Guide · Event orders
BEO checklist: what to check when an event order arrives
Written by a hotel banquet operations manager ·
When a BEO arrives, check the revision date, the date and room, the four times, the three counts, the service style, the bars, the special meals and anything in the notes that changes the crew, then flag what is missing before anyone staffs from it. The twelve checks below take a few minutes per order.
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The twelve checks
| # | Check | What to look for |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Revision date or version | Newer than the copy you printed? Read the new one in full |
| 2 | Date | Right day, right week |
| 3 | Room | The room you expect. A moved function is the easiest change to miss |
| 4 | Room clash | Does another function use the same room, or one that combines with it, during the same hours (setup through strike)? |
| 5 | Times | Setup, start, end, strike all present and in order |
| 6 | Expected count | Present |
| 7 | Guaranteed count (GTD) | Present, or blank with the cut-off still ahead. Blank past the cut-off needs a call to sales |
| 8 | Set count | Present, or the number you will set (a little over the guarantee) |
| 9 | Service style and courses | Plated, buffet, stations, passed, coffee break, bar only. Poured wine? Number of courses? |
| 10 | Bars | How many, hosted, cash or consumption, and the hours |
| 11 | Special meals and allergen notes | Counts and wording; allergens confirmed before any label prints |
| 12 | Notes | VIP or head tables, cocktail hour, AV, anything that needs extra hands |
Lines 6 to 10 and 12 are the ones that move the crew. See servers per guest for how counts become people.
What to do with what you find
- Missing time or count: flag it, staff from the expected count until the guarantee arrives, and write down who you asked.
- Two functions in one room: call sales before anything is set.
- Allergen wording unclear: do not guess. Ask, then confirm it once.
- Revision newer than your printout: reprint, hand out the new copy and take the old one back.
Check it twice
Dates, rooms and the guarantee are fields where a wrong value is costly. Check them against the booking system's calendar or the day's list, not only against the page.
How Hotelwright handles it
Hotelwright reads the BEOs your system already prints and puts each event beside the page it came from, so the checks happen in one place.
- Review beside the page. Anything the reader was not sure of is highlighted, and nothing counts until you confirm it.
- Flags, never blocks. An event needing review, a GTD missing past the cut-off and two events overlapping in a room are each flagged. The cut-off is a setting (default noon, three days out).
- Rooms match your list. Names on the page are matched to your own room list, aliases included, and rooms that combine are checked together.
- Allergens. Labels print only what was confirmed for the event and say when allergens are not confirmed.
- Your edits stay. A field you fixed is not overwritten by a later upload.
FAQ
What banquet managers ask.
What should a banquet captain check on a BEO?
The revision date, the room, the times, the counts, the service style, the bars, the special meals and the notes. The twelve-check table above is the full list.
What does a BEO checklist include?
Header (date, room, order number), times, counts, service style, menu, bars, special meals and notes, plus whether it is the latest version.
How early should I review the week's BEOs?
Review each order as it arrives and again when the guarantee comes in. The right schedule depends on your property's cut-off and your own week.
What if the GTD is blank?
Staff from the expected count and flag the event. If the cut-off has passed, ask sales for the number.
Is there a printable checklist?
A printable BEO template with the same sections is on the BEO template page.