Manage your catalog and pricing

Build your catalog of services and prices once, then draw from it to create consistent, fast quotes.

Every venue has a catalog of reusable items: space rental, catering menus, beverages, options and equipment. You build it once, then draw from it for every quote — your prices stay consistent and you save real time. This article explains how to populate, organise and maintain that catalog so it becomes the backbone of all your quotes.

A well-kept catalog is what separates a rushed quote from a professional one sent in minutes. Each item carries a title, a price and a VAT rate, and is reused identically from one client to the next, with no re-keying and no risk of a wrong rate.

Prerequisites

Before building your catalog, gather these things to save time.

Have a venue to attach the catalog to (each venue has its own item catalog).
Have your current prices and the VAT rates applicable to each type of item at hand.
Know the main families of what you sell: spaces, catering, beverages, options, equipment.
Have sufficient rights to access the venue's catalog and create or edit items there.

What you'll learn

Add items to your catalog, each with a price and a VAT rate.
Organise items by type so they are easy to find.
Keep your prices up to date over time.
Understand how the catalog feeds your quotes without changing those already issued.

Build your catalog

The catalog gathers everything you offer on a regular basis. Start by adding the items that come up most often in your quotes, then complete it over time.

Open your venue's catalog: the list of existing items appears.
Create an item and give it a title ("Main hall rental", "3-course catering menu").
Enter its price and its VAT rate: both values will be copied as-is into your quotes.
Save: the item joins the catalog and becomes available for all your future quotes.

Organise your items

Sort your items by type so you can find them at a glance when building a quote. A tidy catalog is one you actually use.

Group items by type: spaces, catering, beverages, options, equipment.
Edit an existing item to fix its label or its category.
Remove an item you no longer offer to keep the list useful.

Keep your prices up to date

Prices change: a menu goes up, an option gets re-priced. Update the catalog so your next quotes always start from the right price.

Open the item and edit its price.
Check the VAT rate if it has changed, so quotes stay compliant.
Save: the new value applies to quotes created from now on.

Item field reference

Here is the meaning of each element an item in the catalog carries.

Title: the item's label, reused as-is on your quote lines.
Price: the item's base rate, the starting point of every quote that uses it.
VAT rate: the tax applied to the item, essential for compliant quotes.
Type: the item's family (spaces, catering, beverages, options, equipment) used for sorting.
Venue: the site the catalog, and therefore the item, is attached to.

How it works

The catalog is a reference library: quotes draw from it, but once a line is added to a quote, it lives its own life. Editing the catalog therefore does not alter quotes already issued.

When you create a quote, you draw items directly from the venue's catalog.
The item's title, price and VAT are copied onto the quote line the moment you add it.
You can then adjust the quantity or price on the quote without touching the catalog.
A later change to the catalog only applies to future quotes, never to past ones.

This decoupling protects your sent quotes: you can evolve your prices freely without fear of altering a document already shared with the client.

Edge cases

A few common situations are worth anticipating to get the most out of the catalog.

One-off item: a unique request can be entered directly on the quote, without cluttering the catalog.
Mid-season rate increase: update the price in the catalog; quotes already sent keep the old rate.
Several venues: since each venue has its catalog, the same item can exist at a different price per site.

💡 Tip: review your catalog at the start of each season. A few minutes refreshing prices saves you from sending a quote with an outdated rate.

Best practices

Use clear, explicit titles: they appear as-is on your quotes.
Set a VAT rate on every item so quotes stay compliant.
Keep the catalog lean: remove what you no longer sell so you only draw from what's useful.
File each item under the right type so you find it fast when quoting.
Review prices at least once per season to avoid outdated rates.

Troubleshooting

Problem: an item does not appear when you build a quote.

Cause: the item belongs to the catalog of a different venue than the quote's.

Solution: check you are working on the right venue's catalog, or recreate the item there.

Problem: a quote shows an outdated price.

Cause: the catalog price was updated after the quote was created.

Solution: edit the line directly on the quote; new quotes will start from the up-to-date rate.

Problem: a quote's VAT looks wrong.

Cause: the item was created without a VAT rate, or with an obsolete one.

Solution: open the item in the catalog, set the right VAT rate, then recreate the quote.

Real-world example

A wedding estate enters each space rental once, three catering packages, its drinks list and a few options (DJ, photobooth). Each item carries its price and its VAT rate.

When an enquiry comes in, the team draws these items from the catalog and a consistent quote is ready in minutes — at the same price from one client to the next, with no re-keying and no missed VAT.

Another example

An event caterer structures its catalog into five types: menus, beverages, service staff, equipment rental and options. Each line carries its pre-tax rate and its VAT, sometimes different between food and alcohol.

At the start of the year, it bumps the menu prices in the catalog in one pass. Quotes sent the previous year stay intact, but every new proposal automatically starts from the refreshed rates.

FAQ

If I change a price in the catalog, do my old quotes change?

No. The catalog is a starting point: quotes you already created keep the prices set at the time. Only your future quotes start from the new rate.

Do I have to put everything in the catalog?

Add what comes up often. A one-off item can always be entered directly on a quote without cluttering your catalog.

Can I change an item's price at quote time?

Yes. The catalog price is a base: you can adjust it on the quote line without changing the reference value.

Does each venue have its own catalog?

Yes. The catalog is attached to the venue, which lets you have different prices from one site to another.

What happens if I delete an item from the catalog?

It disappears from future quotes, but existing quotes that contained it keep the line and its original price.

How do I file an item that spans several families?

Choose the type that matches its main nature; the goal is to find it quickly, not to classify it perfectly.

Is the VAT rate mandatory?

Set it on every item: it is what guarantees compliant quotes and saves you from fixing the tax by hand.