Looking for an event planning business plan? You're in the right place.
An agency that plans conferences, retreats and charity galas has to answer questions that a florist or a wedding planner never faces. Should the fee be a flat price or a share of the event budget? How many events can one planner run in a year? Who holds the money when a client pays a venue deposit eight months ahead? A blank template does not show what a sensible answer looks like.
In this article we'll walk through a complete sample plan for a regional corporate and nonprofit event agency in Cincinnati, Ohio, section by section. We'll cover the executive summary, the competitor and SWOT analysis and, above all, the financials, ending with a downside case.
Here's what you'll take away:
- The fee comparison: see a flat planning fee set beside a percentage of budget, so you can pick one for each type of client and defend it
- Gross billings against net revenue: learn why a $1.6 million billing year can be a $326,000 revenue year, and which figure a lender reads
- The deposit schedule: see when each instalment is invoiced and when the model counts it as revenue, so a deposit already paid is not mistaken for profit
- Events per planner: check a hiring plan against delivery hours, so you add staff when the calendar needs them and not before
- The seasonal first year: spot the quiet quarter and the three peak months before they arrive, and size your reserve around them
- The five-year profit, cash flow and balance sheet: follow each hire, price rise and distribution through the numbers
- The downside case: have an answer ready for "what if bookings run 20% short?", along with the steps the owner takes
This is a sample for anyone opening an event agency. The agency is fictional, so adapt the figures to your own market.
In this plan
Looking for a event planning business plan template? The Toolkit builds yours with your own numbers.
Executive Summary
Cedar Dale is an event planning agency that opens in Cincinnati on 1 January 2027. It plans conferences, leadership retreats, product launches and client events for mid-sized companies, and fundraising galas and annual meetings for nonprofits and trade associations in Greater Cincinnati. Founder Hannah Reyes owns 100% of the agency.
The agency needs $205,000: $145,000 of Hannah's savings and a $60,000 bank term loan. Of that, $163,000 is held as a cash reserve, $24,000 buys equipment and fit-out, and $18,000 pays for contract templates and the launch.
| Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Net revenue | $325,800 | $622,944 | $784,005 |
| Net income after start-up costs | ($81,873) | $25,473 | $72,745 |
| Closing cash | $76,098 | $76,775 | $111,780 |
Net revenue is the agency's own earnings: planning fees, retainers and supplier commissions. The vendor and venue spend it manages for clients passes through at cost. In Year 1 that spend is $1.29 million, so gross billings are $1.59 million and net revenue is 20.5% of them. Revenue is booked as each fee instalment is invoiced, which is ahead of delivery, so January shows $18,400 of revenue before any event work is done.
Year 1 delivers 7 corporate events and 4 galas, with three standing retainers by October, and it loses money. The first event runs in April, a planner is on payroll from month 2, and the first quarter bills only signing instalments. Operating profit is positive in June and from September to November, and Year 2 is the first profitable year.
If bookings run 20% below plan and Hannah slows hiring, cuts marketing and her own pay, stays in the first office and pays no distributions, closing cash stays positive in every year of the model.
Cedar Dale competes on scope and on openness about money. Corporate events carry a fixed fee, galas a percentage of the managed budget, and every proposal lists each deposit date and each supplier commission.
Cedar Dale at a Glance
Legal name: Cedar Dale Events, LLC, an Ohio limited liability company. Owner: Hannah Reyes, 100%. Premises: 1,500 square feet of leased office in Over-the-Rhine, Cincinnati, plus a storage unit for signage, décor and kits. Start date: 1 January 2027. Stage: pre-launch. The lease and website are in draft, and two contracts are signed for January: a corporate meeting in April and a charity gala in June.
What the agency sells
Planning and on-site management of corporate and nonprofit events, with a fee schedule that tells the client where each dollar goes.
| Line | How it is priced | Year 1 share of net revenue |
|---|---|---|
| Corporate events | Flat planning fee, $16,000 on average | 34% |
| Nonprofit galas and fundraisers | 15% of the managed budget | 37% |
| Association and nonprofit retainers | $4,000 a month | 21% |
| Supplier commissions and rebates | About 2% of managed spend, disclosed | 8% |
Targets for the first two years
- 11 events delivered in 2027 and 18 in 2028.
- Three retainer clients by December 2027 and four on average through 2028.
- A profit after tax in 2028, the second year.
- Four full-time people, Hannah included, by month 14.
