Events and exhibitions
Every event is a short project that spends cash before it makes any
Suppliers, the venue and casual crew are paid around the event date; the client settles afterwards. Each event has its own budget, its own overrun risk, and its own moment where a decision is made on site that nobody priced. The question is not "what did we invoice" but "what did this event cost against what we budgeted".
- Every event is a dimension: its budget, its actual spend, its margin
- Deposits and staged payments, each with its own document
- Purchase orders raised before the commitment, not after it
- Casual crew on daily rates inside the same payroll run
The actual work
From proposal to post-event settlement
The event ends in a day; the ledger does not close for weeks — when the last supplier invoice arrives. Companies that never close an event financially discover the loss during the next one.
The event is the project
Every event is its own dimension with a budget, revenue and costs. The budget is set line by line — venue, production, technical, hospitality, crew — and actual spend is compared to it during delivery rather than after it.
Deposits and staged payments
A payment on signature, another before build, the balance after handover. Each has its own document and treatment, and the client’s remaining balance is visible at every stage instead of being worked out from memory.
Suppliers before the commitment
Staging, sound, lighting, hospitality, build: a purchase order per supplier at an approved value before the work, matched against their invoice. The classic overrun in this sector is a supplier engaged verbally whose invoice then arrives higher.
Casual crew on daily rates
Hosts, coordinators and technicians for a handful of days, managed on schedules and daily rates inside the same payroll run — and charged to the event rather than to general overhead.
Last-minute changes
An addition the client decides on the day before opening. It is recorded as a change order with an approved value, or it is delivered out of your margin and becomes an argument after the event.
The cash gap between events
You pay suppliers this month and collect two months later. That gap — not the book profit — is what stops events companies, and aged receivables are what make it visible early.
The documents
What actually leaves the company
Event clients are usually companies and institutions, so most of these are standard tax invoices going through clearance.
- Itemised proposal
- The event priced line by line: venue, production, technical, hospitality, crew. The same document becomes the budget everything is later measured against.
- Event agreement
- Scope, date, value, payment schedule and cancellation terms. The document every post-event disagreement returns to.
- Deposit invoice
- The first payment on signature. Its own document with its own tax treatment as set by your accountant, not merely a receipt. Standard tax invoice (B2B) — cleared before delivery
- Final claim after delivery
- The balance of the contract after payments, plus whatever change orders were approved. Standard tax invoice (B2B) — cleared before delivery
- Supplier purchase order
- An approved commitment before the work, charged to the event, against which the supplier’s invoice is matched before payment.
- Credit note on reduction or cancellation
- A cancelled line or a reduced scope after billing. Issued electronically and linked to the original invoice. In scope for e-invoicing
Mezan products
The parts of the platform you actually need
Events are projects, purchasing and casual labour — plus payments that will not wait.
Mezan Core
Dimensions make every event a cost and revenue centre with a budget compared to actual spend, plus purchasing and POs for suppliers, staged invoicing, and aged customer receivables.
Learn moreMezan HR
Casual crew on daily rates and short schedules inside the same payroll run, with their cost charged to the event rather than sitting in a general line.
Learn moreMezan Workflows
Approve the proposal before it goes out, the purchase order before the supplier is committed, and the change order before it is built on site. Approval is the difference between a managed overrun and one you find out about later.
Learn moreMezan Pay
Collect payments online through a payment link, and take payment on site with SoftPOS when you need to, with the receipt posting straight to the event.
Learn moreE-invoicing
A deposit is a document, not a promise
Most of your clients are companies and institutions, so most of your invoices are standard tax invoices cleared by Fatoora before they reach them. The place events companies most often get this wrong is the deposit: it is taken against a receipt and the tax document is deferred until after the event. When tax becomes due on an advance is your accountant’s determination — what matters is that the system raises a document at the time rather than correcting the position retrospectively.
Read the e-invoicing page- The deposit invoice and the final claim are both submitted for clearance and returned stamped before delivery
- Approved change orders appear on the final claim rather than being added verbally
- A reduction or cancellation after billing is handled with an electronic credit note linked to the original invoice
- When tax falls due on advances is set by your accountant, and the system applies it to every payment as specified
Frequently asked
How do we know an event’s cost before the last supplier invoice arrives?
Purchase orders. A PO records the commitment at the moment you agree it with the supplier rather than when their invoice lands, so the event report shows actual spend and uncommitted-but-unbilled obligations together. The number is close to final on the day of the event rather than a month later.
Does the system handle casual crew on daily rates?
Yes. Schedules, attendance and daily rates run inside the same HR module, and the temporary team’s cost is charged to the event they worked. It does not end up in an unattributed overhead line you have to unpick when reviewing the event’s margin.
We run several events at once. Do the numbers get mixed up?
No, because the separation happens at the dimension level rather than at the reporting level. Every cost, receipt and purchase order is attached to its event the moment it is created, so you read each event on its own and read the company consolidated whenever you want.
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