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Event budget planning
Your event budget provides the framework for your event and should govern all of your major event planning decisions. An event budget should include both your fixed and variable costs, and should be managed closely throughout your event.
Step 1: Anticipate expenses
Make a list of every cost you can think of. Include a cost for every aspect of your event, from speaker airfares to plastic cups and everything in between. Use your timeline to see if that triggers any other inclusions in your mind.
Step 2: Categorise your list
Divide your list into fixed and variable costs. Categorise your costs according to each activity, such as ‘Entertainment’, ‘Catering’, ‘Marketing’. Create a separate section for anticipated income.
Step 3: Estimate costs
Estimate a cost for every item on your list. Add a contingency amount of between 3-15%, depending on how rough your estimate is and how far in advance your event is (around 3% a year is a good estimate). Once you have a confirmed cost, enter that cost and reduce the contingency to 2% (for unexpected expenses).
Step 4: Anticipate income
Estimate your income (from registration fees, sponsorships, ticket sales, donations, product sales etc), then subtract a contingency of between 3-15 percent depending on how rough your estimate is.
Step 5: Assess your event budget
Assess your event budget against any allocation you have (or ‘break-even’ point if this is a money-making exercise). If you are over the budget allocation or cannot break even, look through the list to see where you can reduce costs, or seek new quotes.
Resources
- Download BESydney's major
Event budget planner
. This planner details the likely income and expenditure of a major event. It enables you to enter estimated costs and income, then confirm actual amounts, and compare the two - Read BESydney’s Avoiding budget blow-out guide. This guide outlines tips for avoiding budget blow-out during an event, and provides guidelines for getting back on track if the worst happens and you do blow your budget
