Event Pricing Calculator
Work out what to charge for an event in about a minute. Enter the type, the guest count, the budget and the scope, and the calculator shows you the fee two ways: as a share of the budget, and as your own hours. Quote the higher one.
This is arithmetic from what you entered, not a market survey. It gives you a number to start from and, more usefully, the hours figure underneath it, which is the line a quote must never fall below. Unit 3 works all four fee models through a real event budget.
Learn the full pricing methodHow event pricing actually works
A fee that wins the booking and still pays you comes down to four things: how much of the job you are doing, how many guests there are, how much the client is spending in total, and how many of your own hours it will take. Underprice and you work a hundred hours for the price of a weekend. Overprice with no explanation and the inquiry goes quiet.
- Scope sets the baseline. Full planning is several months of work, on-the-day coordination is a fortnight of preparation and one long day.
- Guest count drives the parts that scale: seating, catering numbers, transport, and how many things can go wrong at once.
- Budget is what a percentage fee is calculated against, and it is also the honest signal of how complicated the event will be.
- Your hours are the floor. Any fee below your hours times a rate you can live on is a fee you are paying to work.
Unit 3 turns this into a method you can apply to any inquiry, and Unit 5 covers what to do when the scope moves after the quote is signed, which it will.
Event pricing calculator FAQs
How much should an event planner charge?
It depends on the scope, the size of the event and the budget it is being planned against, which is why this calculator asks for all three. Rather than quote a single figure, it works your fee out two ways: as a percentage of the event budget, and as your planning hours multiplied by an hourly rate. Quote the higher of the two. The lower one is the number you lose money on.
Should I charge a flat fee, a percentage, or by the hour?
A flat fee is clearest for the client and rewards you for getting faster, which is why most planners settle there. A percentage of budget scales with the work but ties your fee to how much your client spends, and it makes recommending the cheaper supplier awkward. Hourly protects you on a vague brief but caps what you can earn. Unit 3 works all four models, including per guest, through the same event so you can see the difference.
Should I take supplier commission as well as a fee?
You can, and many planners do, but it has to be disclosed. A commission you have not told your client about turns every recommendation you make into something they can question later. Unit 8 covers how to disclose it in a way that costs you nothing.
Is this event pricing calculator free?
Yes, completely free with no sign-up. For the full method, including how to present a quote, how to price a change of scope, and how to raise your fee between seasons, see the courses.
