Event management
Accounting software for event management companies
See what every client still owes after their advances, what every caterer and rental company is owed, and close the month with a trial balance that already includes claims and depreciation.
In short
SimpleERP is accounting software for event management companies. Client advances, vendor bills, coordinator claims, payroll and depreciation post themselves into one double-entry ledger, ready for your accountant at month end.
Illustration: saving invoice INV-2026-0213 moves stock, posts the customer ledger, records tax and updates the dashboard in one step.
An accounting day at Lakeshore Events
The season ends in October and the partners at Lakeshore Events want to know where the money went. Eleven weddings, three exhibitions and a corporate offsite brought in large advances, but the bank balance is lower than they expected and the caterer says three bills are still unpaid.
The old answer was a long evening with the bank statement, a payables notebook and a spreadsheet of advances. Receipts for the same family sat under the bride's father in one place and the groom's aunt in another, and a sound vendor had been paid twice for the same reception.
SimpleERP posts each document as it happens. Receipts sit on the right client, vendor bills sit on the right supplier, and the trial balance and P&L are ready on any date without a reconciliation weekend.
Ledger
Which accounts carry an event company's money?
Most of the work lands in a handful of ledger accounts. Knowing which document feeds each one tells you where to look when a number looks wrong.
- Every account opens its ledger with links to the bills, invoices and receipts behind it.
- Customer and supplier statements with a running balance for any period.
- Lock date to stop anyone changing a month you have closed with your accountant.
| Account | Fed by | Check |
|---|---|---|
| Trade receivables | Event invoices, receipts | Advances still unapplied on each client |
| Trade payables | Caterer, rental company and crew bills | Supplier statements match what vendors claim |
| Tax on sales and tax to reclaim | Bills and invoices | Purchase register against suppliers' invoices |
| Employee claims payable | Approved coordinator claims | Nothing approved and unpaid for over a month |
| Fixed assets, accumulated depreciation | Asset bills, depreciation runs | Month's depreciation posted |
Payables
How much do we owe each vendor across all events?
Every supplier carries one balance, however many functions their bills cover. Pay the caterer in one transfer and split the payment across the bills it settles, and a double payment shows up at once as a debit balance on the supplier.
- Partial payments that leave the rest of a bill open.
- Debit notes when a vendor short-supplies chairs or a generator fails on the night.
- Freelance crew as suppliers, each with their own bill and payment history.
Illustration of a profit and loss statement for Jan–Jun 2026 with net profit of 4,691, a tax summary and the lock date.
Per event
Can we see whether one exhibition made money?
Not as a single report, because there is no project accounting. A workable habit is one invoice per event and vendor bills dated for that event; the client's ledger shows what came in and the purchase register filtered by date shows what went out.
- The client's statement for an event's invoices and receipts.
- Purchase register by period for the vendor bills of that week.
- CSV export of both, so your accountant can lay them side by side.
One system
Where the ledger gets its entries
Invoices, receipts, bills, payments, claims, payroll and depreciation each post their own journal; the ledger only adds them up.
Event management
A quotation per event, staged advances, tax invoices, vendor payables and an equipment register.
See howAccounting
A double-entry ledger with journals, bank registers, statements and a lock date.
See howPayments & receivables
Receipts and payments allocated oldest first, receivables and payables ageing, and statements.
See howInventory for event companies
Consumables in warehouses at average cost, and owned trusses, lights and tents on the asset register.
See howPayroll for event companies
Monthly payroll for salaried coordinators, phone attendance at venues, advances recovered, and freelance crew paid on bills.
See how
Honest limits
Accounting limits event companies should know
- No bank feeds: bank entries are recorded and reconciled by hand
- No multi-currency; every document is in your base currency
- Tax returns are not filed and e-invoices are not issued from inside the product
- No profit per event, budgets per event or cost centres
- Vendor contracts and rate agreements are not tracked; attach them to the bill
Getting started
Start with accounting
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.
Enter opening balances
Enter what each client has paid in advance for events not yet billed, what you owe each caterer and rental company, and the book value of the kit you own.
Run the trial balance
Every posted document is already in the ledger; the trial balance and P&L are ready on any date.
FAQ
Questions, answered
Where do advances for next season's weddings show up?
On each client as an unallocated receipt, and in receivables as a credit balance. When the event invoice is raised and the receipt applied, the advance turns into settled revenue. Some countries tax an advance when it is received; SimpleERP does not post tax on the receipt, so your accountant accounts for it.
Do I need to withhold tax when paying a freelance crew member?
That depends on your country, the amount and the contract, so ask your accountant. SimpleERP does not work it out; if tax is withheld, record the payment net and post the withheld amount to its payable account.
Can our accountant log in and close the year?
Yes. Invite them with the Accountant role. They see the ledger, registers and reports, can post journals and set the lock date, and do not need your owner login.
We switch accountants often between seasons. Is history kept?
Yes. Posted documents cannot be edited, only reversed, and every document keeps an audit history of who created, posted or cancelled it and when.
Related
Keep reading
Event management
A quotation per event, staged advances, tax invoices, vendor payables and an equipment register.
Read morePayroll for event companies
Monthly payroll for salaried coordinators, phone attendance at venues, advances recovered, and freelance crew paid on bills.
Read moreInventory for event companies
Consumables in warehouses at average cost, and owned trusses, lights and tents on the asset register.
Read more
See how accounting works in SimpleERP for event management
Seven days free. No card. Your first invoice in minutes.