For Event Creators : Event Management : Budgeting : How Budgets work
The OurStoryz Budget system tracks expenses against funds that will be allocated for an event. A typical budget will be created in the following way:
- A new budget is attached to an event
- Within the budget, categories define different kinds of expenses
- Within the categories, individual line items record specific expenses
As an example, consider the budget for a wedding reception.
- The budget will have categories like "catering", "music", and "parking"
- Within the "catering" category, individual line items will define expenses for individual meals
- The line items may be associated with the Vendor providing catering services
Budgets are organized through Storyz and events
The top level of a budget is in the Storyz. At the Storyz level, individual budgets from each child event are visible.
Categories organize budgets by type
Each budget is specific to an event. Within the event you can create categories of expenses, as shown below.
Summary of estimated vs. actual expenses
The budget records expenses, and indicates with the event is over-budget. So, if the music for the event is more expensive than was expected, the event will be flagged as "over budget".
| Budget summarizes estimated cost. Total Category actual shows the actual sum of line item expenses. Variance shows the difference between the estimated cost and the actual cost. Both event-level and Storyz-level summaries are available |
As products and services are purchased for the event, the budget will dynamically show how close each category is to "over budget".
Exporting Budget Data
The OurStoryz budget system is expense-based, and specific to events. Many event-planners will want to use their current software which has other accounting services. To facilitate this, each event budget's data may be exported to comment accounting platforms.
Select Creating a Budget for a step-by-step guide to setting up your Budget.