Event management
ERP software for event management companies
Quote every wedding, offsite and exhibition from the enquiry, collect advances in stages, bill with the right tax, settle caterers and rental companies on time, and keep your own lights and trusses on a register.
In short
SimpleERP is ERP software for event management companies. Enquiries become quotations per event, advances sit on the client until the invoice uses them, and vendor bills, crew claims, payroll and owned equipment share one ledger.
Illustration of the CRM pipeline with four stages and a list of follow-ups due today.
A day in an event company
An event company sells a date that cannot move, so the money has to be in before the marquee goes up and the vendors paid before the next booking.
At Lakeshore Events in Toronto, the June wedding season means four weddings, two galas and a corporate offsite in Muskoka in the same fortnight. The owner is on site at a lakeside venue while the office juggles a revised quotation for a family in Ottawa, a rental company chasing its last bill and a florist asking whether the second advance has arrived.
The numbers live in three places. Quotations are Word files with five versions each, advances are a column in a spreadsheet, and coordinators keep fuel, parking and last-minute decor receipts in their wallets. Nobody can say quickly how much the caterer is owed across three events, or whether the LED wall the team owns is cheaper than the one hired last week.
SimpleERP gives each event its own quotation and tax invoice on the client's ledger, holds every advance against that client until it is applied, and keeps vendor bills, coordinator claims and the asset register of owned kit in the same books your accountant closes at year end.
CRM and quotations
One quotation per event, from the first enquiry
An enquiry from a wedding fair or a referral becomes a lead, then a deal with the event value, and Create quotation opens the editor with the client filled in. Each line carries the venue setup, decor, sound and light, manpower and the coordination fee, so the version the family accepts is the one you bill.
- Pipeline stages you rename, such as site visit, quoted, negotiating and booked.
- Follow-ups due today open first, so a family waiting on a revised quote hears back.
- Lost reason required, so you learn whether price, date or a rival planner lost the booking.
- Quotation to invoice in one step once the client confirms, with every line carried over.
Illustration of the keyboard-first invoice editor with a focused line, live tax totals and shortcut hints.
Billing and advances
Take advances in stages and bill with the right tax
A booking advance is recorded as a receipt on the client with no invoice yet, and it stays there as an advance until you apply it. When you raise the invoice, the advances already received settle it and the client's statement shows what is still due before the event.
- A tax rate on each service, saved once and filled on every line.
- A different rate on one line when your country taxes venue rent or catering differently.
- Stage invoices when you bill a share of the fee before the event and the balance after.
- Bank details on the print, for the second and third payments.
| Line | Rate | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Event planning and coordination, three functions | 13% | $4,500 |
| Marquee, stage and floral decor | 13% | $9,000 |
| Sound, light and LED wall | 13% | $4,000 |
| Taxable value | $17,500 | |
| Tax 13% | $2,275 | |
| Invoice total | $19,775 |
Illustration of tax invoice INV-2026-0213 to Northside Retail with tax 10% and the amount in words.
Purchase and expenses
Know what you owe every caterer, rental company and crew member
Each vendor's bill goes in as it arrives: the caterer, the rental company, the sound vendor, the florist and freelance crew who invoice per event. Posting it adds the tax you can reclaim and the amount to that supplier's payable, and one payment can clear bills from several events.
- Hired equipment and services posted to expense accounts, not stock.
- Supplier statements with every bill and payment, for the season-end settlement.
- Coordinator claims filed from their phones with receipt photos, approved and reimbursed in three steps.
- Expense records for on-site spends paid in cash, each with its receipt attached.
Illustration of an expense claim on a phone with a receipt photo and Approve and Reject buttons.
Assets and inventory
Keep your own lights, trusses and tents apart from hired kit
Equipment you own and take to event after event belongs on the fixed asset register, with its cost, its holder and monthly depreciation in the ledger. Consumables you buy and use up, such as drapes, linen and cable ties, can be stock in a warehouse with a reorder level.
- Allocate kit to a supervisor with a location note, and record when it comes back.
- Depreciation posted monthly for trusses, LED walls, generators and chairs.
- Stock by warehouse for consumables, valued at weighted average cost.
- Service visits logged on each asset with the next due date, and the cost recorded as an expense.
Illustration of a fixed asset card with a monthly straight-line depreciation schedule.
Ready on day one
What you don't have to set up
SimpleERP seeds the defaults when you sign up, so a planner can quote and bill the next booking in the first week without designing a chart of accounts.
