As we move into a new decade, the catering industry is poised for exciting changes. With advances in technology and more discerning consumers, catering companies must keep up with new trends to stay relevant. In this blog post, we'll explore the emerging catering trends that will shape the industry over the next few years. Whether…
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HPay Payment Processing, created by the makers of Caterease Software and backed by Chase Bank, allows you to quickly and easily process credit card and ACH payments.
Tightly integrated with Caterease, HPay uses secure tokenization techniques to store your customer’s card numbers on file for easy payment – and also lets you quickly send custom payment link emails to allow your customers to post payment online.
Create detailed, custom letter templates for printing or even for use in email correspondence – peppering them with merge fields that dynamically pull specific information directly from the event. Choose any custom letter to be printed or emailed from any event or even an entire GROUP of events, and it will look completely customized for each individual customer. And your fingers never even have to touch the keyboard!
In addition to custom merge letters, the Document Builder Package also lets you create any number of completely custom event prints – either for your customers or for your back-of-house team. Go far beyond the templates available in the program’s Print Designer by creating custom merge documents from a blank white page with any look and feel you want. The handy Merge Table Wizard lets you quickly insert specific information – menu items, staffing, payments, ingredients, and more – exactly where you want it. Your prints, your image – your way.
With Caterease Document Builder, all of your favorite word processing tools are available at your fingertips – inserting images, creating tables (with or without borders), checking spelling, formatting fonts, etc. No longer will you have to open one software program after another. Caterease has everything you need to simplify your busy workday.
Add or even import any number of prospective leads, and manage their statuses, track necessary next actions and easily report on any information. Call leads or email individually (or – in the Professional version – in batch) and then instantly make a detailed history note that is automatically date and time stamped. Add the Document Builder Package to create custom email merge letters, and hours of detailed correspondence can be completed in moments!
Create unique proposals – including menu items and detailed financial breakdowns – and then generate or email custom prints for your lead to review. Copy entire proposals with a single mouse click to make minor changes and generate an updated quote. No duplicate data-entry; no wasted time!
Instantly convert any proposal into an actual event, and simultaneously (or separately) convert the lead into an active client – all with a couple of clicks of the mouse. All proposal details are automatically carried into Event Manager – so you never have to type the same thing more than once. Ever. If managing prospective leads is a major part of your business, the Prospect Manager is a must-have for your operation.
Create reminders that pop-up on your screen to help you remember important tasks and appointments. Just like with Microsoft Outlook, reminders can be set for any data and time – and can be assigned to any Caterease user. And, also like Outlook, you can dismiss or snooze the reminders with just a mouse click.
Create history notes – automatically data and time stamped – of tasks you have already completed, and track these notes easily with various querying and reporting tools. Even optionally have the program create history notes automatically when you perform such common tasks as sending emails to your customers.
Instantly track all history notes and reminders using flexible query and reporting tools. Track based on date, based on user or a variety of other related details. Even manage reminders in a graphic calendar display – alternatively opting to create personal reminders on the fly for any date and time!
Capture valuable information from visitors to your company’s website and have those new leads and inquiries submitted directly into your Caterease program. Never miss another opportunity to grow your business!
Design your own custom, branded web form and let the talented Caterease development team create it for you. Choose the specific details you want your customers to fill in – from name and contact information to details about potential events. Your form will live on your company’s website, so visitors can easily fill out the specific information you want and submit those inquiries directly into your Caterease program.
The powerful Web Inquiry Manager in Caterease allows you to easily review all submissions from your custom web form. Correspond with customers directly from the manager, and optionally choose to process the new inquiries – with no repetitive typing necessary – either individually or in batch. It cannot get any easier to gather new leads for your company!
Touch Management
Document Builder
Banquet Rooms
Prospect Manager
Guestrooms Manager
Touch Management
Document Builder
Banquet Rooms
Prospect Manager
Guestrooms Manager
The flexible Caterease venue graph allows you to instantly review all banquet room usage in a horizontal or vertical bar graph display. Instantly check room availability and even reserve space directly from the graph itself. Managing your rooms couldn’t possibly get any easier!
