From October onwards, restaurants enter the season of group enquiries. HR departments look for an evening for the Christmas party, clubs for a room for their end-of-year get-together, families for a long table over the holidays. Many of these enquiries arrive as a phone call in the middle of lunch service or as an email with very little detail – and then the back and forth begins: which menus are there, what does it cost per person, does the group fit into the side room, who receives the invoice, and what happens if fewer guests turn up? A dedicated group page on the website answers these questions before they are asked. It shows set menus with a price per person, rooms with their seats, an enquiry form that collects all the necessary details at once, and cancellation and deposit rules that suit the type of guest. This article explains how the page is built, what the 110 euros in the German Income Tax Act are about, why a restaurant should not turn them into an advertising promise and why different terms-and-conditions rules apply to companies than to private groups and clubs. Menus, allergen labelling and general table reservations are covered in the article on restaurant websites.
Why groups need a page of their own
A table reservation needs a date, a time, the number of guests and a name.
A Christmas party needs more: it is planned weeks ahead, with a set menu or buffet, in a particular room, with an invoice to a company and with an agreement on what applies if fewer guests come in the end. Anyone who routes all of this through the general reservation form receives enquiries that can only be answered after several follow-up questions. Anyone who refers large groups to the phone as a rule loses the enquiries written in the evening after work – often exactly when someone is calmly comparing offers from several venues. A group page is the answer that is still available late in the evening: it names packages, rooms and terms and takes the enquiry in a way that lets the business write an offer the next morning instead of a question.
On top of that, very different guests stand behind a group enquiry. Whoever books for the staff needs an invoice with the company address and wants to know what the evening costs per person. The treasurer of a sports club works with the club budget and asks about the deposit. The family bringing all generations to one table at the end of the year mainly wants to know whether children are welcome and what applies if someone falls ill. Legally, these are different contracting parties. Under German law, a consumer is any natural person who concludes a legal transaction for purposes that predominantly cannot be attributed to their commercial or independent professional activity (Section 13 BGB, the German Civil Code). A trader is a person or company acting in the exercise of their commercial or independent professional activity when concluding the transaction (Section 14 BGB). This distinction runs through price display, cancellation rules and invoicing – and therefore through the group page as well.
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| Who books | What matters for the decision | What the group page states for it |
|---|---|---|
| Company for the Christmas party | Price per person, invoice to the company, a date before the holidays | Package price including VAT, fields for company and billing address, terms for companies |
| Company for a dinner with clients | An invoice that serves as a receipt for accounting | Invoice with the host's address, food and drinks separated by VAT rate |
| Club | Budget, deposit, changes to the number of guests | Package prices, deposit rule, deadline for the final number of guests |
| Family or circle of friends | Room, children, cancellation in case of illness | Room with seats, children's prices, cancellation rule allowing proof of lower loss |
| Team paying separately | Who pays what at the end of the evening | Note on whether separate bills are possible and by when they must be requested |
The 110 euros: what the law says
As soon as a company plans a Christmas party, the figure 110 comes up sooner or later. It comes from Section 19(1) sentence 1 no.
1a of the German Income Tax Act (EStG), which governs benefits from employers on the occasion of events at company level with a social character, referred to in the law as Betriebsveranstaltung (company event). The decisive sentence says that, insofar as such benefits do not exceed 110 euros per company event and participating employee, they are not part of income from employment, provided that participation is open to all members of the business or of a part of the business. The following sentence limits this to up to two company events per year (Section 19(1) EStG).
For a restaurant, another sentence of the same provision is at least as important. Benefits are all expenses of the employer including VAT, regardless of whether they can be attributed to individual employees or whether they are a calculated share of the costs that the employer incurs with third parties for the external setting of the company event (Section 19(1) EStG). The expenses attributable proportionately to the employee and their accompanying persons are counted as well. The company's calculation therefore includes not only menu and drinks, but also room hire, music, travel, decoration or a programme booked elsewhere – and the partners who come along. The restaurant knows nothing about most of these items.
Do not advertise “tax-free celebrations”
Set menus with a price per person
The heart of the group page is a small selection of clearly distinct packages, for example a served set menu, a buffet and a menu with a drinks package.