- A chart of accounts with receivables, payables, tax and fixed assets already mapped.
- Your country's tax rates, ready to pick on a product or service.
- Units such as piece, set, metre, day and hour for lines and stock.
- Ten expense categories, from travel to repairs, mapped to their accounts.
- Seven ready-made roles, including Sales for planners and Employee self-service for coordinators.
By job
Event management by job
Inventory for event companies
Consumables in warehouses at average cost, and owned trusses, lights and tents on the asset register.
Read moreAccounting for event companies
Advances, vendor payables, claims and depreciation in one ledger, with month-end checks before the season ends.
Read morePayroll for event companies
Monthly payroll for salaried coordinators, phone attendance at venues, advances recovered, and freelance crew paid on bills.
Read more
One system
The modules that do this work
A booked deal becomes a quotation and an invoice; advances settle the invoice, vendor bills and claims post the costs, and owned kit depreciates every month into the same ledger.
CRM
Leads, a deal pipeline, today's follow-ups and conversion to customer and quotation.
See howInvoicing & tax
Tax invoices with VAT, GST or sales tax on every line, numbered by fiscal year and posted in one step.
See howPayments & receivables
Receipts and payments allocated oldest first, receivables and payables ageing, and statements.
See howPurchase
Purchase orders, supplier bills that receive stock, debit notes and payables.
See howExpenses
Business expenses with receipts, and staff claims from submit to approve to reimburse.
See howFixed assets
An asset register with monthly depreciation, custodians, maintenance and disposal.
See how
Honest limits
What SimpleERP does not do for event companies yet
Planners ask about these early, so here they are before you sign up.
- Profit per event. There is no project accounting; keep one quotation per event and read the client's ledger and the vendor bills for that date.
- An availability calendar for hiring out your own lights, chairs or tents. The asset register shows the holder, not the bookings.
- Vendor contracts or rate agreements. Attach the signed contract to the bill instead.
- Budgets per event or cost centres.
- Weekly or daily crew pay. Payroll runs monthly; freelance crew are paid against their bills.
Getting started
Start with your first invoice
Sign up with your email
Name, email and a password. No card for the seven-day trial.
Tell us about the business
Pick your country and, if you are registered, type your tax number. Accounts, tax rates, units, roles and numbering are seeded for that country.
Add what you sell
Add your services, such as event coordination, decor, sound and light and manpower, with the tax rate your accountant confirms. Owned kit goes on the asset register, not in stock.
Post your first invoice
Pick the customer, add lines and save. Your first invoice can be out within 10 minutes of signing up.
FAQ
Questions, answered
Which tax rate applies to event management services?
Event planning usually carries your country's standard VAT, GST or sales tax rate, but catering, venue rent and goods sold on their own can carry other rates, and an event abroad can change where the tax is due. In SimpleERP you set the rate on each service and the invoice applies it. Rates differ by country and change, so confirm the rate for your goods with your accountant or tax authority before you rely on it.
Can SimpleERP show the profit on each wedding or event?
Not directly. There is no project accounting yet. Most planners raise one quotation and one invoice per event then set the client's invoices against the vendor bills dated for that event. A per-event profit report is not built in.
How do we record advances taken in two or three stages?
Record each payment as a receipt from the client without allocating it, and it stays on the client as an advance. When the invoice is raised, apply the advances to it. See partial payments and advances, and ask your accountant whether tax is due when an advance arrives.
Does it suit a team of 5 to 40 people with freelancers in the season?
Yes. Members are unlimited, salaried coordinators get self-service for attendance, leave, payslips and claims, and freelance crew who send a bill per event are paid as suppliers, so the season peak does not need extra logins.
How do we move from spreadsheets or an old app before the wedding season?
Pick a month start before the rush. Enter opening balances for clients with advances, vendors you owe and your bank, add your services with their tax rates, and register owned lights, trusses, chairs and tents as assets already in use with their accumulated depreciation.
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Read moreProfessional services
Service invoices with the right tax, quotations, a CRM pipeline, expense claims and payroll.
Read moreCRM
Leads, a deal pipeline, today's follow-ups and conversion to customer and quotation.
Read moreExpenses
Business expenses with receipts, and staff claims from submit to approve to reimburse.
Read moreAccounting for event companies
Advances, vendor payables, claims and depreciation in one ledger, with month-end checks before the season ends.
Read more
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