Budget

The Budget answers the question every planner asks first: what will all of this cost? It is not an empty spreadsheet – it calculates from the data your event already holds. How many guests confirmed, how many tables the seating plan has, how long a programme item runs: all of that becomes the quantity of a cost position. Change the number and the total changes with it.

Depends on your plan

The budget is tied to a plan feature. If its tile under Planning shows an Upgrade chip with a padlock, one click takes you to the plan overview.

For you only – never for guests

The budget holds prices, terms and payment states. That is why – like the guest list – it is a pure planning tool with no guest page and no widget: no Display tab, no Visibility, no QR code. Guest requests are rejected server-side. If you want to give someone a look, use the read-only link (see below) – it shows only what you release.

The four areas

The editor has four sections: Overview, Positions, Timeline and Settings.

Overview

At the top are the four numbers that matter:

• Budget – the amount you set yourself. If there is none yet it reads Set a budget; the wizard offers its own estimate via Adopt …, optionally incl. buffer.
• Estimated – what the current list adds up to.
• Booked – how much of that is already committed.
• Remaining / Contribution – what is left.

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The header of the budget — identical in all four areas: ① the Active switch takes the tool out of your planning without deleting anything. ② the four areas Overview, Positions, Timeline and Settings. ③ export and import — CSV, XLSX, PDF and reading in an existing list. ④ Wizard runs the questions again. ⑤ the four headline numbers Budget, Estimated, Booked and Remaining — here −€900.00, so the event is €900 over plan.

Below sits the Expected cost band with the cost per guest, a completeness percentage and a note on how many positions are still without an amount. Under Calculated with assumptions you can always see what stood in for missing data – for example “2 people per invitation” or “8 guests per table”.

What if guests join or cancel?

A slider that changes the head count on a trial basis. You immediately see what a different number of guests would cost, without touching your data. Back to … restores the real figure.

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① the slider shifts the guest count by up to five in either direction — pulled to +3 here. ② the result sentence recalculates instantly: “With 53 guests instead of 50: €31,482.00 (+€1,782.00)”. ③ the assumptions the calculation rests on — 50 confirmed · 0 open and €594.00 per guest. Back to 50 in the top right restores the real figure; the slider never changes your data.

Income and coverage

If you also record income, the budget works out at how many guests it breaks even. Where head count cannot make up the difference, it says so plainly instead of inventing a nice number.

Split the cost

Creates an income position that grows with your guest count – for celebrations where guests chip in. The tool suggests an amount per person.

What’s still missing

A list of concrete gaps instead of a question mark. Typical messages and what they mean:

• The guest list is empty – guest-scaled quantities sit at 0.
• The seating plan is missing or changed – the quantity no longer arrives.
• A linked programme item no longer exists or runs for 0 minutes.
• No guest has an age group – child prices cannot be calculated.
• The quote covers fewer guests than you are planning for.
• The menu is missing prices.
• More was paid than planned.

Every message has Show (jumps to the position) and, where possible, Apply – which makes the correction for you.

The wizard

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① the event kind tiles — the matching kind is preselected and labelled Matches your event; tiles marked Checklist without reference values create the structure only, without amounts. ② the guest count, the basis for every guest-driven quantity. Below follow the detail questions — photographer, accommodation, standard and so on; every answer updates the preview immediately.

1. Create budget opens the wizard. Later the button reads Wizard and you can run it again at any time.

2. Answer the questions: what kind of occasion?, how many guests are you counting on? (with Adopt … from the guest list once guests are in there), how many of them children and the standard – thrifty, typical or upscale. Under Price region you pick the region.

3. Calculate preview shows you up front what will happen: how many positions are new, updated, kept or hidden.

4. Apply writes the list.

The lower end of the wizard: ① the result line with the total, the realistic range and the count “46 new · 0 updated · 0 kept · 0 removed”. ② the per-category preview — what would be created, with count and total. ③ Apply writes the list, Cancel discards it and leaves your budget untouched.

The wizard does not overwrite your work

Positions you edited yourself are marked Edited by you – stays unchanged. A second run only updates what you never touched, so you can safely repeat it when the head count changes significantly.

If you only want the structure without figures, choose Checklist without reference prices. Some event types have no reference data yet – then the list deliberately arrives without amounts.

Reference prices are ballpark figures, not quotes

Amounts from the wizard are market estimates and vary a lot by region. Where a position says derived, the value was scaled from DACH figures and not researched for your region. Enter your own amount as soon as you know it.

Positions

The actual cost list. Default columns: Position, Quantity, Unit price, Total, Status and Book by.

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The toolbar above the table: ① the search field across position, vendor and note. ② Columns shows and hides columns. ③ Group by category splits the list into blocks with subtotals. ④ Add position creates a new row — inside a category you can also use + Position in “…” below the block.

One row from left to right

Every row carries four controls that are easy to miss: the quantity chip, the status dropdown, the Book by deadline field and, on the far right, the three row buttons.

One row from left to right: ① the quantity — the chip names the number and where it comes from (“1 fixed”) and opens Where does this quantity come from? on click; a chain icon means the quantity comes from another tool, a pencil means your own value. ② the status, from *open* to *cancelled*. ③ Book by — the same deadline that shows up in the timeline. ④ the three row buttons: open the detail area (the blue dot means there are already quotes or payments), hide, delete.

