On this page
CaterCow lets your company cover part of your team’s lunches instead of fully fronting the bill. Set a stipend (budget limit) on a group order, and if a teammate’s chosen meal costs more than that amount, the difference is charged to their own card on file. For example, if your stipend is $10 per lunch and a teammate picks a $14 meal, the extra $4 is charged to them. The video above walks through your side and your team’s side.
Set a stipend
1. Go to Order Preferences in the menu on the left. Under Group Order Stipend, click My Teammates Will Pay for Part of the Order (Optional).
2. Choose how the stipend works. Fixed Amount covers each meal up to a set price. Percentage of Meal Cost (With Optional Cap) covers a share of each meal, with an optional maximum.
3. Enter the most your company will cover for each meal in Individual Stipend.
4. Click Save Preferences. Each group order you set up from now on starts with this stipend. To use a different stipend for one group order, change it on the poll’s details step while you set that group order up.
5. On your Orders page, each upcoming group order shows its stipend.
What your team sees
6. When a teammate opens the group order from their meal calendar, a note next to the menu says how much of their meal your company covers.
7. Prices over the stipend show in orange. If they pick one of those meals, their pick is saved and the difference goes on their own card. Teammates without a saved card are asked to add one first.
8. Teammates track these charges from the Account tab of their meal calendar. Under Billing, they click View Meal Selection Subsidies to see them. Paid bills are listed by week, each with a Receipt.
9. Overages are billed at the end of each week. Until then, they show as pending.
10. View Breakdown lists each meal, its price, the stipend, and the overage your teammate pays.
How stipend charges work
- The stipend covers the meal price only. Your company still pays sales tax, delivery fees, and tip.
- Overages are billed once the restaurant confirms the order. Weekly bills go to the card your teammate chose when they picked their meal.
- If your organization has a meal limit and a teammate goes over it, they pay full price for the extra meal.
- Guests are never charged for stipend overages.
- A stipend and an option price cap can’t be used together. Turn one off to use the other.
What if a teammate’s card is declined?
We email them, and they can retry the payment from that bill in View Meal Selection Subsidies, with the same card, a different saved card, or a new one. You shouldn’t need to step in. For the full teammate walkthrough, see Why was I charged for my group order meal?.