--- title: "Event budget template with cost per opportunity" description: "A free event budget template for trade shows and conferences: 8 cost lines, cash and staff time, with cost per meeting and cost per opportunity worked out." canonical: https://www.luminik.io/resources/event-budget-template/ source: html generated_at: 2026-11-11T06:37:00.690Z --- 1. [Home](/) 2. [Resources](/resources/) 3. Event budget template for trade shows Free template # Event budget template that works out cost per opportunity Plan what a trade show or conference will cost you, track what you spent, and see cost per meeting and cost per opportunity, in cash and fully loaded. [Get the spreadsheet](#get-the-file) [Read it on this page](#template) Use this template to plan what a sponsorship or booth will cost you and to show finance what it returned. It covers every cost you pay as a sponsor or exhibitor: the sponsorship or booth fee, build and exhibitor services, travel, dinners and side events, swag and print, pre-event data and outreach, lead retrieval, and staff time. Cash and staff time sit apart, so you can report both. After the event you add 3 results from your CRM: meetings held, opportunities created and pipeline created. The sheet works out cost per meeting and cost per opportunity, the 2 numbers finance can compare with paid search and outbound. How to use it ## How to fill in the event budget 01 ### Fill in planned costs One number per line before you commit. Staff time is hours times a loaded hourly rate. 02 ### Add actuals after Enter actuals 30 days after the event, once the late freight bill is in. 03 ### Pull 3 numbers from the CRM Meetings held, opportunities created and their pipeline value, all from the event campaign. 04 ### Read cost per opportunity The sheet divides cash and fully loaded cost by opportunities. Compare it with your other channels. Free spreadsheet ## Get it as a spreadsheet The same template as an Excel file that opens in Google Sheets, Excel or Numbers. Work email, one email back, and you are not added to any list. Work emailFirst name (optional)Email me the spreadsheet One email with the download link. You are not added to a mailing list. Read the [privacy policy](/privacy/). The template ## The budget lines and the worked example ### Budget Planned and actual columns are blank in the download. The formulas fill in once you enter numbers. | Line item | What it covers | Cash or time | Planned (USD) | Actual (USD) | Notes | | ----------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ---------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ------------ | ----- | | Sponsorship tier and booth space | Package fee: booth space, logo placement, passes, attendee list access if included | Cash | \_\_\_\_\_ | \_\_\_\_\_ | | | Booth build and exhibitor services | Booth structure or rental, furniture, carpet, power, internet, material handling, shipping | Cash | \_\_\_\_\_ | \_\_\_\_\_ | | | Travel and hotel | Flights, hotel nights, ground transport and per diem for everyone at the event | Cash | \_\_\_\_\_ | \_\_\_\_\_ | | | Dinners and side events | Venue, food and drink, invitations | Cash | \_\_\_\_\_ | \_\_\_\_\_ | | | Swag and print | Giveaways, collateral, signage | Cash | \_\_\_\_\_ | \_\_\_\_\_ | | | Pre-event data and outreach | List, enrichment credits and sequencing seats used for this event, prorated | Cash | \_\_\_\_\_ | \_\_\_\_\_ | | | Lead retrieval | App licenses or scanner rental, plus API or badge kit if you use your own app | Cash | \_\_\_\_\_ | \_\_\_\_\_ | | | Staff time | Hours to prepare, staff the booth and follow up, times a loaded hourly rate | Time | \_\_\_\_\_ | \_\_\_\_\_ | | | Cash total | Sum of the 7 cash lines | Sum of the 7 cash lines | | | | | Fully loaded total | Cash total plus staff time | Cash total plus staff time | | | | | Meetings held | \_\_\_\_\_ | \_\_\_\_\_ | Count from the event campaign in Salesforce or the event list in HubSpot | | | | Opportunities created | \_\_\_\_\_ | \_\_\_\_\_ | Opportunities or deals credited to the event | | | | Pipeline created (USD) | \_\_\_\_\_ | \_\_\_\_\_ | Sum of those opportunity or deal amounts | | | | Cost per meeting (cash) | Cash total ÷ meetings | Cash total ÷ meetings | | | | | Cost per