Guide · Event orders
How to read a banquet event order (BEO)
Written by a hotel banquet operations manager
A banquet event order is the one page the kitchen, the captain and the setup crew all work from. Here is how to read one in the order you need it, which lines change your staffing, and which to check twice. Hotelwright doesn't write BEOs; your sales or catering system still does. It reads them.
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What a BEO is
A banquet event order (BEO), also called an event order or function sheet, is the document sales sends to operations for each function: room, times, counts, menu, setup and notes. Sales writes it, operations runs it, and everyone on the floor is working from the same paper.
Large events can have several, or one order with several functions on it. Read each function as its own event.
Start with the header
Event name, date, room, order number and the client contact come first. Check the date and the room twice. A function that has been moved to another room is the easiest change to miss on a busy week.
Also look for the revision date or version. If it is later than the copy you printed, read the new one in full.
Times: setup, start, end, strike
A BEO usually lists four times, and they mean different things to different people:
- Setup: when the room can be set. Your setup crew works to this
- Start: when guests arrive or the function begins. Your crew's call time comes before it
- End: when the function is over. Service ends before the guests leave
- Strike: when the room must be cleared for the next function
Counts: expected, guaranteed and set
Expected is the sales estimate. Guaranteed (GTD) is the number the client commits to, and the kitchen and the staffing plan work from it. Set is how many seats are put out, which is often a little over the guarantee.
If the guarantee isn't in yet, staff off the expected count and flag the event, then correct it when the guarantee arrives.
Service style, menu and bars
Service style drives the crew more than anything else on the page. Plated, buffet, stations, passed hors d'oeuvres and a coffee break each need a different number of servers. Look for poured wine, the number of courses and any VIP or head table.
Read the menu for allergen and dietary notes, and read the bar section for the number of bars, hosted or cash, and the hours they run.
Which lines change your staffing
When one of these moves, the crew moves with it:
- The guarantee or the set count
- The service style or the number of courses
- The number of bars, or the hours a bar runs
- A VIP table or a poured wine service
- Any time or room change
When the BEO changes
Mid-week changes are the real work. Compare every revised BEO with the one you already printed and send the change to the people on that event, not the whole team.
Turning BEOs into a banquet staff schedule covers the whole week. Anything already printed that the change affects is marked Stale in Hotelwright, and the Daily Event Sheet reprints with the changes highlighted.
FAQ
What banquet managers ask.
What is a BEO?
A banquet event order (BEO), also called an event order or function sheet, is the document sales sends to operations for each function: room, times, counts, menu, setup and notes. Hotelwright reads the BEOs your system already prints; it doesn't write them.
What does GTD mean on a BEO?
GTD is the guarantee: the guest count the client commits to by the cut-off. Most banquet offices staff and cook to the guarantee, and use the expected count until it arrives.
What's the difference between a BEO and a Daily Event Sheet?
A BEO covers one function in full detail. The Daily Event Sheet puts all of the day's functions on one page, in time order, with counts, times and who's working, so the team can run the day from it.