Suppliers and quotes
The supplier brief you send, the quotes side by side with their service charges, tax and deposits, and the contract questions with their answers.
For a first pass, the quotes sheet and the three Start here questions are essential for any supplier you hire: each hired supplier has a written quote and answers on the final count, cancellation and weather. If you hire no one, one row saying "none needed" finishes it. The supplier brief is essential once you ask anyone for a quote, because the same brief to each supplier is what makes quotes compare.
Supplier brief
The facts every supplier needs, copied from your brief, plus what this supplier is asked to do. Send the same brief to each supplier you ask, so the quotes compare.
Quotes compared
One row per quote. Put the service charge and tax on their own columns so the totals compare. A blank amount means not stated yet; ask.
Contract questions
Ask each hired supplier these, and keep the answers in writing (an email counts). The first three are the Start here questions.
How to use these sheets
- The same brief to every supplier. Copy the brief's basics, then write what this supplier is asked to do. Change nothing between suppliers, or the quotes will not compare.
- Service charge and tax on their own columns. A quote's headline price often leaves them out. The total column is the number to compare.
- Answers in writing. An email counts. Tick each contract question when its answer is in writing and note the date.
The example quote is the one the Ortiz family (fictional) chose in Hiring suppliers: a staffed taco bar at 37 adults × $26 and 8 children × $13 ($1,066), an 18 percent service charge that pays the two servers' wages ($191.88), $50 delivery and 8 percent tax ($139.28 together), $1,397.16 in all, with a 25 percent deposit by card. The notes hold the final-count date and what the service charge pays for, both answered in writing.
The contract questions are what to ask, drawn from institutions' checklists and three caterers' published terms; they are not legal review. A contract with real money at stake can go to an attorney. A review or a reference reduces the chance of a bad supplier; it does not remove it.