Not only can you book new parties directly from your Caterease venue graph, but you can manage your existing parties as well! Drag and drop parties from one room to another or even one date to another. Stretch and shrink parties to make them start a little earlier or end a little later. Make event changes instantly without having to leave this handy, graphic screen!
No matter whether you book parties from your venue graph or from any other area of the program, the Banquet Rooms Module will always protect you from any possible conflicts – instantly warning you about double-bookings or issue with guest capacity. The amazing Room Selection Wizard even lets Caterease choose the most appropriate room for you – even concerning itself with your most efficient use of valuable space.
We at Caterease know that pickup and delivery orders have become the primary source of revenue for many of you. As a response, we have created a comprehensive tool to manage these orders within your existing Caterease program.
The new Quick Order wizard lets you create delivery or pickup orders for new or existing customers in an instant!
Quickly search for existing customers based on any detail – part of a phone number, first or last name or any other information – or add new customers easily on-the-fly. Choose from any number of delivery addresses associated with the customer, including prompts for locations outside of your custom “delivery zone”.
Enhanced Caterease menu selection tools allow you to easily grab any menu items for the order – dragging and dropping multiple items and searching by any item detail you know. An available list of a customer’s order history allows you to instantly copy the details a previous order to create a new order with a mouse click.
The program automatically calculates anticipated delivery or pickup time based on custom preferences you establish – considering prep times of all menu items ordered, distance to the delivery destination, a potential time buffer and any custom restrictions you might set on the number of orders per time period.
The calculated delivery or pickup time will default for any new quick order, and can be easily overridden by you.
Instantly select room types from a custom list of options, and the program automatically calculates standard rates or even special, seasonal rates. Optionally track separate totals for the number of rooms initially agreed upon versus the number of rooms blocked, an adjusted number and the number actually picked up (or used) by the guests. Choose which of these numbers you want to see on the screen, as well as which number should serve as the financial basis for the contract.
In addition to blocking various types of rooms, the Guestrooms Manager also lets you track other associated details for each rooms contract. Custom room taxes can be assigned and even edited on-the-fly; a detailed rooming list of specific guests staying in each room can be created; billing responsibility for restaurant charges, incidentals, etc. can be established and more.
Easily track group room usage in a variety of powerful, flexible ways. Attractive, detailed reports give you instantaneous access to valuable information; optional automatic inventory checking immediately warns you if you exceed a daily or monthly inventory of rooms; powerful query tools give you any results you need in flexible detail grids or in colorful charts and graphs. All the information you need to manager your group rooms is available right at your fingertips!
Caterease gives you flexible, powerful tools to quickly and easily schedule staff for your various events. However, if you are already using certain third-party staffing applications, Caterease can pass detailed shift information from your events into that application for easier employee management. One quick mouse click at the bottom of an event allows you to pass all shift details – positions, times and even numbers of employees required and then you can manage their schedules quickly and easily in that program.
Whether you want to manage employees for an event within Caterease itself, or handle scheduling in one of these third-party applications, Caterease has the tools you need to make the job easier.
Seamlessly pass all financial information – optionally including line item details and even payment information – directly from Caterease into your favorite accounting package.
Our incredible interface with QuickBooks Desktop and QuickBooks Online allows for the direct transfer of comprehensive event data*. Caterease will instantly create a detailed invoice in your QuickBooks program – individually or even in batch – and will automatically link this invoice to the appropriate client (or create a new client when necessary). Any changes to the Caterease event can be instantly updated in QuickBooks, so you always have the most current and accurate information.
The Sage 50 interface offers a comprehensive export/import file that can be easily and instantly produced in Caterease and then imported into your Sage 50 application. This file contains detailed general ledger information, and can also be re-exported as often as possible to capture changes made to Caterease events.
