Catering events, weddings, banquets, and club functions can be some of the most profitable, and most difficult, parts of a hospitality operation to manage. Without a clear way to track ingredients, recipes, and actual inventory usage, many operators rely on estimates instead of real data.
That’s exactly where Event Costing comes in.
Event Costing allows restaurants, caterers, and country clubs to accurately cost out an event using raw ingredients, recipes, and true inventory usage. Instead of guessing what an event “should” have cost, you can see exactly what it did cost, and why.
What Is Event Costing?
Event Costing is a feature designed to calculate the true cost and profitability of an event by combining three key components:
- Raw ingredients and products
- Recipes used for the event
- Inventory counts taken before and after the event
This approach gives you a complete picture of usage without requiring inventory to be transferred or depleted through point-of-sale sales.
Event Costing is especially valuable for country clubs and hospitality operations where food and beverage inventory is not always tied directly to POS transactions.
Creating and Pricing an Event
The process begins by creating an event and entering basic details such as the event name, number of guests, and the total price being charged. This establishes the revenue side of the event and serves as the foundation for profitability reporting.
Once the event is created, costs can be added in two ways: ingredients and inventory.
Adding Ingredients and Recipes
Ingredients represent items that are automatically consumed as part of the event. These can include individual products, such as proteins or produce, as well as full recipes.
For example, if an event includes salmon, shrimp, and prepared sauces, each of those items can be added directly to the event. Recipes can be added in batch quantities, allowing you to cost out prepared items accurately without manual math.
This step ensures that planned menu items are fully accounted for in the event’s total cost.
Tracking True Usage with Inventory Counts
Inventory tracking is where Event Costing really stands apart.
For events like open bars or high-volume service, inventory can be counted before the event begins and again after it ends. The system automatically calculates the difference and records it as usage.
This method provides a much more accurate picture of what was actually consumed during the event, rather than relying on assumptions or standard pour costs.
Inventory counts can be entered directly in the system or using a mobile device, making it easy for staff to capture data in real time.
Reviewing Event Profitability
Once ingredients and inventory usage are captured, a profitability report can be run for the event.
This report shows:
- Items purchased
- Beginning inventory
- Ending inventory
- Actual usage
- Gross margin
The system compares total costs against the event price, allowing you to clearly see how profitable the event was and where costs may have been higher than expected.
Locking and Reusing Events
After an event is complete, it can be locked to preserve historical accuracy. Locking prevents pricing from changing even if new invoices are entered later.
For recurring events, the event can be copied and adjusted. Guest counts, pricing, and quantities can be modified while keeping the original menu structure intact. This makes it easy to reuse successful event setups without starting from scratch.
How Event Costing Fits into Inventory Management
Event Costing records usage — it does not move inventory or create transfers. Inventory is not treated as a sale or purchase order, and costs are reflected through normal cost-of-goods reporting.
If inventory needs to be physically moved between locations, that is handled through standard transfer functionality outside of Event Costing.
This separation keeps event reporting clean while maintaining accurate inventory records.
Why Event Costing Matters
Without accurate event costing, operators often underprice events, overlook margin issues, or miss opportunities to improve future pricing.
Event Costing provides clarity, consistency, and confidence. It replaces guesswork with real data and helps hospitality teams understand exactly how events impact their bottom line.
To see Event Costing in action, watch the full training video and learn how to apply this feature to your own operation.
