Prep Station
For catering finance & ops
Get paid on your brand Your Stripe account. Your money. Your control.
Prep Station connects catering quotes, storefront checkouts, and back-office charges to Stripe—our premier processor—so clients pay you directly while you stay in charge of payouts, disputes, and the ledger.
No credit card required · You own the Stripe account · Cancel anytime
Accounts Receivable
Customer invoices · all locations
INV-2026-0842
Riverside Holdings
SO #1042 · Sat Jul 18 lunch
Total
$1,677.00
Paid
$500.00
Balance
$1,177.00
Payment method
Card · Visa ••4242
Deposit captured at booking · balance due on delivery
Take payment · Capture · Refund · Credit note
Take paymentWhy Prep Station payments and AR
01
Collect without the chase
Deposits, card holds, and storefront checkout land cash when the booking happens—not weeks after the event.
02
Stay in control of the money
You create your own Stripe account. Payouts, bank details, and disputes stay under your name.
03
Reconcile one AR hub
Invoices, card charges, checks, wires, and credit notes live with the sales order—not five side spreadsheets.
No credit card for the live demo
Sample invoices powered by Stripe Connect patterns
Cancel anytime
Unpaid invoices are volume you already cooked. Catering cash flow belongs on the same record as the order.
When deposits live in email, card holds live in a POS, and house accounts live in a binder, you lose the week after every big event chasing money you already earned.
Take catering payments seriously
Your clients pay you. Stripe is the rail. Prep Station is the ops stack that ties the charge to the ticket.
Stripe Connect
You create the Stripe account. You stay in charge.
Stripe is Prep Station’s premier payment processor. Connect onboarding is hosted by Stripe so bank details, tax info, and payouts stay under your business—not locked inside a black-box marketplace balance.
- Charge customers on your brand via Stripe Connect
- Finish Stripe’s secure onboarding and manage the dashboard yourself
- Take deposits, captures, voids, and refunds without retyping the order
Card payments settle through your connected account. Prep Station may take a platform application fee on tenant card charges—your customers still pay you.
Payments & Invoicing
Accept customer payments via Stripe
Stripe connected
You can accept card payments. Payouts go to your bank through Stripe.
Default invoice grouping
One invoice per order (combined)
Override per event: combined · per day · per delivery
Automatically email payment receipts
Customers get a receipt after every successful charge
Customer Invoices
Accounts receivable across all sales orders
-
INV-2026-0842
Riverside Holdings
Partial$1,177.00
-
INV-2026-0838
Harborview Events
Authorized$4,860.00
-
INV-2026-0821
Northline Corp AP
Open$2,140.00
-
INV-2026-0814
City Hall Catering
Paid$0.00
AR hub
Every invoice and payment in one financial view
Stop hunting balances across email threads and PDF folders. Open invoices, partial deposits, and paid tickets roll up next to the sales order the kitchen already runs.
- Account-wide customer invoices and payment transactions
- Offline check and wire recording beside card history
- Credit notes for overpayments and service issues
See deposits, captures, and house accounts on the same ticket as the kitchen.
Card lifecycle
Hold at booking. Capture when you deliver.
Protect high-value catering without charging too early. Take deposits for cash flow, authorize the rest, capture after the last drop—or key a MOTO charge when the planner calls.
Authorize at booking
Client accepts the quote online. Stripe holds the card without charging until you fulfill.
Authorization
$4,860.00
Amex ••1005 · Harborview wedding weekend
Take payment
Saved cards · auto receipts · refunds on the invoice
Corporate & AP
House accounts, Net terms, and invoices AP will accept
Institutional and corporate caterers need more than “pay now.” Bill the house after the event, enforce credit limits, and split invoices the way AP asks—without rebuilding the ticket.
- Due now or on-account payment terms on every order
- House account statements with credit-limit warnings
- One bill, per-day, or per-delivery invoice grouping
- Cancellation fee invoices and credit notes when plans change
Pairs with sales orders & quotes and your branded storefront checkout.
Before
Chase the balance in three tools
- Deposit in Square · balance in email PDF
- House account in a spreadsheet
- Refund guesswork after the event
With Prep Station
One order · one AR trail · your Stripe
- Deposit, hold, capture, or Net 30 on the ticket
- Invoice split the way AP wants it
- Credit notes and cancellation fees on the same record
Cash after the event
Payments that keep catering growth funded
When clients pay you through Stripe on your brand, bigger weeks do not mean bigger collections chaos.
Payments that close the catering loop
Quotes become money on sales orders. Clients pay at checkout on your online storefront. See pricing for plans that unlock payments.
Questions catering teams ask about payments
Straight answers about Stripe Connect, AR, deposits, and who controls the money.
Whose Stripe account receives the money?
Yours. Prep Station uses Stripe Connect so you create and own your Stripe account. Customer card payments settle to you—not into a Prep Station wallet you have to withdraw from.
Is Stripe required?
Stripe is our premier card processor for online, storefront, and back-office card charges. You can still record checks, wires, and cash offline in the same AR history when a client pays outside the card rails.
Can we authorize a card at booking and capture later?
Yes. Hold funds when the client accepts the quote, then capture after delivery. Void or refund when plans change—without rebuilding the invoice in a spreadsheet.
Do house accounts and Net terms work?
Yes. Trusted corporate clients can order on account with credit limits and statement-style invoices. Over-limit warnings surface before you confirm the order.
Can one event become more than one invoice?
Yes. Invoice as one combined bill, per delivery day, or per delivery slot—so AP gets the split they need without retyping line items.
Is this Prep Station subscription billing?
No. This page is about charging your catering customers (tenant AR). What you pay Prep Station for the software is separate subscription billing.
Do I need a credit card for the live demo?
No. The live demo does not require a credit card. Explore sample invoices and payment flows—cancel anytime.
Prep Station
Charge clients. Keep control. Fund the next week.
Connect your Stripe account, collect deposits and balances on your brand, and reconcile AR on the same record the kitchen runs.
No credit card required · You own the Stripe account · Cancel anytime