Where the quantity comes from

This is the heart of the tool. Instead of typing a number, you choose what the quantity depends on:

Driver	Quantity comes from
one-off	fixed value
per guest / per adult / per child	guest list
per invitation	households in the guest list
per table / per seat	seating plan
per hour	schedule
per night, per unit, per vendor	your own value
per group / per group member	groups in the guest list
per menu selection	menu
one per n guests	ratio, e.g. one server per 20 guests

For guest-scaled positions you also choose who counts: confirmed, confirmed + open or everyone invited. Linked positions carry the note Comes from another tool – their quantity cannot be typed directly, because it would be overwritten the next time the source data changes.

The chip in the Quantity column is a button: one click opens Where does this quantity come from? — that is where you set Calculate by, and one sentence tells you how the current number came about.

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The quantity chip of a row, opened: ① the explanation — here *Fixed quantity: 1*; for linked positions it says which tool the number comes from and how it is calculated (for example “51 guests from the guest list (confirmed)”). ② Calculate by — the list of drivers from *one-off* through *per guest*, *per table*, *per hour* to *one per n guests*. ③ Quantity — the number field only exists for *one-off* and *per unit*; for every linked driver you get Enter your own quantity instead, and Calculate automatically again hooks the row back onto its tool.

Amounts

The price field takes a fixed amount or a range – simply write 1800-2400. Until you have your own figure, the estimate for your region sits there for comparison.

Status

open · inquired · quote received · booked · deposit paid · paid · cancelled. Use Status for selection … to set it for several rows at once.

Paid cannot simply be clicked away

For a position with a recorded payment you cannot roll the status back. Take back the payment first – otherwise the books stop adding up.

The detail area

Quotes, payments, vendor opens three blocks for each position:

• Quotes – several quotes per position, either total or per unit, with covers (how many guests the quote applies to). The selected quote determines the position’s amount.
• Payments – part payments with a date and a label (such as “deposit”). Below them Paid, Remaining and, where applicable, Overpaid.
• Vendor & notes – name, contact, link, cost centre, VAT in percent (amount gross or net), cancellation fee and Paid from (see pots).

Working with the table

Same as the guest list: click a column title to sort, filter, hide or freeze to the left, drag a column title to reorder. Plus Group by category, the search field across position, vendor, note, Reset filters and Reset layout. At the bottom sits the Total cost row; with a filter set, the total of the shown positions as well.

Positions you no longer need do not have to be deleted – Hide takes them out of the calculation, Show hidden brings them back.

Example

The catering — and what happens when five guests cancel.

1. Create budget: occasion wedding, use Adopt … from the guest list for the head count (80), 6 of them children, standard typical, pick the Price region. Calculate preview shows you up front how many positions are new — then Apply.
2. For the menu position you set the driver to per guest and the counting mode to confirmed. Enter 68 € as the unit price. You do not type the quantity — the row carries Comes from another tool.
3. For the service staff you use the driver one per n guests with n = 20; 80 guests thus become 4 staff.
4. The caterer sends two quotes. Enter both in the detail area under Quotes — one per unit, one total. The selected quote determines the position’s amount.
5. Record the deposit under Payments; Paid and Remaining appear below it. Set the status to deposit paid.

When five guests cancel later, you do nothing here: you record the cancellations in the guest list, the menu position’s quantity drops from 80 to 75, and the total recalculates. That is exactly what the driver is for.

What does not work: rolling the status back from paid while a payment is recorded — take the payment back first.

Timeline

Every deadline on one axis: when something has to be booked and when it has to be paid. Overdue items are marked as such, a click jumps to the position, and Paid settles it right there.

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The timeline, in chronological order: ① the deadline — editable right in the field and the same one as Book by in the table. ② the status of an upcoming booking, here *quote received*. ③ the Paid button — for payment instalments this button replaces the status dropdown; one click ticks the instalment off. Clicking the name jumps to the position.

Settings

• Currency – switching converts nothing, only the symbol changes.
• Price region – decides which reference prices apply. Your own amounts are untouched.
• Planned head count – the assumption used while the guest list is empty. Once real guests are in it, the list counts and the tool tells you so.
• Contingency – a percentage for the unforeseen.
• Net/gross – whether your amounts are recorded with or without VAT. Switching only changes the default for new positions; existing amounts are not converted.
• Categories – how your list is grouped, extendable at any time.
• Who pays – pots for several payers, each with their contribution. Every position can be assigned to a pot, so you can see who carries how much.
• Own columns – contract number, contact person, your own rating. Types: text, number, amount, date, select, checkbox. They appear in each position’s detail area and in the export. A deleted column does not take its values with it – they come back if you restore the column.

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The six settings that apply to the whole budget: ① Total budget — the figure everything is measured against. ② Currency — switching converts nothing, only the symbol changes. ③ Price region — determines which reference values apply, your own amounts stay untouched. ④ Planned guest count — only used while the guest list is empty (there are already 52 entries here, so those count). ⑤ Contingency in percent for the unexpected. ⑥ Net calculation — changes only the default for new positions, existing amounts are not converted.

Sharing, import and export

Read-only link

A link to look at – no account, no editing. Whoever has it sees totals, categories and deadlines. With Hide vendors and their terms, your suppliers’ names and prices stay out of it. Create a new link invalidates the old one immediately, Disable link switches it off entirely.

Import and export

Existing lists can be imported. The export contains positions, categories, quantities including their source, net/gross, the payment plan and the summary – as a table or as a PDF.

How it works with the other tools

The budget pulls figures from four tools. The more complete those are, the more reliable the total:

• Guest list – head count, replies, groups, age groups, menu choices
• Seating plan – tables and seats
• Schedule – duration of programme items
• Menu – price per course

So it pays to set the budget up once the guest list and seating plan are in place – or to run the wizard again after every major change.