The current workflow is fundamentally flawed because the people who know what was actually consumed (the catering providers) are unable to record this information, while the people who can modify the booking (end users and administrators) often do not know the final quantities used.

Problem Statement

Many organizations use Eptura catering and services bookings to order refreshments, meals, and other services alongside meeting room reservations.
Today, the workflow ends with the items that were originally ordered. However, in practice, actual consumption often differs from the requested quantities.

Example:
- User books 10 bottles of water.
- Catering vendor delivers 10 bottles.
- Only 6 bottles are consumed during the meeting.
- Vendor collects remaining items.

The vendor has no ability to update the booking with the actual quantities consumed. As a result, the booking continues to reflect the originally requested quantities rather than the actual usage.

Current Workaround

The only workaround is to grant the catering vendor access to the Eptura system so they can modify bookings.

This is not considered acceptable because:
- Vendors are external parties.
- Granting booking modification permissions creates GDPR and privacy concerns.
- Vendors could gain visibility into booking information they should not access.
- There is risk of accidental changes to meeting reservations or other booking data.

Many customers do not permit third parties to have direct access to internal workplace management systems.

Business Impact

• Manual reconciliation effort for administrators.
• Catering teams must contact end users or administrators after events.
• Inaccurate consumption and billing records.
• Increased operational overhead.
• Poor user experience and process inefficiencies.
• Limited auditability between ordered vs. consumed quantities.

Suggested Enhancement

Introduce a dedicated Post-Event Consumption Reconciliation workflow that allows authorized catering vendors (or vendor-specific roles) to:
- View completed catering orders assigned to them.
- Record actual consumed quantities.
- Submit final usage information without editing the meeting booking itself.
- Update billing quantities independently of the room reservation.
- Maintain a clear audit trail showing:
- Requested quantity
- Delivered quantity
- Consumed quantity
- Reconciled quantity
- User who made the adjustment

Benefits

• Eliminates GDPR/privacy concerns associated with granting vendors broader booking permissions.
• Provides accurate service consumption records.
• Reduces administrative workload.
• Supports chargeback and invoicing processes.
• Aligns the product with real-world catering operations where actual usage frequently differs from ordered quantities.
• Creates a cleaner separation between booking management and vendor fulfillment activities.​‌