Guide · Event orders
BEO vs event contract: what each one is for
Written by a hotel banquet operations manager ·
A banquet event order (BEO) is the working document that tells the kitchen, the floor and the setup crew what to do for one function, while the event contract is the agreement between the client and the property. Whether a BEO is itself binding is a question for your property's policy and your contract, not for this guide. This guide describes how banquet operations works with the two documents. It is not legal advice.
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Two documents, two readers
| Aspect | BEO | Event contract |
|---|---|---|
| Purpose | Run the function | Agree the terms |
| Main reader | Operations: kitchen, captain, setup, bar | Sales, the client, finance |
| Holds | Room, times, counts, menu, setup, bars, notes | Terms, dates, commitments, signatures |
| Changes | Often, up to the day | Rarely, and by agreement |
| Question it answers | "What do we do at 6 p.m. in the Garden Room?" | "What was agreed?" |
The usual flow: sales agrees the terms, then writes the BEO so operations can carry them out. A BEO is where the agreement becomes instructions.
Where they meet
Counts are the clearest meeting point. The guaranteed count (GTD) is the number the client commits to by the cut-off, and the kitchen and the crew work from it. What happens when a number moves after the cut-off is usually set by the contract or your property's policy, not by the BEO. See the guaranteed guest count for how operations treats the number.
What operations should do when the two disagree
- Do not decide it on the floor. The captain or banquet manager is not the right person to settle which document wins.
- Write down both versions and who said what, with the order number.
- Take it to the person who owns the contract (sales or catering) before the event if there is time, and tell the kitchen and the captain whichever answer comes back.
- Follow your property's policy. It decides the order of precedence, not this guide.
What operations should not do
- Reduce a crew below the people already assigned because the BEO count looks low. Check the cut-off and ask.
- Treat a verbal change as a BEO change. Get it written, then compare it field by field. See the BEO change order guide.
How Hotelwright fits
Hotelwright works on the operations side only. It does not store or interpret contracts. It reads the BEOs your sales or catering system prints and keeps their fields, so the team works from one set of numbers.
- A field a person or a change notice has set is never quietly overwritten by a later upload; the conflict is shown with every value and who set it.
- Anything already printed that a change affects is marked Stale and kept, not replaced.
- Counts re-run from your ratios (Team plan), and never drop below the number of people already assigned.
FAQ
What banquet managers ask.
Is a BEO a contract?
That depends on your property's policy and your contract; this guide does not say. Operationally, the BEO is the document the team runs the function from.
What is the difference between a BEO and a catering contract?
The contract records the agreement between client and property. The BEO turns it into instructions for the kitchen, the floor and the room.
Which one wins if they disagree?
Follow your property's policy and take the question to the person who owns the contract. Write both versions down first.
Who signs a BEO?
Practice differs by property. Many have the client approve the BEO; follow your own procedure.
Does Hotelwright read contracts?
No. It reads event orders, as PDFs or spreadsheet exports, and does not interpret contract terms.