Accounting for caterers in Ontario
Caterers carry food inventory, event deposits, and event-based staffing, with revenue that swings by season and booking.
CRA EFILE authorized · Every filing signed by an accountant · Switching is free — about an hour of your time
taxifi · Caterers
This month
- Bookkeeping Current
- Payroll & source deductions Filed
- HST Filed
- Year-end tax (T2) On track
The problems we take off your plate
Event deposits
Deposits are recognized when the event is delivered, not when booked, so your income reflects reality.
Food inventory and costs
Ingredient inventory and cost of goods are tracked so your margin per event is clear.
Event staffing
Event and hourly staff are paid on schedule with source deductions remitted to CRA on time.
What’s included
Published prices for incorporated Ontario caterers. Everything below is handled.
- Event and deposit bookkeeping
- Food inventory tracked
- Event and hourly payroll
- HST returns prepared and filed
- Year-end corporate tax (T2), from $1,000 a year
| Area | A typical setup | With taxifi |
|---|---|---|
| Your books | Weeks or months behind | Current every day |
| Year-end (T2) | A spring scramble, billed extra | Included, no surprise invoice |
| Your accountant | Metered by the hour | Unlimited questions, flat monthly |
Why catering is taxable when the same food in a grocery store is not
Basic groceries are zero-rated in Canada, which leads a lot of new caterers to assume their invoices are too. They generally are not: catering is treated as a taxable supply of a service, so HST usually applies to the full event invoice even when the ingredients would have been zero-rated on a supermarket shelf.
The practical consequence is that your pricing and your bookkeeping both have to carry HST from day one, and the HST you pay on ingredients, rentals, and staffing generally comes back as input tax credits. Event deposits add the second wrinkle: cash received months before a wedding is not revenue yet, and treating it as revenue makes profitable months look better than they were.
Common questions
Can you handle event deposits?
Yes. Deposits are recognized when the event is delivered, not when booked.
Do you work with incorporated caterers?
Yes. Incorporated catering businesses are a good fit.
Do caterers charge HST in Ontario?
Generally yes. Catering is a taxable supply, so HST normally applies to the event invoice even though the same ingredients would be zero-rated sold as groceries. The offset is that HST on your ingredients, equipment rentals, and supplies becomes input tax credits, so the tax is not a cost when the bookkeeping captures both sides.
How should event deposits be recorded?
As a liability until the event is delivered, not as revenue when the cheque arrives. A deposit taken in March for a September wedding belongs to September in the books. Recognizing it early overstates the month, distorts your seasonal picture, and makes tax planning from live numbers unreliable.
Books and taxes for your catering business, done
Bookkeeping from $99 a month, accountant-reviewed from $299, corporate T2 from $1,000 a year. Prices are published; a call confirms the fit.
Get Started