Two compliance habits
Cedar Dale does not serve alcohol or run raffles itself. The venue or licensed caterer holds the liquor permit, and the nonprofit client holds any charitable-gaming licence. The agency asks the client's counsel to confirm the rules before it quotes a feature that depends on one. The client contract, vendor agreement and client-funds policy templates are drafted by an Ohio business lawyer in the launch month, a $6,000 line in the start-up budget.
Cincinnati's Corporate and Nonprofit Event Market
The Bureau of Labor Statistics counted 172,100 jobs for meeting, convention and event planners in 2025. Median pay was $61,160 in May 2025, and the Bureau projects employment growth of 6% from 2025 to 2035. The count includes in-house planners at hotels, associations and corporations as well as agencies, so it describes the occupation and not the size of Cedar Dale's market. The plan sets its own demand from the calendar below.
Where the events come from
The target buyer is any organisation that stages a few large events a year without a full-time planner. In Greater Cincinnati that means mid-sized employers running annual meetings, sales kickoffs and leadership retreats, and nonprofits with a flagship gala and a few smaller donor evenings. Events cluster in spring and autumn, with a second burst of holiday and year-end functions in November and December.
Who a client could hire instead
| Alternative | What it offers | Why a client picks it | How Cedar Dale differs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hotel and venue event teams | Planning inside their own rooms | Free with the booking | Venue-neutral, and a contract for the client's interests |
| Large national event agencies | Global reach, production resources | Handle multi-city programmes | Cincinnati-based, with a named planner on every event |
| Independent planners | Personal service, low overhead | Lower fees for small events | A bench of planners, so the work continues when one is out |
| In-house staff | Control and no fee | Already on payroll | Capacity for peaks, and the vendor relationships |
| Association management companies | Full back-office for an association | One contract for everything | Event-only scope, priced per programme |
The table describes each category and how Cedar Dale positions itself, not a ranking. The plan makes no claim about what other agencies charge.
SWOT
| Strengths | Weaknesses |
|---|---|
| Nine years of hotel event sales and nonprofit gala experience | A one-person pipeline until month 14 |
| Fee models matched to each kind of client | No brand or portfolio under the agency's own name |
| Every deposit date and commission shown in the proposal | A calendar bunched into a few peak months |
| Opportunities | Threats |
|---|---|
| Nonprofit boards asking for outside help on flagship events | Clients moving events in-house when budgets tighten |
| Retainers for associations with year-round meeting programmes | A large venue or national agency undercutting on price |
| Referral flow from venue sales teams | A planner leaving at a peak |
Who Books and Who Signs
The corporate buyer
A people-operations lead, executive assistant or marketing manager at a company of 200 to 2,000 employees. The event is one task among many for them, and a poor one reflects on them personally. The decision usually goes through two or three quotes and a manager's signature.
The nonprofit buyer
A development director or executive director whose flagship gala funds a large share of the year's programmes. A volunteer committee shapes the brief and the board approves the budget. Boards often ask that any supplier commission be credited to the nonprofit, and Cedar Dale offers that on request, and the commission line would fall by the amount credited. Fiscal-year budgets are set in the autumn, and the gala venue is often chosen eight to ten months ahead.
The association buyer
An executive director running a chapter or trade body with a conference, a monthly speaker series and a handful of member evenings. These clients suit a retainer.
What sets off a search
An event that went badly, a planner who left, a board that wants a larger room, or a leadership team that wants staff time back.
What buyers ask for
A fixed number on the first page, a named planner, a timeline with dates, and an account of where every dollar goes.
Staying and growing
The plan expects about 40% of events from Year 2 to come from clients who have booked before. A client who books a gala usually adds a donor evening, and a company that books a retreat adds a sales kickoff.
Concentration
The largest single Year 1 contract is a gala worth about $34,000 in fee and commission, or 10% of Year 1 net revenue. The plan caps any one client at 20% of net revenue in any year.
From Request for Proposal to Signed Contract
The proposal
An enquiry gets a discovery call within two working days and a written proposal within five. Each proposal takes about 8 hours. Year 1 needs about 35 proposals, at a 40% close rate, to produce 14 contracts: 11 events and 3 retainer clients. That is about 280 hours of Hannah's year, inside the 900 she has for delivery and the rest she spends selling.
