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Event Budget Template

The revenue and cost lines an event budget should carry, and how to keep it honest as the event approaches.

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900+
Organizers who have run shows on Map D
9,000+
Events powered since 2011
1.8M+
Booths drawn to date

Trusted by associations, expos and show organizers since 2011

In short

What should an event budget include?

An event budget lists every expected source of revenue and every cost, with a contingency line, and tracks actuals against the plan. Common cost categories are venue, production, food and beverage, marketing, staffing, technology, insurance, and travel. Revenue may include registration, booth and sponsorship sales, and ancillary services.

Best for
Organizers building or reviewing the budget for a conference, trade show, or corporate event
What to evaluate
  • Revenue and costs both listed
  • Contingency line
  • Actuals tracked against plan
How it works

From floor plan to sold show floor in four steps

  1. 1Build the floor planUpload the layout you already have or describe it to the AI Floor Plan Assistant, then place, number and size booths with snap-to-grid.
  2. 2Set booth types and pricesCreate booth types with their prices and mark booths open, reserved or sold. AI-assisted dynamic pricing can move prices inside the limits you set.
  3. 3Publish and sellPublish the interactive map to your event site. Exhibitors pick a space, check out and get their invoice without a back-and-forth email.
  4. 4Run the showExhibitors manage profiles, staff and assets in their portal, attendees find booths on the live map, and sales reports update as you sell.

The event budget template

01

Revenue: Registration

Ticket and registration sales by type and by when they are expected to sell.

02

Revenue: Exhibitors and Sponsors

Booth sales, sponsorships, and paid services. Use the booth revenue calculator to project the floor.

03

Costs: Venue and Production

Venue rental and services, audio-visual, staging, signage, and décor.

04

Costs: Food and Beverage

Catering by meal and headcount, with room for attendance to differ from registration.

05

Costs: Marketing and Technology

Promotion, registration and event-app platforms, badges, and printing.

06

Costs: Staffing, Travel, and Insurance

Staff and volunteer costs, speaker travel and fees, and event insurance.

07

Contingency

Hold back a share of the total for the costs nobody forecast, and decide in advance who can release it.

08

Actuals Against Plan

Update spending as invoices arrive and compare each line to the plan so surprises surface early.

Customer stories

What our customers say

See how event teams use MapD to run smoother events.

MapD is the best option for our expos. Our clients love the registration process! Data organization and exports are simple and easy. Fast reliable customer support feels like family. The wide variety of tools available for us allow us to grow and still feel well accommodated.

Experience ExpositionsKyle MichaudPresident @ Experience Expositions

MapD is indeed a welcome and needed change for the way we sell booths and handle our awesome exhibitors. With being in our 20th year, we needed a system that would take the guesswork out of exhibitor payments, accounting, floor plan assignments and more! MapD has helped us sell more booths in a shorter time frame and we will most definitely continue to use them!

Taliah WaajidTa'ron JoynerExhibitor Acquisitions Manager @ Taliah Waajid

MapD is one of the most user friendly systems I have found for floor plan software. The customer service received after signing up goes unmatched by any other systems I have used. MapD has truly made my job easier as an Exhibit Manager and helps to promote and sell booth space with the interactive floor plan I can deliver to my vendors.

KinsleyCasey HinerMeeting Architect @ Kinsley

The support of our vendors and partners allows us to put these events together, so again, thank you. I hope you have enjoyed this year's Virtual A-Day! The platform is amazing and so easy to use. :)

DFWAEAlyssa MeekEvents manager @ DFWAE

I am really excited about this. The staff met with me this morning and we all LOVE the platform. People are already filling out their booths.

Maine Insurance Agents AssociationLisa VereggeDirector, International Trade and Development @ Maine Insurance Agents Association

Map D is an amazing platform and easy to use! We worked with Map D for our virtual annual conference last year and it worked like a charm. When we held our annual conference in-person for the first time in two years, our first choice for our conference app was Map D!

Texas Society of CPAsRori ShawExecutive Director @ Texas Society of CPAs

I just came back from show site. This week I had my largest show ever. I had 247 exhibitors and I had 247 happy exhibitors. And a lot of that is a result of they were able to get their badges, update their profile, reach out to me anytime they want to.

Georgia Municipal AssociationYalonde TannerShow Manager @ Georgia Municipal Association

Exporting exhibitors is really helpful for me. Fern needs a list of all our exhibitors with their booth number and what size it's going to be. Just exporting that list and getting it to whoever I'm working with at Fern is so incredibly helpful.

Multi Family NorthwestLaura WebbEvent Coordinator @ Multi Family Northwest

I'm probably your only customer who uses it to sell campsites, but it works really well. I just give them a drawing and they put it all together for me. I don't have to do it - it saves me many hours.

High Lifter ProductsTracie EngiHigh Lifter Products
Pricing

One flat price per event, never per booth

Every plan is a flat rate per event — not per booth.

Compare plans
  • Free$0one event, no cardStart free. Build one event's floor plan.
  • Starter$1,500per eventPublish an interactive floor plan and run your event.
  • Growth$2,500per eventExhibitors buy their booth directly on your floor plan — pick a space, check out, invoice sent.
  • Scale$2,750per eventEverything in Growth, plus the exhibitor portal: personnel, products and assets, self-served, with lead capture in the Map D app.
Works with the tools you already use
  • Novi
  • Salesforce
  • HubSpot
  • QuickBooks
  • Stripe
  • Authorize.Net
  • PayPal
  • WordPress
  • Zapier
See all integrations
See it on your own floor plan

Stop reading about it. Build one.

Upload the floor plan you already have and place your booths on it yourself, in Map D’s editor. Free to build, no contract, and nothing to install.

Build your floor plan freeRequest a demo
900+
Organizers who have run shows on Map D
9,000+
Events powered since 2011
1.8M+
Booths drawn to date

“I am really excited about this. The staff met with me this morning and we all LOVE the platform. People are already filling out their booths.”

· Director, International Trade and Development @ Maine Insurance Agents Association

Related event solutions

FAQ

Your questions answered

Common questions about event budget template.

Have more questions? Request Demo →

How much contingency should I include?

There is no fixed rule. Use more for first-time events and less for events you have run several times, and set the figure from your own history.

How do I forecast booth revenue?

Multiply booths of each type by price and by your expected sell-through. The free booth revenue calculator does this for you.

What does Map D cost?

Map D publishes per-event pricing on the pricing page, with no per-booth or per-attendee charges.

Can Map D help with this?

Map D handles the event itself: floor plan, booth sales, registration, check-in, the attendee app, and reporting. Request a demo to see how it fits your event.

Book a demo

Ready to launch your event with Map D?

Join a growing community of associations, event planners, and organizers who use Map D to run better events.

Organizers who have run shows on Map D
900+
Events powered since 2011
9,000+
Booths drawn to date
1.8M+