opportunity (cash) | Cash total ÷ opportunities | Cash total ÷ opportunities | | | | | Cost per opportunity (fully loaded) | Fully loaded total ÷ opportunities | Fully loaded total ÷ opportunities | | | | | Pipeline per $1 of cash spend | Pipeline ÷ cash total | Pipeline ÷ cash total | | | | ### Worked example Illustrative figures for one trade show with 5 people on site, the same example the Event ROI Business Case uses. Replace each figure with yours. | Line item | Cash or time | Example (USD) | | ----------------------------------- | ------------ | ------------- | | Sponsorship tier and booth space | Cash | 8,000 | | Booth build and exhibitor services | Cash | 2,000 | | Travel and hotel, 5 people | Cash | 7,500 | | Dinners and side events | Cash | 1,500 | | Swag and print | Cash | 500 | | Pre-event data and outreach | Cash | 799 | | Lead retrieval | Cash | 500 | | Staff time | Time | 4,201 | | Cash total | 20,799 | | | Fully loaded total | 25,000 | | | Meetings held | 20 | | | Opportunities created | 6 | | | Pipeline created | 240,000 | | | Cost per meeting (cash) | 1,040 | | | Cost per opportunity (cash) | 3,467 | | | Cost per opportunity (fully loaded) | 4,167 | | | Pipeline per $1 of cash spend | 11.54 | | Get more from it ## Use the budget to defend the spend ### Report staff time separately Cash cost per opportunity is the number finance compares across channels. Use the fully loaded figure when deciding whether to go back. ### Count opportunities in a window Credit the event with opportunities created in the 30 days after it ends, and track older open deals it touched as influenced pipeline. ### Fill it in before you sign Divide the planned cash total by your cost per opportunity target. If the event cannot plausibly produce that many opportunities, negotiate the package or pick another event. With Luminik, your meetings and booth conversations reach Salesforce or HubSpot with an owner and a next step, so you fill this sheet from CRM records. [See how it works](/product/). ## Questions about event budgets What should an event budget include? The sponsorship or booth fee, booth build and exhibitor services, travel and hotel, dinners and side events, swag and print, pre-event data and outreach tools, lead retrieval, and staff time valued at a loaded hourly rate. Leaving staff time out understates what every event costs. How do you calculate cost per opportunity for an event? Divide the event's cost by the qualified opportunities it created, usually counted in the 30 days after the event. In the worked example, $20,799 of cash spend and 6 opportunities give a cash cost per opportunity of $3,467, and $4,167 fully loaded. What is a reasonable cost per opportunity for a trade show? It depends on your deal size and win rate. Work backwards: break-even opportunities equal the all-in cost divided by average deal size times win rate. At $25,000 all in, a $40,000 average deal and a 25% win rate, the event breaks even at 2.5 opportunities. Does the template work in Google Sheets? Yes. It is an Excel file with plain formulas that opens in Google Sheets, Excel and Numbers. Keep going ## What to use before and after this one [ Event debrief template One workbook for the meeting 5 days after the event: results against target, every target account and its next step, and the decision on next year.](/resources/event-debrief-template/) [ Run of show template for B2B conferences An hour-by-hour plan for a sponsored conference: setup, meeting blocks, booth coverage, the customer dinner and the follow-up, each with an owner.](/resources/run-of-show-template/) [ The Event ROI Business Case Turn the budget and the results into break-even and the one slide a CFO reads.](/resources/event-roi-business-case/) [ Event ROI calculator Model expected closed-won revenue from your conversion rates.](/tools/event-roi-calculator/) ## See your next event's attendee list, meetings and CRM records Bring the event you are planning. In 20 minutes we show who is attending, which accounts match your ICP, and how meetings reach Salesforce or HubSpot. [Book a 20-min walkthrough](/demo/) ![Prasad Subrahmanya](/founders/prasad-192.webp) > I take every walkthrough myself. Bring the next event on your calendar. Prasad Subrahmanya, founder