Event management
Inventory software for event equipment and consumables
Keep the consumables you buy and use up in a warehouse with reorder levels, move them to a venue and back with a transfer, and put the kit you own for years on the asset register.
In short
SimpleERP is inventory software for event management companies. Consumables such as drapes, linen and fairy lights are stocked by warehouse at weighted average cost, while owned trusses, tents and generators sit on the asset register.
Illustration of stock on hand by warehouse at average cost, with a low-stock row highlighted and a movement ledger.
An inventory day at Lakeshore Events
Two trucks leave the Lakeshore Events warehouse in Etobicoke for a destination wedding in Niagara-on-the-Lake. One carries drapes, table linen, fairy lights and cable drums; the other carries the company's own truss sections, 300 chairs and a 62.5 kVA generator. The marquee and the extra sound come from a rental company in Hamilton on hire.
Last season the warehouse supervisor counted drapes by eye and found a third of them missing after a run of four weddings. Nobody could say whether they were torn, left at a venue or simply never bought. Owned kit and hired kit were on the same handwritten list, so the hired generator once came back to the warehouse instead of the vendor.
SimpleERP keeps the two apart. Stock is for what is bought and used up, valued at weighted average cost by warehouse. The asset register is for what you own and reuse, with who holds it and its depreciation each month.
Stock or asset
Which event items are stock and which are assets?
A simple test works: if it is used up or sold on, it is stock; if it goes out and comes back for years, it is an asset. Hired kit is neither, because it belongs to the vendor and only its bill reaches your books.
- Stock items with a unit, reorder level and warehouse, such as drapes in metres or linen by the piece.
- Assets with a category, cost, useful life and holder, such as truss sections, LED walls and tents.
- Hired items on the vendor's bill as an expense line, never in your stock count.
| Item | Record as | Unit | Reorder level |
|---|---|---|---|
| Satin drape fabric, ivory | Stock | Metre | 400 |
| Round table linen | Stock | Piece | 150 |
| Fairy light strings | Stock | Box | 20 |
| Aluminium truss, 3 m section | Asset | One per section | |
| Banquet chairs | Asset | One per lot of 100 | |
| Marquee tent from a rental company | Hire bill | Day |
Transfers
How do you track consumables sent to a venue and back?
Add a second warehouse for the site or for a branch store, then post a transfer when the truck leaves and another when it returns. What does not come back is written off with a stock count, so the loss for the event shows up as a dated adjustment.
- Transfers out and back with date, quantity and the cost carried across.
- Stock counts that post the difference and keep a reason on the record.
- Movement ledger per item, linking each figure to its bill, transfer or count.
Illustration of stock on hand by warehouse at average cost, with a low-stock row highlighted and a movement ledger.
Owned equipment
What happens to trusses, chairs and generators you own?
Register them as fixed assets from the purchase bill, allocate a lot to the supervisor taking it out with a note of the venue, and mark it returned when it is unloaded. Depreciation posts each month, so the book value of the kit is always in the balance sheet.
- Holder history on every asset, so you see who had the LED wall last.
- Service visits for the generator with a next due date on the dashboard.
- Disposal of a damaged truss section with the gain or loss posted.
Illustration of a fixed asset card with a monthly straight-line depreciation schedule.
One system
How stock and kit reach the books
Bills bring stock and assets in, transfers and counts move or adjust stock, and depreciation runs each month into the same ledger.
Event management
A quotation per event, staged advances, tax invoices, vendor payables and an equipment register.
See howInventory
Stock on hand by warehouse at weighted average cost, with a movement ledger and a low-stock list.
See howFixed assets
An asset register with monthly depreciation, custodians, maintenance and disposal.
See howPayroll for event companies
Monthly payroll for salaried coordinators, phone attendance at venues, advances recovered, and freelance crew paid on bills.
See howAccounting for event companies
Advances, vendor payables, claims and depreciation in one ledger, with month-end checks before the season ends.
See how
Honest limits
Inventory limits event companies should know
- No batch, lot, serial or expiry tracking, and no barcode scanning
- Weighted average cost only; there is no FIFO
- No automatic reorder suggestions: the reorder level shows what is low, you decide what to buy
- No hire-out calendar: you cannot see which dates your own chairs or lights are booked
- Stock is not reserved for a future event; a transfer moves it on the day
Getting started
Start with inventory
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 products and opening stock
Add consumables such as drape fabric, table linen and fairy lights with their units and reorder levels, and register owned trusses, chairs and tents as assets.
Post a bill and an invoice
Stock rises on the purchase bill and falls on the invoice, at weighted average cost, with nothing to count by hand.
FAQ
Questions, answered
Can I see which wedding has my 300 chairs this weekend?
Partly. If the chairs are an asset allocated to a supervisor with the venue in the note, the register shows where they went. There is no booking calendar for future dates.
Should decor flowers go into stock?
Usually not. Fresh flowers bought for one event are better recorded as an expense or a florist's bill on the day, because they never sit in a warehouse long enough to count.
We hire LED walls from a vendor for most events. Where do they go?
On the vendor's purchase bill as an expense line with the tax you can reclaim. They never touch your stock or asset register, which keeps hired and owned kit apart.
Can each warehouse have its own stock list?
Yes. Every warehouse shows its own stock on hand and value, and a transfer moves items between them, including to a temporary site warehouse for a long exhibition.
Related
Keep reading
Event management
A quotation per event, staged advances, tax invoices, vendor payables and an equipment 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
See how inventory works in SimpleERP for event management
Seven days free. No card. Your first invoice in minutes.