Budgeting is no one鈥檚 favourite part of planning events. But without a thorough understanding of every dollar you spend, you鈥檙e setting yourself up to go over budget.

Blowing your spend on swanky cocktails or headlining entertainment might seem like a good idea at the time. But when you don鈥檛 have any budget left to promote your event, you won鈥檛 be able to attract any attendees to sip those drinks or enjoy the entertainment.

Tracking your dollars is critical to improving your event鈥檚 return on investment and managing your total cost. But you don鈥檛 have to be a math whiz to keep your event鈥檚 spend on track. Here鈥檚 your ultimate guide to create and manage an event budget in 2020.

Free Download: The Event Budget Template You Need To Keep on Track

Phase 1: Clarify your event budget strategy

Before you dive into the actual budgeting, it鈥檚 important to take a step back and think critically about what you will be spending your money on. The following are the best places to source听useful data that will inform your approach for your next event.

1. Reference historical event budget data

Unless your event is in its first year, you鈥檙e sitting on听a treasure trove of data听on what you used your event budget for in the past. Begin by identifying line items that you overspent or under-spent on and see if they鈥檙e the same or different from year to year. (If it鈥檚 your first year, consider the typical breakdown below.)

Once you鈥檝e pinpointed specific things that you tend to overspend on, it鈥檒l give you a better picture of what needs more budget, making it easier to be accurate earlier on in your process instead of repeating past mistakes.听In addition, you can run your preliminary budget past your clients and your boss for the green light. That way, you鈥檝e already got a working doc in place to update as you move forward.

2. Consider recent trends in event budgeting

With that being said, if you and your team have faced budget constraints, you鈥檙e not alone. In a recent survey of event creators,听4 out of 10 said insufficient budget was a top challenge. Yet 53% said their budget would stay the same.

So where does the money go? For the Australian event creators surveyed in 2019, the top costs were:

  • Food & beverage: 55%
  • Marketing and promotion: 53%
  • Facility rental: 47%
  • Staffing: 33%
  • Programming (speakers and talent): 26%
  • AV equipment: 22%

If the breakdown is similar for your event, then check out the section below on event marketing for some ideas on how you can trim your marketing spend, no matter the size of your team or event.

3. Set your goals for your event

Once you鈥檝e identified areas to tighten up your spending, you can set specific your goals. Whether you want to听increase the amount of money you receive from sponsors or make your听money go further without using up your contingency fund, setting goals will keep you focused.

Set targets early on, including how many tickets you want to sell and how much sponsorship revenue you want to generate. Doing so will keep your income on track for your spend.

Read More: Reveal Your Perfect Event Ticket Prices With This Free Workbook

4. Get buy-in from all departments and stakeholders

The sooner you can get the green light from your stakeholders to start planning, the better. A rough budget can help you get an estimated figure that you can revise as you go along.

Tip: Always get a minimum of three quotes for anything, even if you have a vendor you like working with. Chances are good that you鈥檒l find someone else who will go lower and your favourite vendor will match their price, or throw in something else like free parking for event staff.

Phase 2: Map specific expenses in your event budget

Now that you know your areas of focus, it鈥檚 time to list all the line items to track in your budgeting template. These will include particulars like rental cost, lighting equipment, and more.

Don鈥檛 have a template? See Phase 3 below for inspiration.

5. Map out all your expenses so you can make informed decisions

Define the focus areas of your event. This will help you prioritise your spending and invest in what really matters. Once you have your overarching categories defined, you can start to drill down and fill in the costs.

Be as specific as you can with line items on a budget. Don鈥檛 be tempted to lump things like 鈥渇ood and alcohol鈥� together, as you may be sourcing them from different vendors.

Tip: Typical budgets have two columns for cost 鈥� projected and actual. The better your research, the more these two columns will match.

6. Incorporate your event experience costs

Not sure what costs to list for your event experience? The following are the most common ones to consider when putting together your budget. You鈥檒l want to list out the different line items for each major cost, so you can keep track of the details.

  • Venue
  • Staffing
  • A/V equipment
  • Decor
  • Programming (speakers or performers)
  • Signage and event branding
  • Attendee experiences
  • Travel
Tip: Use different colours to shade your spreadsheet so you can see at a glance which line items belong in which categories.

7. Include your event technology costs

Investing in the right technology can make a huge difference in your ability to maximise your event budget. You need to choose a听ticketing partner听who can help you provide a delightful registration process and a听mobile event app听that people actually use.

These are the three most common technology costs to consider including in your event budget, depending on whether they apply to your event or not:

Tip: Choose a ticketing or registration partner that lets you pass along fees to your attendees, so that you don鈥檛 have to pay anything out of pocket.

