Tips on Building a Concert Budget Template to Guide the Settlement

The key to future business in the concert arena is seamless settlements. Managing a major event like a concert revolves around the effective use of every dollar, and having a streamlined process can put a perfect finale to a creative and worthwhile event. In addition, following an organized approach to settlement shows that you value everyone involved in planning, performing, and executing the concert. A concert budget template tracks your expenditures and helps ensure you stay within your means while accurately showing ROI.

From the moment an event is confirmed, a concert budget template lets you begin entering figures into your database. You can calculate revenue and cost data long before you settle. With the worry of misplaced receipts eliminated, settling should be a breeze.  

When managing a concert, using a budget template saves time, offers consistency across the board, and provides total visibility on the profit/loss of an event. With modern technology, traditional spreadsheets and manual processes are out. Successful event managers and promoters rely on strategic planning and music industry software to stay organized and streamline settlements. From categorizing revenue streams to contingency planning, discover how to create a foolproof concert budget template for your financial to-dos.

Why Use a Concert Budget Template?

The music industry has traditionally relied on spreadsheets, paper receipts, and haphazard organization to keep track of everything. Manually inserting expenses, keeping a calendar, managing a contact list, recording ticket sales, and relying on memory are inefficient ways to manage the costs of putting on a concert.

Concert budget template software offers comprehensive alignment for all event stakeholders. Its features provide improved ticket management, performance analytics, and a streamlined path to settlement. Take a closer look at the process to see where you can make subtle improvements that greatly impact your operations.

Accounting for Artist Deal Terms  

Before you start plugging numbers into a template, you must make adjustments based on the type of artist deal. Three possible artist deals include a flat guarantee, guarantee plus percentage, and versus deal.

Flat Guarantee

In a flat guarantee deal, the artist is paid a fixed, predetermined amount regardless of the show’s performance. That number is typically negotiated based on the artist’s popularity, past performance, and promoter expectations. With artist earnings not tied to ticket sales, financial risks are mitigated for the performer, but there is no opportunity for the artist to make more money.

Guarantee Plus Percentage

The artist gets a guaranteed amount plus a portion of the net income in this type of deal. The guarantee plus percentage deal is a hybrid approach, offering both guaranteed income and the potential for increased earnings generated by ticket sales, merchandise, and other income sources.

Versus Deal

A versus deal gives the artist a guaranteed amount or a percentage of the net income, whichever is greater. Net income is based on a combination of ticket sales, the sale of merchandise, and streaming numbers.

The artist’s payment terms will guide how your budget template is set up to allow for expenses.

Calculating Gross Potential

When budgeting for a concert, your potential profit must be calculated before you can accurately consider expenses. The gross potential refers to the total gross income from all potential ticket sales. The price of tickets multiplied by the number of available seats in the venue signifies how much revenue a packed house can generate.

Related: Say Goodbye to Spreadsheets: How Live Music Management Software is Changing the Game

Planning and organizing a concert can be exciting, with creative ideas flowing between team members, but it’s vital to stay grounded when it comes to expense management. Live music promoters and managers avoid spending more than they could possibly earn for a sold-out concert. Understanding your gross potential from the start will help prevent going overboard on expenditures with no chance of recovery.

Analyzing and Categorizing Expenses

A concert budget template lets you play around with the numbers before any money is spent. Knowing how much spending room you have left after necessary expenses will help you plan how to best use your remaining budget.

Make note of which expenses are fixed and which are variables. Fixed expenses won’t change based on sales, but variable costs will.

Fixed expenses may include:

• Venue rental
• Insurance
• Ticketing staff
• Ticketing and credit card fees
• Security 
• Stage Hands
• Ushers
• Catering

Variable expenses are those that will be different for every concert. These include performance and travel fees for artists, technical needs, marketing, merchandise, and funds to cover unexpected issues like emergency repairs or weather-related delays. Contingency planning is imperative to accurate concert budgeting.

With a concert budget template, fixed costs can be recorded as soon as they are paid. These will appear on the settlement sheet as detailed line-item expenses. Remember to leave space on the template for variable costs so you can quickly do the math at the time of settlement.

Historical data can also play a major role in managing your expenses. Analyzing information from past events allows you to forecast future concerts. Modern technology found in music management software makes it easy to gather and automatically analyze historical data to build more effective budget templates. 

Building the Settlement Document as You Go

Settlement is a multi-step process. In the middle of planning an event, it’s likely the furthest thing from your mind. A comprehensive concert budget template lets you build your settlement document as parameters are met rather than scrambling to get everything together after the curtain call.

An up-to-date budget template lets you copy information into the settlement draft when things are paid, condensing the final process into only a few steps. Having a single source of truth on a centralized platform significantly streamlines financial reporting and settlements. Your concert settlement template can be built to match your budget template, simplifying the process even more. 

Documenting All Costs and Ticket Sales

Accurate and up-to-date data are essential to successful budget tracking. Learn which ticketing platform the box office staff at your chosen venue uses. Depending on your concert budget template system, you may be able to update ticket sales on your end in real time. If you can’t get automatic updates on ticket sales, ask for periodic updates. Make sure you receive accurate documentation on tickets sold, as well as the number of remaining tickets. When you spend money on the event, obtain an invoice or receipt. 

Related: How to Optimize Music Business Operations with the Best Software

An effective concert budget template will have room for files or pictures so that you can attach receipts to expenses. This saves time and eliminates the panic of frantically searching through emails to gather everything you need.

Establish Who Is Being Paid Before the Concert

It takes a dedicated crew of talented professionals to pull off a concert without a hitch. Use your concert budget template to track each person, their specific job, and how much they are being paid. Be sure to track whether they receive payment before or after the event’s conclusion. With music management software, you can streamline collaboration and execute smooth settlements when the time comes. Deal and payment tracking features ensure that every expense is accounted for and updated in real time, which everyone on your team will appreciate when it’s time to get paid.

Keep All Receipts

The live music industry is full of moving parts. It takes dedication and an organized approach to ensure nothing slips through the cracks. The following aspect of working with a concert budget can’t be stressed enough: Keep every receipt, and keep them organized.

Ideally, you’ll add receipts to the budget template as soon as a purchase is made. If this fails to happen, having your invoices and receipts on hand and accurately filed can save the day should a dispute over costs occur during settlement.

Comprehensive artist management software keeps everyone organized and on the same page. With tools like an intuitive calendar, customizable permissions, and automated deal and payment tracking, you can stay ahead of the game in the fast-paced tempo of live entertainment.

Empowering you to manage expenses and revenue with ease, comprehensive software is the ultimate accounting and financial reporting tool for industry professionals planning live events.

Music Management Software Makes Settling Easy

The right software transforms a concert budget template into a perfect settlement document. Ticket sales, unplanned expenses, and offer terms can all be automatically incorporated into the template from the start and updated as things unfold. With a comprehensive platform, you no longer have to scramble for receipts and emailed documents after the concert ends because everything is stored in a centralized location.

When you use music management software to keep track of all expenses throughout the planning process, the settlement is prepared with the click of a button. You don’t have to rely on your memory for paid versus unpaid expenses or worry about mathematical errors. In addition, a centralized platform can track both your internal and external settlements to accurately demonstrate event ROI. You get a clear picture of the event, can share it with others on your teams, and everyone goes home happy.Prism offers a specialized concert budget system designed for live music event professionals like you. From real-time financial reporting to forecasting revenue, data analysis, and customizable templates, our software eliminates manual spreadsheets for an easier way to create and adhere to your concert budget. Get started with Prism today to streamline budget planning and simplify settlements.