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.

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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.

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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
    Sponsorship tier and booth space
    What it covers
    Package fee: booth space, logo placement, passes, attendee list access if included
    Cash or time
    Cash
    Planned (USD)
    _____
    Actual (USD)
    _____
  • Line item
    Booth build and exhibitor services
    What it covers
    Booth structure or rental, furniture, carpet, power, internet, material handling, shipping
    Cash or time
    Cash
    Planned (USD)
    _____
    Actual (USD)
    _____
  • Line item
    Travel and hotel
    What it covers
    Flights, hotel nights, ground transport and per diem for everyone at the event
    Cash or time
    Cash
    Planned (USD)
    _____
    Actual (USD)
    _____
  • Line item
    Dinners and side events
    What it covers
    Venue, food and drink, invitations
    Cash or time
    Cash
    Planned (USD)
    _____
    Actual (USD)
    _____
  • Line item
    Swag and print
    What it covers
    Giveaways, collateral, signage
    Cash or time
    Cash
    Planned (USD)
    _____
    Actual (USD)
    _____
  • Line item
    Pre-event data and outreach
    What it covers
    List, enrichment credits and sequencing seats used for this event, prorated
    Cash or time
    Cash
    Planned (USD)
    _____
    Actual (USD)
    _____
  • Line item
    Lead retrieval
    What it covers
    App licenses or scanner rental, plus API or badge kit if you use your own app
    Cash or time
    Cash
    Planned (USD)
    _____
    Actual (USD)
    _____
  • Line item
    Staff time
    What it covers
    Hours to prepare, staff the booth and follow up, times a loaded hourly rate
    Cash or time
    Time
    Planned (USD)
    _____
    Actual (USD)
    _____
  • Line item
    Cash total
    Planned (USD)
    Sum of the 7 cash lines
    Actual (USD)
    Sum of the 7 cash lines
  • Line item
    Fully loaded total
    Planned (USD)
    Cash total plus staff time
    Actual (USD)
    Cash total plus staff time
  • Line item
    Meetings held
    Planned (USD)
    _____
    Actual (USD)
    _____
    Notes
    Count from the event campaign in Salesforce or the event list in HubSpot
  • Line item
    Opportunities created
    Planned (USD)
    _____
    Actual (USD)
    _____
    Notes
    Opportunities or deals credited to the event
  • Line item
    Pipeline created (USD)
    Planned (USD)
    _____
    Actual (USD)
    _____
    Notes
    Sum of those opportunity or deal amounts
  • Line item
    Cost per meeting (cash)
    Planned (USD)
    Cash total ÷ meetings
    Actual (USD)
    Cash total ÷ meetings
  • Line item
    Cost per opportunity (cash)
    Planned (USD)
    Cash total ÷ opportunities
    Actual (USD)
    Cash total ÷ opportunities
  • Line item
    Cost per opportunity (fully loaded)
    Planned (USD)
    Fully loaded total ÷ opportunities
    Actual (USD)
    Fully loaded total ÷ opportunities
  • Line item
    Pipeline per $1 of cash spend
    Planned (USD)
    Pipeline ÷ cash total
    Actual (USD)
    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
    Sponsorship tier and booth space
    Cash or time
    Cash
    Example (USD)
    8,000
  • Line item
    Booth build and exhibitor services
    Cash or time
    Cash
    Example (USD)
    2,000
  • Line item
    Travel and hotel, 5 people
    Cash or time
    Cash
    Example (USD)
    7,500
  • Line item
    Dinners and side events
    Cash or time
    Cash
    Example (USD)
    1,500
  • Line item
    Swag and print
    Cash or time
    Cash
    Example (USD)
    500
  • Line item
    Pre-event data and outreach
    Cash or time
    Cash
    Example (USD)
    799
  • Line item
    Lead retrieval
    Cash or time
    Cash
    Example (USD)
    500
  • Line item
    Staff time
    Cash or time
    Time
    Example (USD)
    4,201
  • Line item
    Cash total
    Example (USD)
    20,799
  • Line item
    Fully loaded total
    Example (USD)
    25,000
  • Line item
    Meetings held
    Example (USD)
    20
  • Line item
    Opportunities created
    Example (USD)
    6
  • Line item
    Pipeline created
    Example (USD)
    240,000
  • Line item
    Cost per meeting (cash)
    Example (USD)
    1,040
  • Line item
    Cost per opportunity (cash)
    Example (USD)
    3,467
  • Line item
    Cost per opportunity (fully loaded)
    Example (USD)
    4,167
  • Line item
    Pipeline per $1 of cash spend
    Example (USD)
    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.

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.
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.
The Event ROI Business Case
Turn the budget and the results into break-even and the one slide a CFO reads.
Event ROI calculator
Model expected closed-won revenue from your conversion rates.

See your next event's attendee list, meetings and CRM records

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Prasad Subrahmanya
I take every walkthrough myself. Bring the next event on your calendar.
Prasad Subrahmanya, founder