The event planning business is quite a daunting field. A lot of time, effort, and commitment is needed to make a successful event. Whether you’re organizing a corporate event, planning a wedding, or setting up a massive concert, professional assistance has become necessary.
That’s also the reason why the demand for professional event planning services is increasing each year. Because of this demand surge, it’s also important for event planning businesses to effectively structure their payment methods.
If you’re in the event planning business, it’s essential to have a solid billing process. You should know how to charge your customers for the services that you’ve rendered. At the same time, you should also know how to create an invoice for your clients. When you send your invoice and bill your clients at the right time, you can expect to get paid on time.
Event planning is quite a diverse business. Billing will depend on the type of event that you’re organizing. For instance, planning a wedding event is different from organizing a corporate conference. The items on your invoice will be different. There will also be a difference in the fees.
As a professional event planner, you should know how to charge your clients for various services that you offer. That way, you will know that you’ve earned the right amount of money equivalent to the services you’ve rendered.
What Does an Event Planner Do?
In case it isn’t clear, especially for people outside the event planning industry, this section explains just that. So, what exactly does an event planner do?
An event planner is a single person or an entire organization tasked to structure an event. This entity coordinates all the moving parts of an event and ensures everyone will have a good experience.
Meeting and convention planners do everything involved to make sure the event they are organizing goes smoothly. Their tasks include choosing the right location, hiring caterers, outline the entertainment, coordinate with other vendors, and more.
Experience of Event Planners
Event planners possess industrial experience that plays an important role while setting up charges for their services. Whether you’re a startup or veteran event planning service, you need to charge reasonably. That means you need to know your worth and the services you offer. That way, you will get paid the same amount as the services that you’ve rendered to your customers.
Established event management firms have the opportunity to charge with a good profit margin. However, keep in mind that the fees will depend on the type of customers and how much they are willing to spend for the event. To put it simply, the golden rule about event planning is to charge at just the right amount.
Charges for Event Planning and Management Services
Established event planning and management companies charge their services depending on two things: the geographical location and the season. In most cases, services done in metropolitan cities or primary locations are charged at higher rates than smaller towns and counties. If you’re a startup, consider the cost of living in a particular location before you estimate your services’ charges.
Apart from the location, the season when the event will be held will also be considered when charging fees. For example, during wedding season, even planners will typically charge extra compared to their usual price.
Expenses of Planning an Event
Before event planners prepare the bill for their clients, they will need to estimate the cost for each service they’ve rendered. As mentioned before, every event is charged differently. That’s why you need to prepare a proper estimation. However, to give you an idea, here’s a general overview of what you should be charging to your clients:
- Venue rental: Whether it’s a banquet hall or a resort, site rental fees is essential while estimating expenses for an event.
- Vendor expenses: There are many vendors that you will need to reach out to. They will require organizing an event. Their services will usually include audio, video, catering, photography, decorations, florists, and more.
- Transport and car parking – Some event planning companies will also provide guests pick up and drop facilities. If that’s the case, then transportation costs will also be included in the estimate. Even venues may also include charges for parking, so you should also keep that in mind.
- Media expenses: Event planning also involves promotional services. That includes signage and printing expenses as part of the entire service bill. Additional media expenses would also include banners, invitation cards, flyers, and much more.
- Security expenses – if you’re hosting a huge event, there will be chances that you will also need security services to keep the event orderly. If you are hiring a security agency, those costs will also be included in your estimate.
Methods of Invoicing a Client
Invoicing is another area that will also differ in terms of the type of event planning service you will provide. Other factors include the client type, location, and the season – as mentioned in the previous section.
In terms of charges, event planning services opt for either flat fees or an hourly rate. Most event planners prefer flat fees since it gives a clearer picture of the rates that were charged. In general, around 30% worth of extra bills is charged from corporate clients compared to social event clients.
Automate Your Invoicing with ReliaBills
Of course, if we’re talking about billing, we need to discuss the unlimited possibilities that automation can bring to the table. Event planning can be a stressful job. So the last thing you want to experience is not getting paid on time for your efforts. Fortunately, you won’t have to keep waiting. All you need is ReliaBills and its superb invoicing and recurring billing services.
What Can Recurring Billing Bring to the Table?
Recurring billing enables businesses to charge and collect recurring payments from customers. It is an excellent way for any business in a recurring revenue space, such as SaaS companies and membership-based organizations, to increase their cash flow by collecting regular payments from clients automatically instead of waiting months or even years before getting paid. Recurring billing can also help save time when it comes to recording invoices, processing payments, and getting paid.
How Does It Work?
Recurring billing works by setting up a recurring payment plan for your customers or clients to pay on a predefined schedule or time frame. The process becomes even easier when you use recurring billing software since everything is automated from beginning to end.
Automation can include sending invoices, processing recurring billing, and receiving recurring payments all on the same platform. Platforms like ReliaBills that use recurring billing can also set up automated payment reminders to prevent customers from missing a due date or falling behind in their recurring bills.
Key Benefits of Recurring Billing
- Better Cash Flow: One of the biggest benefits of recurring invoices is that recurring billing helps businesses improve their cash flow. They do this by enabling the business to collect recurring payments from clients automatically.
- Timer Saver: Using recurring billing software like ReliaBills is a great way to save time for recording invoices and processing recurring bills since everything can be done on the same platform. Plus, you won’t have to worry about sending payment reminders because they will be automated for you.
- Easy to Use: ReliaBills is a great way to make invoicing and payment process easier! It can also be used by businesses of all sizes in any industry.
Challenges of Recurring Billing
Getting Started
While it may be one of the best billing models, recurring billing does have some challenges. The biggest challenge is recurring billing itself, which can be time-consuming when setting up recurring payments for customers or clients on a recurring basis. This also requires the use of recurring billing software to automate your payment process and save you time each month by sending invoice reminders and processing recurring billing automatically!
It Can Get Complicated Down the Road
Another challenge that recurring billing poses are its complexity. Yes, the core concept of recurring billing is straightforward. But when you get to a certain level where your customer base grows, and your recurring revenue business model becomes more recurring billing-focused, recurring billing can become a little complicated. This is why it’s important to have the right recurring billing strategy in place and the right recurring billing software tools that will help you implement this strategy regularly.
Despite all of the challenges we mentioned, the pros still outweigh the cons by a considerable margin. That makes recurring billing still a worthy strategy to try. So if you’re ready to get your feet wet and test the waters of recurring billing, make sure you give ReliaBills a Try. It’s available for FREE, with only a $24.95/month fee for the premium version.
Of course, you can choose to automate your invoicing process to make life easier for you and your business. It will lessen the burden of billing your clients and ensure that you get paid quickly and quickly. You can choose from the plethora of invoicing systems available online.
For instance, ReliaBills offers a comprehensive invoicing process that will help you create your invoice and send it to your respective clients. All you need is to create a FREE account, and you’re all set. Download your desired invoice template, edit the fields, choose the ideal theme for your invoice, and you’re done!
ReliaBills will aid you in creating your own professional invoices and notify you about the status of your invoices. You can even set recurring invoices and create unlimited free estimates. Create your free account today.
