vFairs budgetary module allows organizers to add, track and streamline their event expenses against a baseline budget.
Guide for the Budget Module in vFairs
The Budget Module in vFairs allows event organizers to manage and track expenses for their events. This guide will walk you through the setup and management of your budget within vFairs, ensuring you have a clear understanding of your event’s financials.
1. Accessing the Budget Module
To access the Budget Module:
- Navigate to the Admin Dashboard of your event.
- Select the Budget option under the Event Planner section.
- Here, you will find an overview of your event’s budget, including expense categories, allocated amounts, and spent amounts.
2. Setting Up Your Budget
You can create a baseline budget and manage expenses for various aspects of your event, Category creation is dynamic so one can create as many categories one wants: including but not limited to:
- Venue Costs (physical or virtual hosting fees)
- Marketing and Promotions (advertising costs, campaign budgets)
- Speaker Fees (payments to speakers, moderators)
- Technology/Equipment Costs (AV rentals, platform costs)
- Miscellaneous Expenses (transportation, catering, etc.)
To set up your budget and expense category:
- Click on Add New Category and enter the name of the expense category (e.g., Venue, Marketing).
- Specify the allocated budget for this event by entering the amount in the budget field.
- Optionally, add a description for each budget category to provide context for the expenses.
3. Managing and Tracking Expenses
As your event progresses, it’s important to track actual spending:
- For each category, you can log expenses by clicking on Add Expense.
- Enter the details of the expense, including the amount, and a brief description (e.g., "Deposit for venue").
- The system will automatically adjust the Remaining Budget based on the entered expense, helping you keep track of overspending or underspending in real time.
4. Monitoring Budget Health
Throughout your event, the Budget Module provides an at-a-glance view of:
- Total Allocated Budget: The sum of all budgets across categories.
- Total Spent/ Expenses: The total amount spent so far.
- Remaining Budget: The difference between the allocated budget and actual spending.
- Ticket Sales revenue (If applicable)
- Return on Investment (ROI)
5. Adjusting the Budget
You may need to adjust your budget as your event evolves:
- To increase or decrease the allocated budget for a category, click Edit next to the category name and update the budget amount.
- Ensure that any changes are approved by stakeholders, as this may impact overall event financial planning.
6. Budget Closure
Once the event concludes:
- Finalize the budget by reviewing all expenses and ensuring no discrepancies remain.
- Organizer can Budget vs. Actual expenses and also compared with ticket sales for a post-event analysis to determine return on investments (ROI)
- Archive the budget data for future reference and audit purposes.
Conclusion
The Budget Module in vFairs provides a comprehensive tool for managing your event's financials, ensuring that your budget is tracked efficiently and that expenses are monitored closely. Proper use of the module will help prevent overspending, keep stakeholders informed, and support better financial decision-making throughout your event planning and execution process.