Two ways to charge
| Model | Fee | Managed budget | Fee as share of budget | Delivery hours | Fee per hour |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Corporate flat fee | $16,000 | $70,000 | 22.9% | 110 | $145 |
| Gala, 15% of managed budget | $30,000 | $200,000 | 15.0% | 250 | $120 |
| Retainer | $4,000 a month | n/a | n/a | 28 a month | $143 |
Corporate scope is fixed once the brief is signed, so a flat fee suits it and protects the agency's margin if the client trims the budget. A gala's scope grows with its budget, so the fee follows the budget, with a floor of $20,000. The percentage applies to the event's cost budget and never to money raised, and the contract states the base.
When the money arrives
| Fee | At signing | Middle | On the day |
|---|---|---|---|
| Corporate event, signed about 3 months ahead | 40% | 30%, a month before | 30%, on 30-day terms |
| Gala, signed about 5 months ahead | 40% | 30%, two months before | 30%, on 30-day terms |
| Retainer | Monthly, in advance |
The model books each instalment as revenue when it is invoiced. By the end of March 2027 the agency has billed $36,000 and delivered no event, and that money pays for planning work still to be done. The signing and middle instalments are not refundable. If a client cancels, the planning work to date has been paid for. If an event is cancelled for a reason outside both sides' control, such as a venue closure or a public-health order, the paid fees move to a new date within 12 months, and vendor deposits follow each vendor's own terms. The agency offers event-cancellation cover for large events.
Booking pace
Of the 14 Year 1 contracts, about 4 come from venue and hotel sales teams, 3 from association chapters, 3 from Hannah's professional and volunteer network, 2 from search and paid ads and 2 from formal procurement requests. None is expected from the clients of her former employers; she has had the non-solicitation terms in her employment agreements reviewed by a lawyer and the plan does not count on them.
Where the Referrals Come From
Marketing spend and what it buys
The first-year budget is $36,000: $12,000 of launch spend paid from start-up capital and $24,000 of running costs. That is 11% of Year 1 net revenue, falling to about 4% by Year 3 and Year 5 as repeat clients and referrals take over. Spread over 14 contracts, it comes to about $2,570 per contract, against about $23,300 of Year 1 net revenue for each one.
| Channel | Year 1 spend | What it is expected to do |
|---|---|---|
| Website and portfolio photography (launch) | $8,000 | Case-study pages for retreats, conferences and galas, with a proposal request form |
| Two venue showcase evenings (launch) | $4,000 | Introductions to venue and hotel sales teams |
| Venue and hotel relationships | $5,000 | Familiarisation visits and site-visit hosting; about 4 contracts |
| Association chapter memberships and sponsorships | $5,500 | A seat at meeting-industry and fundraising chapter events; about 3 contracts |
| Search and LinkedIn ads | $5,000 | Searches such as "corporate event planner Cincinnati"; about 2 contracts |
| Proposal production | $4,500 | Designed proposals and case studies for procurement requests; about 2 contracts |
| Case studies and referral follow-up | $4,000 | A short write-up of each delivered event and a thank-you to every introducer |
Marketing milestones
- January 2027: website live, two contracts signed.
- April 2027: first corporate event delivered.
- June 2027: first gala delivered.
- December 2027: 11 events delivered and three retainer clients.
How an Event Moves Through the Agency
The office
1,500 square feet in Over-the-Rhine at about $23 a square foot a year, all in, which is $34,500 in Year 1, with a storage unit for signage, décor and kits. The agency moves to about 2,100 square feet in Year 4.
The life of an event
A contract opens an event file. The planner builds a run of show, a budget and a vendor shortlist. The client approves vendors and signs the vendor contracts directly, with Cedar Dale negotiating them as the client's agent. Cedar Dale signs only its own client agreement, and Cedar Dale issues a funds request for each vendor deposit. After the event comes a reconciliation, a close-out report and a thank-you note to every supplier.
Who holds the money
Client funds for vendor payments go into a separate event-funds account, which carries between $1.3 million and $3.4 million a year through the plan. A vendor is paid only after the client's matching funds have cleared, usually 10 days before the vendor's due date. The agency's own cash pays no vendor deposits. The account sits outside the financial model, which shows only the agency's own cash.
One gala's managed budget of $200,000 is more than two and a half times the agency's closing cash at the end of Year 1, $76,098. That is the reason for the rule.
Controls start in month 1, because the agency has a part-time bookkeeper from its first day. The bookkeeper reconciles the event-funds account weekly and reports to Hannah monthly. Any payment over $5,000 needs two sign-offs, Hannah's and the bookkeeper's. An outside CPA reviews the account each quarter, paid from the professional-fees line.
