Private chef
invoice template

Private chefs invoice households, holiday lets and yacht or chalet clients for cooking in the client's home, by the event or by the week. This free template sets out a private chef invoice the way customers expect to see it, with example lines you can keep or replace.

What goes on a private chef invoice

Show the chef fee for the dinner or days, ingredients (at cost or with a handling fee, as agreed), service staff and travel, with the date and number of guests.

Line by line: Chef fee, dinner party for 8, 1 × £350.00 = £350.00; Ingredients, 1 × £240.00 = £240.00; Server, 5 hours, 1 × £100.00 = £100.00. The subtotal is £690.00. The example assumes you are not VAT registered, so there is no VAT and the total due is £690.00. The figures are illustrative, not a price guide, so use your own rates.

Whatever the job, a UK invoice must carry the basics GOV.UK lists: a unique invoice number, your name or business name and an address, your customer's name and address, a clear description of what you are charging for, the date the work was done and the date of the invoice, the amounts, any VAT, and the total owed. The template has a place for each, and the guide to what a UK invoice must include explains the rules behind them.

Number invoices in one unbroken sequence, such as INV-0001, INV-0002 and so on, and never reuse a number, even for a cancelled invoice. The invoice number generator suggests a format and works out your next number.

How private chefs price their work

A chef fee per event or day, plus ingredients and staff, or an all-inclusive price per guest.

Whatever the model, write it on the invoice as the customer agreed it: the unit (hour, day, job, item), the quantity and the rate on each line. A customer who can see how a total was built pays faster than one who has to ask. If you are working out what to charge in the first place, the day rate calculator works back from the income you want, and the markup calculator shows what you keep on anything you buy in.

Agree this before you start

Agree the menu, guests and dietary needs, the chef fee, how ingredients are charged, kitchen access, and cancellation terms.

When to send a private chef invoice

Deposit at booking, balance after the event with ingredient receipts.

The sooner an invoice goes out, the sooner it is paid: the payment clock starts when the customer receives it. Send it by email as a PDF on the day the work is finished, and the guide to sending an invoice covers what to put in the email.

VAT on private chef invoices

Cooking in a client's home is a catering service, standard-rated for a VAT-registered chef, including the ingredients.

Catering, including food served at an event and hot takeaway food, is standard-rated at 20% once you are VAT registered. Most cold food sold to take away is zero-rated, as are most cakes, but confectionery, crisps, soft drinks and alcohol are standard-rated. VAT Notice 709/1 covers catering and 701/14 covers food; when a job mixes rates, put each on its own line.

You must register for VAT when your taxable turnover over any rolling 12 months goes above £90,000, or you expect it to in the next 30 days alone. The VAT registration checker tracks where you are, and invoicing without a VAT number explains what an unregistered invoice looks like.

Who private chefs invoice

Private clients booking events want one clear invoice: the menu, the number of guests, staff, equipment and travel, each on its own line. Venues and corporate clients will want their purchase order number. You must register your food business with the local council at least 28 days before you start trading, and including your food hygiene rating or registration details on your documents reassures new clients.

Recharging costs and expenses

Costs you pay out for a job, such as travel, parking, materials or specialist hire, can be passed on to the customer when you agreed to it. Put each on its own line with a short description, and keep the receipts. Recharged costs are part of your income, and the original cost is your expense; if you are VAT registered, VAT is normally charged on the recharge at the rate of your main service. Only a genuine disbursement, a cost paid purely as the customer's agent, is passed on without VAT. The mileage calculator shows what business travel is worth at HMRC's rates.

Allergens, hygiene and event paperwork

Food businesses are inspected by the council, and your paperwork should show you are organised. Register with the local council at least 28 days before trading, keep your food safety management records, and display or mention your food hygiene rating. For events, give the client written allergen information for every dish; the law requires you to tell customers about the 14 major allergens. On the invoice itself, list the menu, the number of guests confirmed, and anything supplied on hire, such as equipment or staff, so the client can reconcile it with the booking.

