Getting Corporate Catering Approved: A Brief for Your Finance Team

Lead with the decision finance needs to make

Start the brief with one sentence: what is being requested, for which event, and the maximum amount that may be committed. State whether you need approval to obtain quotations, approval to accept a particular quotation, or both. These are different decisions and may need different evidence.

Add the business purpose in plain language: for example, delegate catering during a training day, food for a staff celebration or hospitality for a client event. Keep the explanation factual. Do not turn expected staff morale, attendance or sales into a guaranteed return.

Name the budget owner and the person authorised to accept a supplier quotation. If finance approval does not itself place the booking, say what must happen next and who is responsible.

Define the complete catering scope

Record the event date, venue or postcode, event type, estimated guest number, food’s role and proposed service times. Separate different groups or food moments—such as arrival breakfast, working lunch, evening food, delegates, speakers and event staff—when they need different provision.

List what the requested supplier scope covers: food, drinks, staff, setup, service, equipment, travel, clearing, collection and any event-hire items. Mark each item included, excluded or still to be confirmed. Finance cannot assess the complete commitment if necessary work is hidden outside the quoted total.

Use the current Fables corporate catering page to explore possible event formats, then obtain the actual menu, quantities, service, staffing and equipment details in a written quotation. Website examples do not reserve availability or add items to a booking.

Build a ceiling, not a guessed final price

If the final quotation is not yet available, ask for a maximum approval amount rather than presenting an estimate as the final cost. Show how the proposed ceiling was built: supplier quote or estimate, essential costs outside it, and a separately identified contingency permitted by your organisation.

Keep unknown costs visible. If equipment, travel or staffing still needs confirmation, label it ‘TBC’ instead of entering zero. Keep optional enhancements outside the essential event total so finance can approve the core plan and extras separately.

Once a quotation is received, compare its total with the ceiling and document the gap. If the quotation exceeds approval, do not quietly reduce the scope or commit the difference: return with a revised brief or revised supplier proposal.

Map your purchasing route before accepting a quote

Ask finance or procurement what internal reference the supplier needs before commitment: this could be a purchase order, cost centre, project code or another approval record. Confirm who creates it and whether the supplier must be set up in your system first.

Record the legal entity or business name that should appear on the supplier paperwork, the invoice address or submission route, and the internal contact who can resolve a rejected invoice. Do not publish or add private finance-system details to a public enquiry form; exchange them through the appropriate booking process.

The accepted supplier quotation and terms remain the source for supplier payment dates and booking conditions. Your internal process should be ready to meet those agreed dates; an internal delay does not silently replace the terms agreed with the supplier.

Separate supplier terms from internal controls

Create two columns. In the supplier column, record the quote reference, total, expiry, deposit or payment dates, cancellation terms and what changes could alter the price. In the internal column, record the approval reference, cost centre, purchase-order owner, invoice approver and payment contact.

Check the current Fables terms alongside the quotation that applies to your event. Do not copy terms from another event or assume that a requested guest increase, extra service time or additional item is included before Fables confirms it in writing.

Keep the supplier’s commercial information only where colleagues who need it can access it. The public event page or attendee invitation does not need deposit amounts, invoice references, supplier bank details or internal budget codes.

Use this corporate catering approval brief

Complete every row before asking for final approval. If an answer is unknown, assign an owner and date rather than removing the question.

This template is a planning record, not a supplier quotation or accounting document. Your organisation should apply its own purchasing and financial controls.

Control changes after approval

Keep the approved scope, maximum spend and quotation version together. When guest numbers, timings, venue details or services change, compare the proposed version with that baseline. Show the operational difference and cost difference before asking the authorised people to approve it.

Give each change a status: proposed, awaiting supplier response, supplier confirmed, internally approved or superseded. A supplier may confirm that a change is operationally possible without your finance team approving the additional spend; both decisions must be recorded where both are required.

Use the separate guide to changing a catering booking for a line-by-line change request. Keep older versions for the audit trail, but mark clearly which version is current.

Send a finance-ready enquiry

For an event in Market Deeping or elsewhere, request a Fables quote with your date, venue or area, approximate guest numbers, event type and preferred catering format. Add the service windows and any deadline your organisation has for approval.

When the quotation arrives, transfer its actual inclusions, exclusions, total and conditions into the approval brief. For comparing more than one complete proposal, use the separate catering quote comparison worksheet.