Each package states what is served, which room goes with it, from how many guests it is offered and what it costs per person. Towards private guests, the German Price Indication Ordinance requires the total price: anyone who, as a trader, offers services to consumers or advertises them with prices has to state the total prices (Section 3 PAngV). The total price is the price to be paid including VAT and other price components for goods or a service (Section 2 PAngV). For restaurants, the prices in the price list must additionally include the service charge and all other surcharges (Section 13 PAngV). A package price to which a room surcharge, a service fee and an extra charge for dessert are added later misses the point of the page: the company cannot calculate with it, and the family feels misled at the end of the evening.
What is served
Courses or buffet stations in brief, plus the vegetarian alternative. A link to the labelled menu leads to the allergens without maintaining the information twice.
Price per person
The amount including VAT, for companies additionally net if needed, with the date the price applies from. Children's prices sit next to it as their own amount, not as a footnote.
Drinks
Whether drinks are included, as a package for a fixed period or by consumption. This detail often changes the cost of the evening more than the choice of menu.
Room and seats
Which room belongs to the package, how many seats it has at one long table or several tables, and whether the group has it to itself or shares the main dining room.
Time window
From when the room is ready and when the evening ends. If an extension is possible, its price is shown right there and not only on the invoice.
Minimum number
From how many guests the package applies and until when the number can still be changed. The same deadline appears in the group terms so that page and terms match.
With packages that include drinks, it is worth looking at VAT. The standard rate is 19 percent (Section 12(1) UStG, the German VAT Act); it is reduced to 7 percent for restaurant and catering services, with the exception of the supply of drinks (Section 12(2) UStG). A package of menu and drinks therefore contains two VAT rates. That does not change the total price for the guest, but it does change the invoice: Section 14(4) UStG requires, among other things, the consideration broken down by tax rates and individual exemptions. Anyone who already prices food and drinks separately on the package card makes invoicing easier for themselves and checking the invoice easier for the company. How a package price is split between the two rates is something the business clarifies with its tax adviser. How prices are presented properly on a website overall is described in the article on price information and advertising claims.
Package B – Christmas buffet
Room Winter garden, reserved for your group
Seats [number] at several tables
Time window from [time] to [time]
Buffet [starters, mains, dessert]
Vegetarian separate station at the buffet
Food [amount] euros per person incl. VAT
Drinks package [amount] euros per person incl. VAT
or by consumption
Children [amount] euros up to [age] years
Minimum [number] guests
Prices as of [date]
Allergens see the labelled menu
Button “Request this package” leads to the formShow rooms and seats openly
The second question after the price is about space.
A group page names every room that can host a party, with the number of seats in the usual arrangement, a photo and what makes it special: a side room with its own door, a winter garden, a separated area in the dining room. If a room is only available from a minimum number of guests or for a room fee, that is stated right next to the room and not only in the offer. Just as important is what is not possible: music from your own device, a dance floor, parties past midnight, your own decoration. Saying so in advance saves the enquiry that fails over the sound system in the end, and the disappointment when the “private room” turns out to be a corner of the dining room.
- Name and location of the room, with a photo taken as it looks on a party evening
- Seats at one long table or at several tables, and for a standing reception the number of standing guests
- Whether the room is reserved for the group alone or is an area of the dining room
- Minimum number of guests and room fee, if there is one
- Step-free access or access via steps, toilets on the same level
- Start, end of the evening and the price of an extension
- What is allowed: music, speeches with a microphone, own decoration, place cards
The enquiry form: everything in one message
The general reservation form asks for date, time and number of guests. For a party, the business needs more, and in a form that lets it send an offer without asking back.
In XICflow, the “Form” block lets you assemble the fields freely; you can choose single-line text, email, phone, number, dropdown, multi-line text, checkbox and consent (XICflow documentation). A form can hold up to 40 custom fields (XICflow documentation); a group enquiry needs far fewer. There is no dedicated date picker for the preferred date; it sits in a single-line text field. For groups this is more of an advantage: whoever plans a party rarely has just one evening in mind, and the text field leaves room for the alternative date right next to the preferred one. The number of guests belongs in a number field, the menu choice in a dropdown listing the packages on the page plus the entry “undecided”. That way the business sees in the enquiry itself where the offer should be heading.
