Concession Trailer Event Booking and Deposit Software (2026)
A concession trailer's calendar is its inventory: a Saturday sold twice is a Saturday lost. ShowTheReceipts ($15/mo) takes a deposit that holds the date, saves your per-guest and flat-buyout packages, and sends a proper itemized invoice with net terms to the schools, churches, and municipalities that book most of these events.
How we picked
Entry-plan prices as published in 2026, taken from each vendor's own pricing page or a recent third-party summary. Judged on the concession operator's booking and money workflow — date-holding deposits, buyout versus per-guest packages, and invoicing institutional payers on net terms — not on trailer POS, inventory counts, or food-cost tracking.
| Software | Starting price | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| ShowTheReceipts That's us | $15/mo | Concession operators: date-holding deposits, buyout packages, institutional net-terms invoicing |
| Square | Free + 2.6% + 10¢ | Taking retail card payments at the window |
| Invoice2go | $9.99/mo+ | Simple mobile invoicing |
| Acuity Scheduling | $20/mo+ | Self-serve date booking with basic deposits |
| HoneyBook | $29/mo+ | Full proposal-and-contract flows for event vendors |
The date is the product
A concession trailer doesn’t really sell shaved ice, it sells Saturdays. There are maybe twenty good ones a year in most markets, and every one that gets held on a verbal yes and then cancelled is a weekend of revenue that’s just gone.
Deposits aren’t a formality here. They’re the inventory control system.
1. ShowTheReceipts — $15/mo
Deposits that hold the date, buyout and per-guest packages saved, and net-terms invoices with PO fields for schools, churches, and municipalities.
2. Square — free + processing
The right tool at the window; not a booking or deposit system.
3. Invoice2go — $9.99/mo+
Basic invoicing, no calendar side.
4. Acuity Scheduling — $20/mo+
Self-serve date booking with simple deposit support.
5. HoneyBook — $29/mo+
Proposals and contracts for event vendors, priced for the whole workflow.
The three ways these events get sold
- Buyout — flat fee, guests eat free, money known in advance
- Per guest — headcount-based, with a minimum
- Straight vend — you sell to the public, sometimes minus a venue percentage
A buyout beats the other two almost every time, because it converts a weather forecast and a crowd estimate into a number on a contract.
Institutional payers are slow and worth it
Schools, churches, parks departments, and HOAs book far in advance, rebook annually, and never haggle. They also need a W-9, a PO, and net 30 — so have all three ready and you’ll own a calendar most operators can’t get on.
Frequently asked questions
What's a buyout and how do I price one?
A buyout is a flat fee where the host pays and guests eat free — priced at your expected revenue for that window plus a premium for the certainty. It's the best booking a concession trailer can get, because the money is known before the gate opens.
How do I keep from double-booking a Saturday?
Treat a date as sold only when a deposit clears, not when someone says yes. Verbal holds on a peak Saturday are how operators end up turning down a paid festival for an event that evaporates two weeks out.
How do I invoice a school or a city?
With an itemized invoice, a PO or requisition number, a W-9 on file, and net terms. Institutional payers cannot pay a card link on the day — the paperwork is the job, and having it ready is what gets you rebooked next year.
Should I charge a fee if the event is rained out?
Keep the deposit, or offer a reschedule inside a stated window — decided at booking, in writing. Weather is the one certainty in outdoor concessions, and a policy written after the forecast turns is a policy nobody accepts.