In this guide · 8 sections
Short answer
A catering website needs a menu builder with minimum pax and lead times, delivery date and time slots, a deposit or full payment at checkout, clear cancellation terms and GST-compliant invoices for companies. Catering must be prepared in an SFA-licensed kitchen; home-based businesses cannot offer it.
SFA licence basics for caterers
SFA's list of food retail businesses that need a licence places caterers under Food Shops, which need a Food Shop Licence applied for through GoBusiness. SFA's licensing checklist also asks caterers for details of the food delivery vehicle, which should show the company name, address, contact number and licence number.
Home kitchens are not an option for catering. SFA's requirements for home-based food businesses rule out catering such as buffet lines or packed meals for events, which only licensed caterers can do. Our guide to selling food online from home covers what a home business can sell instead.
What a catering website needs
Corporate admins and party hosts order catering differently from restaurant diners. They compare packages, check the per-head price, count pax, and need an invoice and a quotation that finance will accept.
Catering website essentials
Halal wording is a common mistake on catering sites. Only describe menus as halal if your kitchen holds a valid MUIS certificate (a Food Preparation Area certificate for catering kitchens). Our guide to halal claims on websites explains the rules.
Minimum pax, lead times and kitchen capacity
The rules that protect your kitchen should be enforced by the ordering system, not by staff calling customers back.
Set a minimum pax per package
Use a minimum quantity on each package (for example 20 pax for buffets, 10 for bento sets) so orders below it cannot be placed.
Set lead time per menu
Standard buffets might need 3 working days; live stations or festive menus longer. Block dates inside the lead time on the calendar.
Cap orders per delivery slot
Limit how many orders or how many pax you accept per slot so drivers and kitchen are not overloaded.
Block holidays and fully booked days
Add public holidays and festive peaks as blackout dates, or open them with a surcharge.
Collect event details at checkout
Venue address, contact on site, building access or loading bay notes, and serving time.
On Shopify, these rules come from delivery date apps in the Shopify App Store, many of which list date pickers with time slots, same-day cut-offs, prep times, blackout dates and order limits per slot (for example Store Pickup + Delivery). Test the app with your theme before you launch.
Deposits, payment and cancellation terms
Catering is high value and booked ahead, so payment terms matter more than for restaurant orders.
| Customer type | Common approach | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Private party, under a week ahead | Full payment at checkout | PayNow or card; simplest for small orders |
| Private event, weeks ahead | Deposit at checkout, balance before the event | State the balance due date clearly |
| Corporate client | Invoice with payment terms | Approved quotation first; tax invoice if GST-registered |
| Large or wedding events | Deposit plus signed terms | Tasting, menu changes and final pax deadline in writing |
Write the cancellation and change policy on the checkout page: how late pax can change, what happens to the deposit if the event is cancelled, and whether bad weather or venue changes count. Payment gateways such as Stripe and HitPay take PayNow and cards at checkout.
Corporate invoices, GST and InvoiceNow
Corporate catering is often the most profitable part of the business, and it runs on invoices.
- Quotations: let corporate buyers download a quotation from the website, with your UEN, GST number if registered, validity period and terms.
- Tax invoices: if you are GST-registered and the client is GST-registered, IRAS says a tax invoice generally must be issued within 30 days of the time of supply (IRAS invoicing customers/basics-of-gst/invoicing-price-display-and-record-keeping/invoicing-customers)). Our GST tax invoice guide lists what it must show.
- InvoiceNow: government agencies and many large companies prefer e-invoices over the Peppol network, and the IRAS GST InvoiceNow requirement is being phased in. See our InvoiceNow setup guide for whether and when it applies to you.
- Purchase orders: add a PO number field at checkout so corporate invoices match the client's records.
Connect your online orders to your accounting software so each paid order or invoice is recorded once, not retyped. For a typical small caterer, this saves more time than any website feature.
Own website vs delivery apps for catering
Delivery platforms bring individual meal orders, but large catering orders usually come through your own channels: search, repeat corporate clients and referrals.
Own catering website
- No commission on large orders
- Your own minimum pax, deposits and terms
- Quotations and invoices for companies
- Customer list you can follow up (with consent)
Delivery platforms
- Commission on each order
- Limited control over minimums and lead times
- Fewer invoicing options for corporate buyers
- Platform owns the customer relationship
Many caterers list small bento sets on delivery apps for discovery and send corporate and event bookings to their own site. Our restaurant online ordering vs delivery apps comparison covers the commission side, and what a Shopify store costs in Singapore covers the platform costs.
Do it yourself or get help?
A caterer can start with a simple Shopify store and a delivery date app, set minimum quantities and take PayNow at checkout. The parts that benefit from help are package and menu-builder logic, deposits with balance payments, and connecting orders to invoices and accounting.
Our Shopify Store package (S$1,890) builds the catalogue, delivery slots and checkout. Online Payment Setup (S$290) adds deposits and PayNow, and InvoiceNow (Peppol) Setup (S$190) gets you ready to send e-invoices to corporate and government clients.
Frequently asked questions
Yes. SFA lists caterers under food shops, which need a Food Shop Licence applied for through GoBusiness, with the kitchen meeting SFA's premises and food safety requirements. Home-based food businesses do not need a licence but are not allowed to offer catering, such as buffets or packed meals for events, so catering must run from licensed premises.
Set packages as products priced per pax and use a minimum quantity rule, either through Shopify's quantity rules where available or through an app. Combine it with a delivery date app that enforces lead times, blocks fully booked days and limits orders per slot, so customers cannot place orders your kitchen cannot fulfil.
Both are common. Small private orders close to the date are often paid in full at checkout. Larger events booked weeks ahead usually pay a deposit online and the balance before the event. Corporate clients often prefer an invoice with payment terms. Whatever you choose, show the cancellation and change policy before payment.
If you are GST-registered, yes. When the client is GST-registered, IRAS says a tax invoice generally must be issued within 30 days of the time of supply and must show the required details, such as your GST registration number, the amount of GST and the total including GST. If you are not GST-registered, do not charge or show GST.
You can list catering-style items such as bento sets, but platforms charge a commission on each order and give you less control over minimum pax, lead times, deposits and corporate invoicing. Most caterers use apps for discovery of smaller orders and their own website for events and corporate bookings.