Year-end budget: how to use what is left before 31 December

Leftover budget is an opportunity for your team

Every autumn, the same situation comes round in many companies: there is an allowance left to spend before the financial year closes, and it does not always carry over to the next year. Rather than spending it in a rush in December, it is better to spread it over the remaining weeks. For an office manager, an executive assistant or an HR department, it is a chance to fund what the year left aside: team moments, thank-yous, postponed events.

Here are five concrete ways to use it with a caterer, budget guidelines, and the timetable to follow so you are not caught out on 15 December, in Paris and Île-de-France.

In short: leftover budget can be spent on five formats delivered in Paris and Île-de-France: breakfast from €8 per person excl. VAT, afternoon break from €6 excl. VAT, gift boxes, a seminar day, a cocktail reception from €29.90 excl. VAT. A single quote can cover everything, with different delivery dates.

• Example for 20 people, including €29 excl. VAT delivery: afternoon break €149 excl. VAT, Classique breakfast €189 excl. VAT, L'Invitation cocktail reception €627 excl. VAT.
• Delivery €29 excl. VAT per order; €50 minimum order (excl. VAT).
• Order until 2 pm the day before; 48 hours' notice recommended from 50 people or for several sites. Quote within 24 hours, purchase orders accepted.

Why start in October

Planning ahead avoids concentrating everything in the last weeks before the year closes. Starting the quote in October leaves time to approve the allowance, addresses and headcounts internally, and to spread several small services over two months, which are easier to get approved than a single large expense. On the delivery side, you can still order until 2 pm the day before; for 50 people or more, or several sites, let us know at least 48 hours in advance.

Five ways to use a year-end budget

1. A team breakfast, once a month until December

It is the simplest format to launch and the most appreciated. A breakfast delivered from 6:30 am for the Monday meeting or the Thursday team catch-up, repeated over the remaining months, builds a ritual rather than a one-off event. From €8 per person excl. VAT.

2. A year-end afternoon break

An afternoon break, without upsetting schedules: macarons, madeleines, loaf cakes, drinks. The afternoon break is easy to order for a whole department or for the entire company. See our guide Christmas afternoon break at the office and our afternoon breaks, from €6 per person excl. VAT.

3. Gourmet gift boxes for your clients or your staff

Thanking a client, a partner or a team before the end of the year is one of the most common uses of leftover budget. Boxes of madeleines, macarons or cookies can be customised in your colours and delivered to several addresses. Everything is detailed in our article gourmet corporate gifts at year end.

4. A seminar or team day

If a team-building day was postponed during the year, now is the time to schedule it. Welcome breakfast, lunch tray, afternoon break: a single contact for the whole day. The details are in our guide corporate seminar caterer.

5. A year-end cocktail reception or evening event

To bring all the teams together, the cocktail reception remains the most unifying format. It is also the largest expense: plan it early. Guidelines and formats in corporate year-end evening event and corporate cocktail reception budget.

What budget for each format?

Format	Guideline per person (excl. VAT)	Example for 20 people (excl. VAT, €29 delivery included)
Afternoon break	From €6	€149
Classique breakfast	From €8 (Complet formula: €12 to €16)	€189
Cocktail reception, L'Invitation formula (8 canapés)	From €29.90	€627

Delivery is charged €29 excl. VAT per order, whatever the headcount: grouping several services on the same day reduces its weight in the budget. For larger headcounts, the details are in our guide breakfast budget by number of people.

Pink October: €1 donated per guest served

Throughout October, L'Écrin Traiteur donates €1 per guest served to breast cancer research, on all orders of the month. See our Pink October breakfast.

How to go about it, step by step

1. Take stock of the allowance: remaining amount, scope (team, department, clients), deadline set by your accounts department.
2. Choose one or two formats from the five above, rather than putting everything into one big event.
3. Ask for a single quote covering all the services, with the dates you want. Reply within 24 hours.
4. State your deadline in the request: we schedule the deliveries so they fall before 31 December.
5. Approve in time: you can still order until 2 pm the day before, with 48 hours' notice recommended from 50 people or for several sites. Approving early lets you spread the deliveries before 31 December without concentrating them in a single week.

At L'Écrin Traiteur, everything is halal and pork-free by default, with gluten-free options on request. Order before 2 pm the day before for delivery from 6:30 am, company invoice showing VAT, purchase orders accepted. Ask for your quote, stating your deadline.

To compare all year-end formats and their prices, see the costed guide to corporate year-end celebrations.

L'Écrin Traiteur prices, October 2026.