Fees against pass-through spend
| Year 1 | Year 3 | Year 5 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fees invoiced | $300,000 | $732,021 | $970,188 |
| Managed spend passed through | $1,290,000 | $2,599,205 | $3,365,271 |
| Gross billings | $1,590,000 | $3,331,226 | $4,335,459 |
| Supplier commissions | $25,800 | $51,984 | $67,305 |
| Net revenue | $325,800 | $784,005 | $1,037,493 |
| Net revenue as share of billings | 20.5% | 23.5% | 23.9% |
The plan reports net revenue on the view that Cedar Dale arranges vendor services as the client's agent and does not run them itself. Whether that treatment holds depends on the contracts, so the agency's CPA confirms it each year.
Hours, peaks and the contract producer
| Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Year 4 | Year 5 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Corporate events and galas delivered | 11 | 18 | 22 | 26 | 26 |
| Retainer-months | 17 | 48 | 60 | 72 | 80 |
| Delivery hours needed | 2,246 | 4,164 | 5,080 | 6,136 | 6,360 |
| Core delivery hours available | 2,925 | 5,075 | 6,283 | 7,625 | 8,000 |
| Utilisation of core hours | 77% | 82% | 81% | 80% | 80% |
| Peak-month load, including the contract producer | 73% | 75% | 76% | 78% | 80% |
| Events per 1,500 hours of core capacity | 5.6 | 5.3 | 5.3 | 5.1 | 4.9 |
A planner delivers about five corporate or gala events a year, alongside retainer work. Events cluster in April to June and September to November, but planning hours spread over the three to five months before each event, so the peak month carries about 1.2 times the average workload. A contract producer works the six peak months from Year 2 and adds about 125 hours a month. Without that cover, peak-month load would pass 90% in Years 2 and 3. Hannah delivers 900 hours because she also sells.
Event-day staffing
Registration staff, runners and stage hands are hired by the event from a pool of freelancers. The cost is part of the direct costs: 8% of corporate fees and 12% of gala fees, where staging and guest numbers are heavier.
Cover and controls
- General liability, professional liability, cyber and hired and non-owned auto cover, budgeted at $9,500 in Year 1, plus key-person life and disability cover on Hannah. Workers' compensation is part of the 27% payroll load and not in this line.
- Event cancellation cover offered to clients for large events, purchased through a broker and passed through at cost.
- A certificate of insurance requested from every vendor before its deposit is paid.
- A written client agreement for every event, with the cancellation, refund and force majeure terms above.
Hannah Reyes and the Team
Hannah Reyes, founder and principal planner
Hannah spent six years on the events and sales team of a downtown Cincinnati hotel group, then three years in the development office of a large local nonprofit, where she ran the annual gala. She invests $145,000 of her savings and carries a personal guarantee on the loan. She leaves to run an agency in which she plans events alongside her team.
Where the team is thin
Hannah has not led a team or run a sales pipeline of her own. The plan covers that with weekly pipeline reviews from month 1, a monthly meeting with an outside adviser who runs a 15-person agency in another city, and the first hire made before the first event.
If Hannah is out
Hannah plans and sells, so her absence stops both. Key-person life and disability cover is in the insurance budget. The planner from month 2 can lead any corporate event, and the senior planner from month 14 can lead a gala.
Hiring
| Month | Role |
|---|---|
| 1 | Bookkeeper, part time |
| 2 | Event planner |
| 7 | Event coordinator |
| 14 | Senior event planner |
| 16 | Contract event producer, peak months only |
| 27 | Second event coordinator |
| 40 | Second senior planner |
Lender terms and the guarantee
Hannah owns 100% of Cedar Dale Events, LLC. The $60,000 term loan carries her personal guarantee and a lien on business assets, with no real estate pledged. The terms are the plan's own and a lender may counter with an SBA-guaranteed structure. The loan covenants proposed are quarterly accounts, a minimum cash balance of $25,000 and a debt-service-cover test from Year 2.
The Five-Year Model
The forecast runs monthly through 2027 and by year after that. It opens with how the agency is funded and what each kind of event is worth, then follows those figures through profit, cash and the balance sheet. Revenue is net: planning fees, retainers and supplier commissions. Vendor and venue spend that Cedar Dale manages for clients passes through at cost and never enters the revenue line. Revenue is also on a billing basis: a fee counts when its instalment is invoiced, which is usually before the work is finished, so the model carries no deferred-revenue balance.
