totalpartyplanner.com

What It Is

Total Party Planner (TPP) is an all-in-one SaaS platform built specifically for caterers. It is not positioned as a generic project management or e-commerce system; instead, it is designed around catering workflows, bringing event management, client communication, menus, quotes/invoices, BEOs, online ordering, payments, scheduling, and profit management into a single platform. The company originated in Buffalo, New York, and founder John Cohen comes from a catering business background.

Core Features and Collaboration

Based on the site content, TPP covers Event & BOH Management, invoicing, BEOs, leads and client communication, TPP Pay online payments, menu costing, expense tracking, and profit tracking. Its online ordering module, TPP Order, lets users quickly create online menus and customize pricing, portions, descriptions, images, and display styles. Orders can be managed by status—pending, in progress, and completed—and linked to event and client records. On the team side, it supports employee scheduling, real-time coordination, team access controls, as well as settings for business hours, availability, and ordering rules.

Pricing, Deployment, and Integrations

The official website does not publish plan pricing and mainly directs users to book a demo. TPP Order is clearly positioned as an add-on to Total Party Planner, rather than being included by default. In terms of deployment, the messaging emphasizes “only need WiFi” and “Anywhere, Anytime,” suggesting a cloud-based SaaS model, but it does not state whether self-hosting is supported. For integrations, the site only makes broad references to seamless integrations and shows related partners/solutions such as Aisle Planner Pro and Event Rental Systems, without providing a specific integration list. API and developer support are not disclosed.

Pros and Cons

The main advantage is its strong vertical focus: the feature set is designed around real catering workflows and can reduce reliance on spreadsheets, emails, and duplicate data entry. Real-time online menu updates, online payments, and order status tracking can help improve operational efficiency. The drawbacks are limited transparency around pricing, plan boundaries, security and compliance, and API capabilities. Online ordering is an add-on, so the final cost needs to be confirmed with sales. The website mentions secure online payments, but does not provide details on SOC, ISO, GDPR, PCI, or similar compliance standards.

Who It’s For and Access from China

TPP is best suited to small and mid-sized or growing catering companies, banquet service teams, and event catering businesses that need to standardize BEOs, invoices, menus, scheduling, and cost accounting. For users in China, website accessibility, payment availability, localization, and integrations with WeChat Pay, Alipay, or similar services are not disclosed, so China access should be marked as unknown. If your operations are primarily in China, you may also want to evaluate local catering ERP systems, banquet management platforms, Enterprise WeChat/DingTalk ecosystem solutions, or international alternatives such as Caterease and Tripleseat.