Creating Your Budget Planner

• Your meeting budget is an estimate of anticipated income and expenses for your meeting and provides financial control and accountability.
• It’s important to document how and why you arrived at all figures. You can keep track of your calculations used to arrive at each budged items through Excel spreadsheets. (Download now.)

Seven Common Mistakes

1. Know the value of your business
2. Allow contingencies for the unexpected
3. Include tax and service charges
4. Include labor costs
5. Communicate clear policies to speakers/staff
   • Type of airline ticket (coach, business, first class)
   • Type of hotel room & how many nights you’ll pay
   • What meals are included
6. Review master account daily
   • Limit authorized signatures
7. Rely on history for your meal guarantee

Food and Beverage Tips

• Theme events using ethnic foods that are less costly
• Serve light lunches such as salads rather than heavy entrees
• Cut down on portions
• Use boxed lunches, if appropriate
• Negotiate complimentary receptions
• Shorten time of receptions
• Use butler service instead of buffet tables
• Use meal tickets
• People drink less at cash bars
• Order by consumption, not per person
• Piggyback on another meeting’s menu

Sleeping Rooms

• Comp rooms – don’t settle for 1/50
• Get cumulative, not nightly count
  Pick-up Mon. 49 Tues. 49 Wed. 49
  Nightly:   0 comp rooms; Cumulative  2 comp rooms

Negotiations

• EVERYTHING IS NEGOTIABLE
• Rates/Dates/Space-pick 2 of 3
• Use Value season/holidays/days of week or Hot Dates

Sponsorship

• Sponsorship of meal functions
  
  • Serve dessert near sponsor’s booth if trade show follows lunch
• ALMOST everything can be sponsored
• Marketing assistance
  
  • Provide financial incentives for suppliers to promote meetings

Signage

• Create permanent generic reusable signs with update information on Velcro
• Prepare room signs listing all meetings in that room throughout the meeting
• Use hotel sign boards

Shipping/Postage

• Prepare a timeline with deadlines to take advantage of least expensive shipping rates.
• Check post office regulations before creating mailings.
• Barter with shipping companies to send your shipments at no charge.

Miscellaneous

• Check travel costs during site selection
• Recycle badges
• Take advantage of using the Convention & Visitors Bureaus (CVBs)
• Consider outsourcing to save time and money
• Select hotels that offer frequent flyer points that can be used for speakers, staff, or attendees

Revenue

Account	Revenue	Projected	Annual	Variance
100	Registration Fees
101	Early Bird
102	Regular
103	On-site
104	Sponsorships
105	Exhibitor Booths
106	Exhibitors
107	Miscellaneous

Expenses 

Account Number	Expense	Projected	Annual	Variance
100	Sleeping Room
200	Food & Beverage
300	Audio Visual
400	Printed Materials
500	Administration
600	Speaker Fees
700	Miscellaneous

Sleeping Rooms 100

Names Master Account	Type of Rooms	# Nights	Room Rate	Taxes: Sales/ Occupancy	Subtotal	Fee/Service Charges	Total Room Rate
Staff
Clients/ Meeting Sponsors
Speaker/ Special Guests
Attendees

Food & Beverage 200 

Meal	Cost	Service Charge %	Tax  %	Semi Total	# People	Total
Breakfast
Lunch
Refreshment Break
Dinner
Reception
Hospitality including bartenders

AV Equipment 300 

Category	Cost	Tax	Labor	Total
Equipment Rental
Material Production

Printed Materials 400

Category	Description	Cost	Quantity	Subtotal	Taxes	Total
Name Badges
Tent Cards
Signage
Stationery/ Envelopes
Programs
Delegate Registries
Flyers
Handouts/Binder

Administration 500

Category	Description	Cost	Notes
Professional Fees
Clerical Wages
Telephone
Shipping
Postage
Business Center
Miscellaneous

Speaker Fees 600

Category	Fee	Expenses	Total
Keynote Speaker
Featured Speakers
Workshop Speakers

Miscellaneous 700

Category	Description	Cost	Notes
Meeting Room Charges
Extra Gratuities
Attrition
Cancellation
Contingencies

Keep track of your calculations for budged items using these Excel spreadsheets.