Funding and the launch reserve
| Use of funds | Amount |
|---|---|
| Laptops, registration tablets, radios, AV and presentation kit, signage and décor stock | $16,000 |
| Office furniture and fit-out | $8,000 |
| Legal: entity, client contract and vendor agreement templates | $6,000 |
| Launch: website, event portfolio photography, launch events | $12,000 |
| Cash reserve for the months before instalments arrive | $163,000 |
| Total uses | $205,000 |
| Source of funds | Amount |
|---|---|
| Hannah Reyes's savings | $145,000 |
| Bank term loan | $60,000 |
| Total sources | $205,000 |
Hannah puts in $145,000 of her own savings, 70.7% of the $205,000 total, and borrows $60,000 from a bank over five years at 9.75%, interest-only for the first three months. The rate is the plan's own planning figure and not a quoted lending rate. The bank would hold a personal guarantee from Hannah and a lien on business assets, with no property as security. A lender may route the loan through an SBA-guaranteed programme, which would add its own fees and terms that the model does not carry. The $163,000 reserve is the largest line. The agency pays a planner from month 2, a coordinator from month 7 and a part-time bookkeeper from month 1, while the first full fee instalments arrive only as events approach. Year 1 operating cash outflow is $97,168, and the reserve also has to absorb commissions that arrive 30 to 90 days after an event, which the model books in the delivery month.
Event economics behind the forecast
- Corporate events carry a flat planning fee of $16,000 on an average managed budget of $70,000, which is about 23% of managed spend. Nonprofit galas carry 15% of the managed budget: $30,000 on an average $200,000, with a floor of $20,000 so that a trimmed budget does not cut the fee below the work. Association and nonprofit retainers bill $4,000 a month. All three prices rise 3% a year from Year 2.
- Year 1 delivers 7 corporate events and 4 galas, plus 17 retainer-months: one retainer client from May, two from July and three from October. Years 2 to 5 deliver 12, 15, 17 and 17 corporate events, 6, 7, 9 and 9 galas, and 48, 60, 72 and 80 retainer-months. The first corporate event is delivered in April and the first gala in June, both signed in January.
- Revenue is booked on a billing basis, as each instalment is invoiced, and no deferred-revenue balance is carried. Corporate fees are billed 40% at signing, 30% a month before the event and 30% on the day, with signing three months out. Gala fees follow the same split with signing five months out and the middle instalment two months before. The Year 1 monthly table follows that schedule, so January shows $18,400 of revenue before any event work is delivered. Year 1 totals are unaffected, because every event counted is delivered in 2027. From Year 2, each event is booked in the year it is delivered.
- Supplier commissions and rebates average 2% of managed spend, which is $25,800 in Year 1 and 8% of Year 1 revenue. Hotels and venues typically pay some weeks after the event, so the cash arrives later than the model books it. Each proposal discloses the commissions, and a client that asks for them to be credited against the fee would lower this line.
- Managed spend is $1.29 million in Year 1, $2.60 million in Year 3 and $3.37 million in Year 5. Adding the fees invoiced, gross billings are $1.59 million, $3.33 million and $4.34 million, so net revenue is 20.5%, 23.5% and 23.9% of billings. Retainer programmes' own vendor spend is left out of managed spend.
- A corporate event takes about 110 delivery hours, a gala 250, and a retainer client 28 a month. Planners deliver 1,500 hours a year, coordinators 1,300 and the founder 900, because she also sells and signs contracts. Planning hours spread over the three to five months before each event, so a peak month carries about 1.2 times the average monthly workload. From Year 2 a contract producer adds about 125 hours in each of the six peak months. Annual utilisation of core hours is 77% in Year 1 and 80% to 82% afterwards, and peak-month load with the producer is 73% to 80%.
- Direct costs are 8% of corporate fees, 12% of gala fees and 3% of retainer fees. They cover event-day contract staff, runners, registration-platform fees and card fees, and come to about 8% of revenue.
- Receivables average 22 days. Signing instalments are due on receipt and take about 10 days in practice, while the other 60% of a fee is on 30-day terms: 0.4 x 10 + 0.6 x 30. Nonprofit clients often pay slower than corporate ones, so the bad-debt allowance grows from $3,000 in Year 1 to $15,000 in Year 5, about 1% to 1.5% of revenue.
- Payroll adds 27% to wages for payroll taxes, health cover, workers' compensation and a retirement match (15% for the part-time bookkeeper). Workers' compensation sits inside that load and is not repeated in the insurance line; confirm Ohio coverage rules and premiums with the Bureau of Workers' Compensation. The planner wage of $62,000 sits just above the BLS national median for the occupation, $61,160 in May 2025. Annual pay raises of 3% are charged as a separate line from Year 2.