Deposits, stages and cancellations

Deposits cover ingredients and secure the date.

A non-refundable booking deposit, commonly 25% to 50%, with the balance due a week or two before the event, is standard for private catering. Final guest numbers usually fix the price a few days before, so invoice the balance once they are confirmed.

Payment terms for private chefs

Balance within 7 days of the event.

If you agree no terms with a business customer, the law sets payment at 30 days after they receive the invoice or the work, whichever is later. Agreed terms between businesses can run to 60 days, or longer only where that is fair to both sides. When a business pays late, the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 lets you claim interest at 8% a year above the Bank of England base rate plus fixed compensation, which the late payment interest calculator works out. These rights do not apply to invoices sent to private individuals, so for household customers your own terms matter even more.

Getting paid faster

Three details decide how quickly most invoices are paid. First, your bank details on the invoice itself: account name, sort code and account number, with the invoice number as the payment reference so you can match the money when it lands. Second, a clear due date rather than "payment on receipt", which customers read as "whenever". Third, a polite reminder the day after the due date, then again at 7 and 14 days. A card payment link on the invoice helps with household customers, who are more likely to pay straight away if it takes one tap. The 30-day payment terms guide and invoice payment terms explain which terms to choose.

If a customer disputes the invoice

Most disputes are about scope: the customer thought something was included that you did not. Respond in writing, point to what was agreed, and separate the part in dispute from the rest, which should be paid on time. If only part of an invoice is questioned, a credit note for that part lets the undisputed amount be settled now. If a business customer still will not pay, a formal letter before action usually does it; after that, in England and Wales, the small claims track of the county court handles claims up to £10,000. The guides to invoice disputes and small claims for an unpaid invoice walk through each step.

Common private chef invoicing mistakes

• Charging ingredients without receipts. Keep the shopping receipts and, if the client asks, attach them; it is the easiest way to justify the ingredients line.
• Leaving service staff unpriced. A server or kitchen porter costs you money; show them as their own line rather than absorbing them into the chef fee.
• No cancellation terms. If the client cancels after you have shopped, you need agreed terms to charge for the ingredients and your time.
• Showing VAT when you are not VAT registered. You can only charge VAT with a VAT number, and adding it anyway is an offence. If you are not registered, your invoice shows a total with no VAT line.
• Editing an invoice after sending it. Correct a mistake with a credit note and a new invoice, so your records and your customer's match. The guide to correcting an invoice shows how.

Checklist before you send it

Run through this before every invoice goes out. Each point is a reason invoices get paid late:

• The invoice number is the next in your sequence and has never been used.
• The customer's name and address are right, with their purchase order or reference if they use one.
• Each line shows what was done, the quantity, the unit and the rate.
• The subtotal and total add up, and VAT appears only if you are VAT registered.
• The invoice date, a due date and your bank details are on it.
• A copy is saved with your records before you press send.

Keep a copy of every invoice

Every invoice you issue is a record of income. Keep a copy of each one, digital is fine, along with the payments that settle them. From 6 April 2026, sole traders with qualifying income over £50,000 must keep digital records and send HMRC quarterly updates under Making Tax Digital, with the threshold falling to £30,000 from April 2027 and £20,000 from April 2028. The MTD requirement checker tells you when it applies to you, and how long to keep invoices covers the retention rules.

Download the private chef invoice template

The template comes in four forms. The Word version opens in Microsoft Word, Google Docs and Pages: replace the words in square brackets and save. The Excel version opens in Excel, Google Sheets and Numbers, and works as a calculator, so each line, the subtotal, the VAT and the total update as you type. The PDF is ready to print. Or skip the download and fill it in online with the free invoice generator, which opens with these private chef lines already in place and makes a PDF in your own colours, with your logo.

When a template stops being enough, a TapTax account, free to start, creates and sends your invoices, tracks which are paid, and files your quarterly updates to HMRC from the same records. Our guide for private chefs covers the tax side: expenses, National Insurance and Making Tax Digital.