Post-event report template for banquets

Why the report matters

The BEO says what was planned. The report says what happened. The banquet office needs the difference: a final count that went over the guarantee, a bar that stayed open an extra half hour, a server who left early, a chair that broke. Without a written report, those facts live in one captain's memory and are gone by Monday.

It is also the start of next year's event. A returning client's BEO is better when someone wrote down that the toast ran twenty minutes long.

A filled-in example

Fictional event at a fictional hotel. No real client, venue, guest or staff member.

Fernwood Garden Club Annual Dinner · EO 2214 · Grand Ballroom · Fri, Nov 6, 2026 · Captain J. Example

GTD 180 · Set 186 · Final count 184 · Difference +4 over GTD

Crew: 12 servers, 4 bussers, 2 bartenders. One server (A. Placeholder) left at 9:30 pm, sick; the captain covered the section.

Client changes: bar extended 30 minutes; 4 extra guests seated at table 18.

Special meals: 6 vegetarian and 2 made without gluten-containing ingredients served as planned. One guest at table 4 asked about nuts in the dessert; checked with the kitchen before serving.

Incidents: none.

Damage and lost property: one chair with a cracked leg, tagged and set aside. A grey scarf found at table 11, logged with security.

Next time: the toast ran 15 minutes over the program. Hold the main course until the client contact gives the cue.

All names and details are invented.

How to write a good one

• Facts and times, not opinions. "Bar closed at 10:30 pm at the client's request" helps the office. "The client was difficult" doesn't.
• Write the final count you counted, not the one you were told. Count seats in use and plates served, the way your hotel does it.
• In-and-out times from the floor, before people leave. The office uses them to check hours against the schedule.
• Anything added on the night goes on the report, even if the manager approved it out loud. It is the office's only record.
• Allergens: what happened, not what was planned. If a guest's need was handled with the kitchen, say so.
• Finish before you leave the building. A report written the next morning is a report from memory.

This page covers the paper. Your hotel's own policies on incident reports, injuries and billing come first; follow them where they ask for more.

Where it goes

The captain gives it to the banquet office the same night or at the start of the next shift. The office matches the final count and any additions against the BEO, checks the in-and-out times against the schedule, and files the "next time" note with the client's record. For the before-the-event documents, see the Daily Event Sheet and the run of show template. The banquet captain checklist puts the report in the captain's end-of-night steps.

In Hotelwright

Hotelwright is built for the before: reading the BEOs, the Daily Event Sheet, labels and, on the Team plan, the crew and the published schedule. Use this paper template for the after. A few records Hotelwright does keep help when you write it: every print is kept with its time, so you can see which version of the sheet the floor was working from; when a staff member reports a call-out, the shift is marked Needs cover and the manager and the event's captains are told; and on the Team plan a manager can tick "Briefed" on the event screen, with the time saved. Hours in Hotelwright come from scheduled times, not punches, so actual in-and-out times stay on your report and your timekeeping system.