- Rent covers 1,500 square feet in Over-the-Rhine at about $23 a square foot a year, all in, and 2,100 square feet at about $24 from Year 4. A small storage unit for signage, décor and kits is a separate line.
- Tax is charged at the federal corporate rate of 21%, with the Year 1 loss carried forward, and the distributions are paid out of after-tax cash. If the LLC elected S corporation status, the tax would move to Hannah's personal return and the distributions would also have to cover that bill, which they do not at this size. The model carries no Ohio state income tax, no Ohio commercial activity tax (a gross-receipts tax with an annual exclusion) and no Cincinnati municipal income tax on earnings and net profit; each should be confirmed with a CPA, and the municipal tax in particular would lower profit.
- Owner distributions of $20,000, $30,000 and $45,000 are paid in Years 3 to 5 from cash the model shows the firm can spare. The loan runs to its term and is repaid in full by the end of Year 5.
Net revenue by line
| Revenue stream | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Year 4 | Year 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Corporate events (flat planning fee) | $112,000 | $197,760 | $254,616 | $297,222 | $306,138 |
| Nonprofit galas and fundraisers (15% of managed budget) | $120,000 | $185,400 | $222,789 | $295,036 | $303,887 |
| Association and nonprofit retainers | $68,000 | $197,760 | $254,616 | $314,705 | $360,163 |
| Supplier commissions and rebates | $25,800 | $42,024 | $51,984 | $65,345 | $67,305 |
| Total revenue | $325,800 | $622,944 | $784,005 | $972,308 | $1,037,493 |
| Growth on prior year | – | 91% | 26% | 24% | 7% |
Galas and corporate events are the two largest lines in Year 1, at 37% and 34% of revenue. Retainers are 21% of Year 1 revenue and rise to 35% by Year 5, as standing programmes fill the weeks between event dates. Commissions fall from 8% to 6% of revenue. Retainer clients take the most advance planning but the least selling, so they are the line that smooths the seasonal peaks.
Month by month in Year 1
| Month | Corporate events (flat planning fee) | Nonprofit galas and fundraisers (15% of managed budget) | Association and nonprofit retainers | Supplier commissions and rebates | Total revenue | EBITDA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 2027 | $6,400 | $12,000 | $0 | $0 | $18,400 | ($12,562) |
| Feb 2027 | $6,400 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $6,400 | ($23,626) |
| Mar 2027 | $11,200 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $11,200 | ($19,201) |
| Apr 2027 | $9,600 | $21,000 | $0 | $1,400 | $32,000 | ($22) |
| May 2027 | $9,600 | $12,000 | $4,000 | $1,400 | $27,000 | ($4,632) |
| Jun 2027 | $11,200 | $21,000 | $4,000 | $5,400 | $41,600 | $8,829 |
| Jul 2027 | $6,400 | $9,000 | $8,000 | $0 | $23,400 | ($7,952) |
| Aug 2027 | $11,200 | $9,000 | $8,000 | $0 | $28,200 | ($3,526) |
| Sep 2027 | $16,000 | $18,000 | $8,000 | $5,400 | $47,400 | $14,177 |
| Oct 2027 | $9,600 | $9,000 | $12,000 | $5,400 | $36,000 | $3,666 |
| Nov 2027 | $9,600 | $9,000 | $12,000 | $5,400 | $36,000 | $3,666 |
| Dec 2027 | $4,800 | $0 | $12,000 | $1,400 | $18,200 | ($12,746) |
Q1 is the thinnest quarter: the agency opens in January with only signing instalments to bill, and its first event runs in April. The $36,000 billed by the end of March is billing ahead of delivery, not finished work. Revenue peaks in June and September, the months of the spring and autumn gala and conference seasons, and falls again in December, when galas are done and corporate year-end events are few. EBITDA, which is profit before interest, depreciation and tax, is positive in June, September, October and November and negative in the other eight months. The lowest month-end cash is Sep, at about $70,000 after setting aside the 22 days clients take to pay.
