 25% fee from the start so you know exactly what to expect. No matter the number of servers we provide, our 25% all-inclusive service fee covers the costs of all servers, set up team, operations team, culinary team, all prep work, and back of the house charges such as transporting equipment, product, and linens, etc.

Why this works:

Your staff was superb.  They were nice, friendly, helpful, and made everything so easy for me.  They were actually a bit early — whoo hoo! — and got right to work.  Everything was done and ready when the guests started arriving. – Ken, Events Manager, Goodwill Foundation

A big thank you to you and your team.  They all were professional, courteous and helpful.  The food was delicious – all of the guests raved about it. So please thank the chefs too. – Kris, Knight/Kinley Wedding

Incredible job last night – words fail me, and that is saying something! Thank you, thank you, for taking event catering in Indy to the best levels of excellence. – Janet, Vice President of Partner Relations, Visit Indy

How many support staff are needed for your event? How many will we use?

Learn more about our approach to staffing success here: How Many Staff Will Be Used for My Event?