8. Estimate your event promotion costs

There are many ways to听save money on your promotion costs.听But you have to start by understanding how effective your current promotional strategy is 鈥� and data plays a huge part in that.

Look closely at your marketing spend and how many ticket sales come from each effort. Then invest your budget in the听channels that yield the highest return on investment听鈥� and stop doing anything on the channels that aren鈥檛.

Especially if听your team is small, maximise your marketing budget by investing in the the right marketing tools and technology for your event, a lot of them free. Here鈥檚 a list of the most common areas you can trim down your spend:

  • Social media: Use one of听these free tools听to automate your posts without spending more.
  • SEO:听Partner with a ticketing partner with industry-leading domain authority so your events have a better shot at ranking in Google 鈥� without any more investment from your team.
  • Check out process:听Small tweaks to your purchase process can drastically increase your sales, without any other changes.
Tip: It costs听to acquire a new attendee than it does to retain an existing one. Are you doing enough to nurture past attendees in your event marketing?

Phase 3: Master event budget best practices

It鈥檚 rare to find someone who loves managing their event budget. Even if you are somebody who enjoys tracking every receipt, the following strategies can help you keep everything in check and get more mileage from your budget.

9. Consider event ROI

Ultimately, your event budget is how you鈥檒l be able to calculate your event鈥檚听return on investment. Want to turn a profit? Use your budget to control your event鈥檚 total cost, so you can meet your goals and grow your profit margin for the next year.

Not sure how to calculate your event鈥檚 ROI? Use this simple equation:

[(Total Sales Revenue 鈥� Total Cost of the Event) 梅 Total Cost of the Event ] X 100 = ROI

If your ROI is 1X, it means you broke even. Most events aim for an ROI of at least 2-3X.

10. Leave an emergency fund

You just never know what鈥檚 going to happen in the days leading up to an event. Working some leeway into your budget gives you enough breathing room to absorb unexpected costs, in case you might need to add to your A/V order or a speaker鈥檚 fees turn out to be higher than expected.

Tip: Depending on your event type, plan on having a contingency figure between 5% 鈥� 25%. Remember that your buffer will change throughout the lifecycle of your event.

11. Avoid common event budgeting mistakes

A common event budget mistake is ignoring it. Truth is, it鈥檚 too easy to misplace receipts or quotes. Spending a little bit of time on your budget every day (at least 10 minutes) will help you stay on top of new developments in real-time, rather than letting things pile up in a heap. Another way to make sure your budget is populated with the most recent data is to use听event technology, like an app you and your team can use to submit expenses.

Another mistake to avoid is not exploring all the different avenues of revenue that can increase your budget.听The most common sources include:

You can get a head start estimating additional revenue using this听At-Event Revenue Workbook From Square: Calculate Your Profits From Food, Drinks, & Merch.

Tip:听Don鈥檛 just offer your sponsors the generic bronze/silver/gold package. Really work together to find out what your sponsor wants to achieve and collaborate with them to provide a valuable partnership.

12. Get creative to make your event budget stretch further

Still not getting your budget to budge? It鈥檚 time to think creatively about how you can market your event and deliver a great experience for attendees using the event budget you do have. You can鈥檛 eliminate marketing costs entirely, but you can make savvy decisions on where to offset it.

For example, get scrappy by:

Phase 4: Craft your event budget template

If you鈥檙e starting from scratch creating a budget for your event, an empty spreadsheet can seem quite daunting. And more often than not, trying to fit your event鈥檚 finances into an outdated budget template from the internet makes your life more complicated 鈥� not less.

Luckily, with just a little work up front, it鈥檚 quite easy to create your own event budget template that will serve you now and in the years to come. All you have to do is ask听:

  1. What are you budgeting for?听Specify the needs of your event and break out your major spending categories.
  2. What are your exact costs?听Walk yourself through the lifecycle of your event and list the line items you鈥檒l need under each category.
  3. What鈥檚 your projected event revenue?听Estimate how much you will make, including revenue from tickets, sponsors, vendors, and anything else coming in.
  4. Are there unknown variables to work into your event budget template?听This is your contingency plan. If you end up not needing it, even better 鈥� that鈥檚 a buffer in your bank.
  5. Could you make your budgeting easier with technology?听Apps and other technology tools help automate budgeting tasks make the job easier and give you a more accurate financial picture.

The Event Budget Template You Need To Keep on Track

When it comes to budgeting, simple is best. You want an event budget template that is easy to understand and can be edited on the fly so that no one on your team misses a beat.听Download this budget template, customise it to the needs of your event, and take a breath. Step one is done.