hope i am posting this in the correct section. i always charge too little for my cakes. sometimes it seems i don't even cover my ingredients. do any of you use the cake boss software? how useful is it?

Hello.. I have never used cake boss but I hear it's very useful to a lot of people. How are you charging? Per cake or per serving? You really should be charging per serving as it is the industry standard... Also, are you a legal business or just selling to friends and family?

I think a good jumping off point is to add the cost of ingredients and get a total... then divide the cake up into servings.. for example, a 10 inch round cake will provide 25-30 servings..

You should check with local bakeries and other "cakers" in your area to see how much they charge per serving.. this can serve as a guide to you because every area is different. A home baker in rural arkansas may not be selling cakes the same price as someone in manhattan... then again they might be. so check around.

A good starting point is $2 a serving for buttercream cake... and this is the LOW end of the scale... many people charge $4-$5 a serving. It all depends on your skill level and the area you live in.

So for a 10 inch round cake covered and decorated in buttercream, you should be making at least $50... IMO...

The only way for you to figure out how to price your cakes is to figure ou how much it costs you to make your cakes. For everyting... ingredients, boards, boxes, piping bags... all of it. Once you figure out how much it costs you... you can figure out what to charge so you make a decent wage for your time. There's nothing worse than making a cake and thinking about it and realizing you made $0.70 an hour.

Here are some links to other CakeBoss discussions that you might find helpful:

http://cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopicp-5862697-.html

http://cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=586500&postdays=0&postorder=asc&&start=0

http://cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopicp-6539223-.html

http://www.cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=330753&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=

I snuck a peek at your gallery and IMHO your work is on a professional level. Scout prices in your area (WalMart, Sam's and Costco are not to be included) and either charge in their ballpark or if they are a bit low on the scale charge a bit more. Remember that fondant and intricate piping are extra as are gumpaste figures and flowers. To answer your question...I have heard great stuff about cakeboss...

I do not use cake boss or any other software.

I determined that for most of my cakes, 25 cents per cubic inch of cake would cover costs and labor (which is the biggest portion of what I charge), so that's what I charge. For some of my cakes that cost more to make (i.e. carrot cake and fruit cake), I charge more.

Don't forget to include things like electricity and gas along with the ingredients themselves when determining your costs.

HTH!