# What is the best software for a cake decorator in the UK?

> A UK cake decorator needs option quotes, a booking fee in pounds, allergen records for FSA and PPDS rules, and VAT when it comes. ibakepro covers it from £13 a month.

A UK cake decorator needs software that quotes each cake with options, takes
a booking fee online in pounds, keeps allergen records that meet FSA rules for
made-to-order and PPDS food, and handles VAT once you pass £90,000. ibakepro
does that from £13 a month, with UK accounts held in a London data region and
a 14-day free trial.

## What a UK cake decorator actually needs

**Quotes with options, compared by the portion.** UK couples compare wedding
and celebration cake quotes on price per portion, and they often want two
versions side by side, a three-tier against a two-tier with a cutting cake.
Software should let one quote carry both and let the customer choose.

**A booking fee online, the balance chased for you.** The usual UK structure is
a booking fee to hold the date and the balance some weeks before the event.
Taking the fee by card at the moment the customer says yes is what stops a date
being held on a promise.

**Allergens for made-to-order and pre-boxed food.** The FSA's guidance splits
your work in two. A cake packaged after the customer orders it is
non-prepacked food: it does not need a full ingredients label, but you must
still provide allergen information, and that can be done in other ways,
including verbally. Anything you box before it is ordered and sell from the
same place, a tray of cupcakes on a market stall for example, is prepacked for
direct sale (PPDS, also known as Natasha's Law) and needs a label with the
name of the food and a full ingredients list with allergens emphasised. Either
way, you need an ingredient-level record you trust.

**VAT for later.** Most cakes are zero-rated under HMRC's VAT Notice 701/14,
but chocolate-covered biscuits and catering are standard-rated, and you must
register once taxable turnover goes over £90,000. Software should handle VAT by
product category when you get there. The detail is in
[do I charge VAT on cakes in the UK](/answers/do-i-charge-vat-on-cakes-in-the-uk).

**Registered, then organised.** UK food businesses, including those run from
home, register with their local authority at least 28 days before trading. Once
you are registered, the records your environmental health officer may ask about
need to live somewhere you can find them.

## How ibakepro covers it

ibakepro serves UK decorators working from home through to bakeries with a
team, and runs each order from quote to delivery. For a UK decorator, that
means:

- **Quotes with several options.** The customer opens their order page, picks
  one option and pays the booking fee by card through your own Stripe account,
  and the payment schedule follows the option they chose. See
  [orders and quotes](/features/orders-and-quotes).
- **Balances on a schedule.** A balance can fall due a set number of days
  before the event, with reminders that repeat until it is paid. See
  [payment schedules and deposits](/features/payment-schedules-and-deposits).
- **Allergens from the ingredient up.** Each ingredient carries its allergens,
  and they roll up through recipes to products and onto every order, so the
  information you give a customer comes from the same record every time. See
  [allergen management](/features/allergen-management).
- **VAT.** VAT is one of the tax types you can choose, with a different rate by
  product category where one needs it.
- **Pounds and London.** Billed in GBP, with UK accounts in the United Kingdom
  data region, hosted in London.
- **Costing.** Each design is costed from what you paid for sugarpaste, butter
  and boards, so your per-portion rate comes from your own numbers. See
  [recipe costing](/features/recipe-costing).
- **Contracts.** Your cake terms can be signed online with e-sign, filed in the
  Vault, on every plan. See [e-sign](/features/e-sign).

## Which plan fits a cake decorator

| Plan | GBP per month | Fits |
|---|---|---|
| Essentials | £13 | Working alone, up to 100 orders in the life of the account |
| Growth | £17 | Two users, unlimited orders, an online shop and Compliance for food safety records |
| Business | £47 | Unlimited users, wholesale and delivery routing |

A decorator taking a few commissions a week usually starts on Essentials and
moves to Growth for unlimited orders or a shop. More on that in
[is ibakepro right for a cake decorator](/answers/is-ibakepro-right-for-a-cake-decorator),
and the UK setup is on [bakery software for UK bakers](/bakery-software-uk).
For setting the per-portion rate itself, see
[pricing celebration cakes in the UK](/blog/pricing-celebration-cakes-uk).