1 Occasion dropdown: company Christmas party /
club party / family party / other
2 Preferred date single-line text, required
placeholder: date and alternative date
3 Time of day dropdown: lunch / evening
4 Number of guests number, required
5 Menu choice dropdown: package A / package B /
package C / undecided
6 Dietary needs single-line text: number per diet
or intolerance, no names
7 Name single-line text, required
8 Email required
9 Phone optional, for questions
10 Company or club single-line text, optional
11 Street and number single-line text (billing address)
12 Postcode, town single-line text (billing address)
13 Message multi-line text, optional
14 Group terms consent, required: readTwo details save work later. XICflow maps the fields of an enquiry automatically and treats the first multi-line field as the message (XICflow documentation); the billing address is therefore better placed in single-line fields, with the message field at the end. And the form does not ask for company and billing address out of curiosity. Under Section 14(4) UStG, an invoice must contain the full name and full address of both the supplier and the recipient of the service. Only an invoice whose total amount does not exceed 250 euros can do with less and does not need the recipient (Section 33 UStDV, the German VAT Implementing Ordinance) – an amount a group passes quickly. If a company invites clients or business partners, there is a second reason: for business entertainment expenses, the Income Tax Act requires proof; if the entertainment took place in a restaurant, details of the occasion and the participants are sufficient, but the invoice for the entertainment must be attached (Section 4(5) EStG). Having the address with the enquiry means not having to ask for it at the counter on the night.
Where the enquiry goes
Cancellation and deposit: company or private group
By confirming, the business keeps a room free, plans staff and buys in supplies. If the group cancels at short notice or significantly fewer guests come, part of that remains as a loss.
Group terms deal with this through deadlines, flat-rate charges and a deposit. Pre-formulated conditions used for many bookings are standard business terms within the meaning of Section 305 BGB. Towards consumers, they only become part of the contract if the business expressly refers to them when the contract is concluded and gives the guest the opportunity to take note of their content in a reasonable manner that also takes appropriate account of a physical disability of the other party recognisable to the business, and if the guest agrees to their application (Section 305(2) BGB). A separate page with the group terms, linked from the package cards, the form and the offer, serves exactly this purpose – provided it is set as real text and not as a scanned document.
For private groups, Section 309 BGB sets tight limits. If a cancellation fee is designed as liquidated damages, it is invalid if it exceeds the damage to be expected in the ordinary course of events, or if the guest is not expressly permitted to prove that no damage or loss of value occurred at all or that it is substantially lower than the flat rate (Section 309 no. 5 BGB). A contractual penalty for the case that the other party withdraws from the contract is also invalid (Section 309 no. 6 BGB). For the group terms this means: the flat rates are based on the loss that typically arises from a cancellation – food purchased, a room that can no longer be let –, they are staggered by notice period, and the sentence allowing proof of a lower loss is stated expressly.
When a company books, things look different. Under Section 310(1) BGB, Section 309 and the incorporation rules of Section 305(2) do not apply to standard business terms used towards a trader, a legal entity under public law or a special fund under public law. That does not give the business a free hand. Provisions are invalid if, contrary to the requirement of good faith, they unreasonably disadvantage the other party, and such a disadvantage may also arise from the provision not being clear and comprehensible (Section 307(1) BGB). Towards traders, this review also applies insofar as it leads to the invalidity of provisions listed in Section 309; appropriate account is taken of the customs and practices applicable in commercial dealings (Section 310(1) BGB). Whether a club acts as a trader when booking depends on the individual case; treating clubs according to the rules for private groups is the more cautious route.