Team and hiring plan
| Role | Annual wage | Starts | Year 1 end | Year 2 end | Year 3 end | Year 4 end | Year 5 end |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Founder and principal planner | $92,000 | Month 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Event planner | $62,000 | Month 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Bookkeeper (part time, 20 hours a week) | $26,000 | Month 1 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 |
| Event coordinator | $46,000 | Month 7 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Senior event planner | $74,000 | Month 14 | – | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Second event coordinator | $47,000 | Month 27 | – | – | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Contract event producer (peak months: April to June, September to November) | $54,000 | Month 16 | – | – | – | – | – |
| Second senior planner | $76,000 | Month 40 | – | – | – | 1 | 1 |
| Total payroll incl. on-costs | $248,128 | $397,048 | $454,622 | $536,960 | $561,090 |
Hannah delivers and sells alone in January, with a part-time bookkeeper from month 1 who keeps the books and the client-funds account. An event planner joins in month 2, ahead of the April event, and the first coordinator in month 7. A senior planner follows in month 14, a second coordinator in month 27 and a second senior planner in month 40. The contract event producer works only in the six peak months from Year 2; the table shows year-end headcount, so the producer appears as a dash and is costed at $4,500 a month ($54,000 annual-equivalent). Hires are timed to keep yearly utilisation at or below about 82% of available delivery hours. Hannah's $92,000 salary starts in month 1. The bookkeeper's $26,000 is a part-time salary for 20 hours a week.
Profit and loss
| Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Year 4 | Year 5 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $325,800 | $622,944 | $784,005 | $972,308 | $1,037,493 |
| Event-day contract staff, runners, registration and card fees | ($25,400) | ($48,566) | ($61,123) | ($75,803) | ($80,885) |
| Gross profit | $300,400 | $574,378 | $722,882 | $896,505 | $956,608 |
| Payroll incl. on-costs | ($248,128) | ($397,048) | ($454,622) | ($536,960) | ($561,090) |
| Rent | ($34,500) | ($35,500) | ($36,600) | ($50,400) | ($51,900) |
| Utilities | ($3,600) | ($3,700) | ($3,800) | ($4,600) | ($4,700) |
| Marketing | ($24,000) | ($28,000) | ($32,000) | ($36,000) | ($38,000) |
| Insurance | ($9,500) | ($11,500) | ($13,500) | ($15,000) | ($16,500) |
| Professional fees | ($7,000) | ($7,500) | ($8,000) | ($8,500) | ($9,000) |
| Software subscriptions | ($9,000) | ($13,000) | ($17,000) | ($20,000) | ($22,000) |
| Site inspections, travel and client hosting | ($6,000) | ($9,000) | ($12,000) | ($14,000) | ($15,000) |
| Storage unit for signage, décor and kits | ($3,600) | ($3,800) | ($4,000) | ($4,200) | ($4,400) |
| Memberships, certification and training | ($2,500) | ($3,500) | ($4,500) | ($5,000) | ($5,500) |
| Phones, supplies and postage | ($3,500) | ($4,500) | ($5,500) | ($6,000) | ($6,500) |
| Equipment replacement and new-hire kit | $0 | ($4,000) | ($4,000) | ($8,000) | ($5,000) |
| Bad debt allowance | ($3,000) | ($7,000) | ($10,000) | ($13,000) | ($15,000) |
| Annual pay raises (3% a year) | $0 | ($11,911) | ($27,686) | ($49,791) | ($70,422) |
| EBITDA | ($53,928) | $34,419 | $89,675 | $125,054 | $131,596 |
| Depreciation | ($4,343) | ($4,343) | ($4,343) | ($4,343) | ($4,343) |
| Interest | ($5,602) | ($4,603) | ($3,458) | ($2,196) | ($805) |
| Income tax | $0 | $0 | ($9,130) | ($24,888) | ($26,554) |
| Net income before start-up costs | ($63,873) | $25,473 | $72,745 | $93,627 | $99,894 |
| Start-up costs expensed at opening (legal and launch marketing) | ($18,000) | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Net income after start-up costs | ($81,873) | $25,473 | $72,745 | $93,627 | $99,894 |
Year 1 loses $53,928 at EBITDA and $81,873 after interest, tax and start-up costs. Payroll is 76% of revenue because the team is sized for the events booked in the coming quarters. Year 2 is the first profitable year, and it pays no income tax because the Year 1 loss is carried forward. EBITDA margin reaches 11.4% in Year 3, 12.9% in Year 4 as pricing and utilisation improve, and 12.7% in Year 5 as the larger office and accumulated pay raises land.
