What should an event budget include?

At minimum: venue rental, food and beverage, audiovisual, staffing, decor, transport or parking, lodging if guests stay over, and a contingency line of 10 to 15 percent. This builder gives you a row for each and a place to override the default with a real quote once you have one.

How much contingency should I budget for a corporate event?

Plan for 10 to 15 percent of the total. First-time planners and complex multi-day programs sit at the higher end. The contingency covers the things no quote shows you: a late headcount bump, a power drop the AV team adds on site, a service charge you read as a tip.

Why is the per-head number useful?

Finance approves events on cost per attendee far more often than on the lump sum. A 200-person all-hands at $180 per head reads very differently from the same event quoted as $36,000, even though it's the same money. The per-head figure also lets you compare two cities or two venues fairly.

Event Budget Builder

Use this event budget calculator to price a corporate event before you commit to anything. Enter your guest count and city tier, toggle the line items that apply, and the builder returns a full budget with a per-attendee figure, a category breakdown, and a recommended contingency line. The defaults are planning estimates a working planner would recognize, not quotes. Override any line with a real number as your quotes come in, then print the sheet or email it to whoever signs off.

Everything runs in your browser. None of the numbers you enter are sent anywhere.

Estimated total —

Per attendee —

Figures are planning estimates. The city tier applies a cost-of-market multiplier to the per-head defaults. Replace any default with a real quote to firm up the number.

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