Event budget
Every cost with its estimate, quote, actual, deposit and due date, a contingency line, and income for events with tickets, donations or shared costs. Seeded from your setup; stored in this browser.
For a first pass, the budget lines are essential: one row per cost with an estimate, plus a contingency row, totalled against your ceiling. That is the Start here result of The budget. The quote, actual and deposit columns fill in as you book. The income sheet is optional unless tickets, donations or shared costs pay for the event.
Budget lines
One row per cost. A blank amount means not known yet and shows as unknown; 0 means included or no charge. Estimate first, then replace it with the quote, then the actual. Keep contingency as its own row.
Income and shares
Only for events with money coming in: tickets, donations, sponsors, sales, or each host's share of a split. Optional for an event one household pays for.
How to use these sheets
- One row per cost. A caterer is one row; its service charge is another, so it can be compared. Contingency is its own row, not padding on every line.
- Blank means unknown, 0 means included. A blank amount shows as unknown and makes the total say "incomplete"; type 0 only when a cost is included or free.
- Estimate, then quote, then actual. Replace the estimate as each quote arrives; fill in the actual the week after the event.
- Deposits with dates. Write the balance due date for every deposit, and who pays it.
The example rows are from the Ortiz case (fictional), as The budget works it: the taco caterer estimated at $1,400 all-in, the tent with setup at $700, and a contingency row of $300, 10 percent of the $3,000 ceiling. Quotes and actuals are blank, which the totals show as unknown. The income example is two ticket rows from Dana Whitfield's spaghetti dinner (fictional): 90 adult tickets at $12 and 30 child tickets at $6.
The budget tracks what you expect and spend; it does not say what an event should cost, and this manual prints no typical prices. Whether a ticket is deductible, or whether a group must give a written disclosure, is for the group's treasurer or tax adviser.