Take the worry out of managing your financial information – and ensure the accuracy of your important data – with the powerful Caterease accounting interfaces.
* Direct interface is not available from Caterease Connect (online) to QuickBooks Desktop. An export/import interface is required with this configuration.
Simplify your email marketing campaigns by instantly creating custom email marketing lists directly from your Caterease program. Using any of the powerful query tools available throughout the program, you can create a custom list of email recipients – filtering the list based on virtually any event or client details. Once a list has been created, you can instantly export it as a custom email list for Constant Contact.
Take advantage of the wealth of data in your Caterease program – and the powerful tools for tracking that data – to quickly build the perfect targeted lists for your various email campaigns.
Create beautiful, detailed diagrams of your event space easily and link those diagrams back to specific Caterease parties using one or our intuitive room diagramming interfaces. Once you’ve chosen a venue for your event, simply click the Social Tables or AllSeated button located right there on your Caterease screen.
The third-party diagramming application opens on the default diagram for that space, allowing you quickly populate it with tables, chairs and other important design elements. Close the diagram, and you are brought right back to the party you were on – without missing a beat! Click the same button again in the future, and you will be able to edit that diagram you created – all the while maintaining its link to your Caterease program. You can even copy an event and its detailed diagram instantly in Caterease – saving immeasurable time on repeat parties!
Bring your proposals to life and make them stand out from the crowd with the amazing Caterease online proposals interface. Choose any custom Caterease documents from any event and instantly pass them into your Paperless Proposals program – where you can dress them up with audio, video and all the other flashy elements of the web. Rather than receiving a basic, bland proposal, your customer gets a show – a powerful representation of the event you envision for them!
Update proposal files at any time quickly and easily, so your customer always has the latest event information.
Bring your proposals to life and give your customers a presentation they’ll never forget – with the Caterease-Paperless Proposals interface.
Our powerful interface with Zuppler Online Ordering lets you give your customers the option of booking their own orders via the web. Using this user-friendly interface, you can promote daily deals or discounts, offer your customers multiple menu item selections or modifiers, accept payment in a completely PCI compliant environment and more. Once the order is submitted, it is automatically pulled into Caterease to be optionally accepted as a new event. Sign up today and watch your business grow!
* Not compatible with the Express Version of Caterease
Go completely paperless by obtaining legally-binding electronic signatures and initials with our powerful e-signature interface. With DocuSign, you can request signatures or even initials or other details in various locations throughout your prints – and throughout your custom Caterease merge documents, as well.
With DocuSign, each Caterease user can establish his or her own e-signature account, and all documents are easily tracked directly from your Caterease event.
Stay on top of all of your important event documents with our intuitive, sophisticated electronic signature interface.
Caterease provides comprehensive menu management tools right within the program – including the ability to create detailed, scalable ingredient lists and accurately measure cost and profit. However, if you have already entered that information in a separate menu management application, you can leverage that effort by using one of our powerful interfaces. Caterease can determine menu usage for a single party or entire range of parties, determining which items have been ordered and in what quantities – and then export these details in a proprietary format for importing into Food-Trak, CostGuard, ChefTec or Yellow Dog Software. Once the information has been imported, you can use that third-party program to generate shopping lists and other detailed reports. You can even edit menu item costing in your third-party menu management program and then pull that updated detail into your Caterease menus quickly and easily.
Don’t waste time inputting the same information into two different programs. Share important information across applications easily with the incredible Caterease inventory/costing interfaces.
Easily share all Caterease event information with online reservation software so colleagues can view an up-to-date schedule of your events wherever they are. Using a simple export wizard, you can collect details of all events or even events up to a fixed date in the future – and then instantly send that information to GuestBridge for posting on the web. Coworkers or other individuals with access to your GuestBridge calendar will then be able to see your availability at-a-glance.
Give your team the information they need easily with our online reservations interface.
Same as Express, plus the ability to add an event directly from the Calendar, as well as to put custom notes on the calendar on any day or date range.