Event planning is a tough job to do. The organizer of the event planner has hundreds of responsibilities to handle and dozens of tasks to supervise. Therefore, you can say that this specific job needs a high amount of focus, and determination, especially when you are running a high-value project, i.e. new product launch ceremony, opening a new store, or organizing a board of directors’ meeting. Within the process of event planning, there are certain tasks and responsibilities that you can transfer to your assistants and other staff members while some tasks require a more advanced approach, i.e. preparing a budget for an event.
Budget is one of the most important aspects of an event if not the top most important element. Usually, when a company or an individual hires an event planner or a company, the selection is mainly based on the suggested budget that the event planner calculates. This is the budget that the client agrees to and the event planner ensures to cover all costs and expenses while staying within the budget limits. Within the planning of an event, there are dozens of parts or portions that require money, i.e. sitting planning, flower decoration, meal planning, music, lighting, sound system, backstage dressing rooms, etc.
An intelligent event planner always prepares the event budget before finalizing any details with the client and within this budget, he creates separate categories for each sort of expense. Then they calculate the overall budget and if the client doesn’t agree with it, the organizer has the option of decreasing the budget of a segment. That is not as important as other portions. Creating an event budget is a hectic job and, being an event planner, you should be focusing more on the organization and planning rather than on creating a budget document or spreadsheet. Using an event budget template can save a lot of time.
Free Event Budget Templates:
Here are previews and download links for these 18+ Free Event Budget Templates in MS Word and MS Excel format.
Key Elements to Include in an Event Budget Template:
- Title of the spreadsheet (i.e. Event Budget Template).
- A few details (description) of the event.
- Name of the client or company.
- Date of creating the budget and its validation, i.e. for 2 weeks or 1 month only.
- Confirmed budget of the event.
- The sum of all expenses of the event.
- Difference between the budget and expenses.
- Breakdown of each segment/portion of the event.
- Expense/cost of each segment.
Importance and Benefits of Using Event Budget Templates:
By taking a look at the below readymade templates, you can quickly realize that an event budget spreadsheet is more than what it sounds like. There are different segments, various portions, and lots of formulas involved for presentation purposes. It might not be possible for an event planner to create this template. Rather than getting the services of a graphic designer and paying high amounts, it is better to go with pre-made templates from the internet. You can find these digital sources for free and make the necessary edits to prepare a professional event budget.
Moreover, many people think organizing an event is a complex task and consider it rocket science. However, anyone can do it with a little prior experience and knowledge. The important part of planning and organizing an event is staying within budget limits and ensuring nothing is overlooked. One of the main advantages of using an event budget template is that it quickly calculates the difference between the total cost of the entire budget and the actual allocated budget.
Within this budget sheet, there are subcategories where each expense is explained for the convenience of the client. This way, if the client thinks the organizer is spending more on flowers and less on sitting comfort, he can advise the planner to transfer some money to the more important part of the event. Most event planners and organizers use this budget template to calculate the expected budget of the event before they sit with the client and finalize the details. If the client thinks he can afford the calculated budget, they sign the agreement and if there is any conflict; the organizer goes back to the origin and creates the budget once again to meet the client’s requirements.