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| Rule | Private group and club | Company |
|---|---|---|
| Flat-rate cancellation fee | Not above the expected loss, proof of a lower loss expressly permitted (Section 309 no. 5 BGB) | Clause prohibitions of Section 309 do not apply, content review under Section 307 BGB remains |
| Contractual penalty on withdrawal | Invalid (Section 309 no. 6 BGB) | Standard of Section 307 BGB, commercial customs and practices taken into account |
| Incorporation of the terms | Express reference, reasonable opportunity to take note and the guest's agreement (Section 305(2) BGB) | Section 305(2) does not apply (Section 310(1) BGB); a clear reference in offer and confirmation is still sensible |
| Clarity | Worded clearly and comprehensibly (Section 307(1) BGB) | Worded clearly and comprehensibly (Section 307(1) BGB) |
| Price on the page | Total price per person including VAT (Section 3 PAngV) | Net price may be added, invoice with the company address (Section 14 UStG) |
The deposit belongs in the same terms and as a note on the group page: how much is due – as an amount per person or as a share of the package price –, by when, by which means, and that it is credited against the final invoice. Equally important is the rule for the number of guests: until when it can be changed free of charge and what applies afterwards. A fair rule works in both directions and also says what the business offers if it has to cancel itself. The page itself does not show its own deadlines or amounts that differ from the linked document; a notice bar “Cancellation and deposit rules” linking to the terms is better than a summary with figures that is not updated alongside the next revision. How cancellation rules for appointments can be worded clearly is shown in the article on appointment requests for service businesses.
Allergens, diets and data protection
A set menu is an offer of food and needs the allergen information just like the menu card.
The German Food Information Implementing Ordinance allows, among other things, menus and drinks lists as well as electronic information services for this, and requires that the guest can take note of the information before the purchase is concluded and before the food is handed over (Section 4(3) LMIDV). For the group page this means: each package links to the labelled menu or carries the information itself. In the form, the page asks for diets and intolerances as numbers rather than with names. That is enough for the kitchen's planning, and it reflects the principle that data must be adequate, relevant and limited to what is necessary in relation to the purposes for which they are processed (Article 5 GDPR). Handling the enquiry itself is generally based on processing being necessary in order to take steps at the request of the data subject prior to entering into a contract (Article 6 GDPR). The consent-type field is therefore well used to confirm that the group terms have been read. And since group enquiries are seasonal, retention deserves a look: by default, XICflow keeps enquiries for 180 days (XICflow documentation). What must be kept for longer is described in the article keep or delete enquiries.
Make the season visible
A group page helps little if it is buried deep in a submenu.
From October, it deserves a link on the home page, a place in the navigation and a mention in the reply to every group enquiry by phone: “You will find all packages and the form on our Christmas party page.” Dates in December are the scarcest resource of the season; a list of fully booked evenings only helps as long as it is correct. A practical alternative is a dated sentence describing the situation, such as “Fridays in December are largely booked, weekday evenings are still available, as of: [date]”, maintained at a fixed rhythm. A notice bar on the home page can carry it and link to the group page; how such notices become visible without disturbing guests is described in the article on notices and popups on the website. Only set a countdown when there is a real registration deadline, for example for a fixed menu on a particular evening. After the holidays the page is not deleted but repurposed: for anniversaries, summer parties and family celebrations, with the same blocks and different packages.
- This week: define packages, prices per person and rooms, and have the group terms for private groups and companies checked legally.
- By the end of October: publish the group page and form, send a test enquiry with real details and check in the inbox that it has arrived.
- From November: add a notice on the home page, update the status of available dates regularly, and answer every enquiry on the same or the next working day.
- After every confirmation: send an offer with package, room, number of guests, deposit and a link to the group terms.
- Before the party: ask for the final number of guests by the agreed deadline and pass diets and intolerances on to the kitchen.
- In January: remove the Christmas packages from the pricing table and switch the page to spring and summer celebrations.
With XICflow, a page like this is built from existing blocks. Among the templates are a restaurant home page and the premium pages “Restaurant” and “Event” as a starting point, as the feature overview shows. The pricing table carries the packages: each package has a name, a price, a period after the price such as “per person”, a checklist of what is included and its own button, one package can be highlighted, and a footnote below the cards can cover VAT, for example (XICflow documentation). Every package with a recognisable price additionally produces a machine-readable price statement – so only prices that really apply belong there. Details on the pricing table, notice bar and countdown are in blocks for conversion and CTA, and on the form, notifications and processing status in requests and team. What a restaurant website with its own section for parties and groups looks like is shown by the Trattoria Oliva demo among the demos. If, besides restaurant guests, you also address business customers for other services, the article on year-end budgets describes the right page for buyers.