Cash movements
| Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Year 4 | Year 5 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cash from operations | ($97,168) | $11,906 | $67,380 | $86,620 | $100,308 |
| Equipment, AV kit and fit-out | ($24,000) | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Funding received | $205,000 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Loan principal repaid | ($7,734) | ($11,229) | ($12,374) | ($13,636) | ($15,027) |
| Owner distributions | $0 | $0 | ($20,000) | ($30,000) | ($45,000) |
| Net change in cash | $76,098 | $677 | $35,006 | $42,984 | $40,281 |
| Closing cash | $76,098 | $76,775 | $111,780 | $154,765 | $195,046 |
Closing cash is $76,098 at the end of Year 1 and rises in every later year. The Year 1 figure is lifted by the $205,000 of funding; operations alone use $97,168 that year. Distributions begin in Year 3, once retained earnings and cash can cover them. The cash shown is the agency's own: client funds held for vendor payments sit in a separate event-funds account and are not in these tables.
Balance sheet
| At year end | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Year 4 | Year 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cash | $76,098 | $76,775 | $111,780 | $154,765 | $195,046 |
| Accounts receivable | $19,637 | $37,547 | $47,255 | $58,605 | $62,534 |
| Equipment, AV kit and fit-out (net) | $19,657 | $15,314 | $10,971 | $6,629 | $2,286 |
| Total assets | $115,392 | $129,636 | $170,007 | $219,998 | $259,865 |
| Bank loan | $52,266 | $41,037 | $28,663 | $15,027 | $0 |
| Paid-in capital | $145,000 | $145,000 | $145,000 | $145,000 | $145,000 |
| Retained earnings | ($81,873) | ($56,400) | ($3,656) | $59,971 | $114,865 |
| Total liabilities and equity | $115,392 | $129,636 | $170,007 | $219,998 | $259,865 |
Margins, break-even and debt cover
| Measure | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Year 4 | Year 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EBITDA margin | -16.6% | 5.5% | 11.4% | 12.9% | 12.7% |
| Net margin (before start-up costs) | -19.6% | 4.1% | 9.3% | 9.6% | 9.6% |
| Payroll incl. pay raises as share of revenue | 76% | 66% | 62% | 60% | 61% |
| Revenue per full-time equivalent at year end | $93,086 | $138,432 | $142,546 | $149,586 | $159,614 |
| Average monthly revenue | $27,150 | $51,912 | $65,334 | $81,026 | $86,458 |
| Monthly revenue needed to cover operating costs | $32,024 | $48,801 | $57,229 | $69,723 | $74,564 |
| Debt service cover (EBITDA / interest + principal) | -4.0x | 2.2x | 5.7x | 7.9x | 8.3x |
The last two rows of the ratios table compare average monthly revenue with the monthly revenue needed to cover operating costs. Year 1 averages $27,150 against $32,024 needed, so it loses money. Year 2 averages $51,912 against $48,801. Debt service cover is negative in Year 1 because EBITDA is negative while interest is paid from the reserve, then reaches 2.2x in Year 2 and 5.7x in Year 3. The plan proposes a minimum-cash covenant of $25,000 and a debt-service-cover test from Year 2.
If bookings fall 20% short
| Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Year 4 | Year 5 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $260,640 | $498,355 | $627,204 | $777,846 | $829,994 |
| Net income before start-up costs | ($81,180) | $2,570 | $151 | $63,754 | $74,766 |
| Net income after start-up costs | ($99,180) | $2,570 | $151 | $63,754 | $74,766 |
| Closing cash | $62,718 | $44,075 | $28,428 | $73,809 | $134,749 |
This case cuts every revenue line by 20% in every year. The response: the first coordinator starts three months later, every hire from month 13 starts six months later, the second senior planner is dropped, marketing is cut by 20%, Hannah takes a 20% pay cut, the agency stays in its first office and no distributions are paid. The bookkeeper stays in place, because the client-funds controls do not change. On those terms the lowest month-end cash in Year 1 is $65,933, in September, and the agency ends every year with at least $28,428 in cash, which clears the proposed $25,000 covenant. Profit is close to zero in Years 2 and 3 ($2,570 and $151) and recovers in Years 4 and 5. Year 1 closing equity stays positive at $45,820.
Sources
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, Meeting, convention, and event planners, Occupational Outlook Handbook: 2025 employment, May 2025 median pay and 2025 to 2035 projection.
Ohio and Cincinnati tax and workers' compensation rules are not quoted in this plan. Confirm them with a CPA, the Ohio Department of Taxation, the City of Cincinnati and the Bureau of Workers' Compensation.
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