Hand an event over through one current brief containing the agreed programme, rooms, guest counts, menus, contacts and unresolved decisions. Name a commercial owner and an operations coordinator. For each change, record who approved it and which departments acknowledged it. Forwarding the proposal alone does not give the team enough information to deliver the event.
Who owns the event handover?
The sales owner holds the agreement with the client: scope, price, terms and everything the hotel and the client have promised each other. The operations coordinator holds delivery: they split the work between departments and check that the agreement can be delivered as written.
In a smaller hotel one person may do both. Even then it helps to know which hat they are wearing when they decide something – are they changing the deal with the client, or only how it is prepared? Add a phone number and a deputy next to every name. A name with no contact is no help on a Saturday morning when that colleague is on holiday.
Which brief should operations use?
Put the event name, date, rooms, version number and date of the last change at the top. Directly below, link to the latest accepted proposal. If the client has since sent a new request that nobody has confirmed, it belongs under “open”, not among the preparation instructions. Otherwise it quietly becomes the plan without anyone agreeing to it.
The brief does not have to replace your banquet event order (BEO) or function sheet. Its job is to make sure every department is working from the same thing. Keep internal notes, such as the florist’s trade price, separate from text the client might see. And always say where colleagues will find the current version – “the latest is attached to Thursday’s email” is not a good answer.
What belongs on the handover checklist?
Ask each department to go through its own part before the meeting. In the meeting itself, deal only with conflicts and dependencies. Use this list as a starting point and adapt it to the programme and to how your hotel works:
- Event date, guest arrival, start and end of each part of the programme.
- Organiser and supplier access, set-up time and the time the room must be cleared.
- Agreed rooms and set-up, to be checked by the person responsible.
- Current number of attendees and the date until which the client can still change it.
- Chosen menu, service times, quantities and equipment needed.
- Contacts for the organiser and the operations coordinator, with deputies.
- Open decisions with an owner and a reply-by date.
When something is missing, say what is being checked and who is checking it. “As standard” is not enough for the room opening time or the number of microphones. A colleague who was not part of the negotiation should understand the instruction without digging through old emails.
Which guest counts should stay separate?
Guest numbers usually come in four different versions:
- Contracted number – how many people the client booked under the current proposal.
- Preparation number – how many the kitchen and service team prepare for.
- Actual number – how many people really came.
- Billed number – what the client is charged for under the agreed terms.
They are often the same, but not always. If you merge them into one “final number” field, nobody will know what the figure means when the bill is prepared. Preparing more portions does not mean they are all billable, and lower attendance does not by itself reduce the booked scope. The terms in the proposal or contract decide.
How do you handle a change from 40 to 50 guests?
The following situation is an illustrative example.
A company has a one-day training course at the hotel for 40 people, with lunch and an afternoon coffee break. A week before, the organiser writes: “Ten more colleagues are joining us, and we’d need lunch half an hour later.” At this point it is a request, not a change. The hotel has not yet checked the room, the kitchen or the price.
The sales manager records the exact wording and asks the coordinator for a view. The coordinator checks whether 50 people fit in the chosen set-up, whether the equipment is enough and whether the kitchen can serve lunch at the new time without clashing with another event. Only then does the organiser get a reply with the confirmed option and, if needed, a revised price.
- Record the starting point: 40 people, lunch at 12:30.
- Mark the request: 50 people, lunch at 13:00 – not yet confirmed.
- Assign the room, kitchen and equipment checks to named people.
- Once the client agrees, record the new contracted number and, separately, the preparation instruction.
- Ask the departments involved to confirm they have taken the change on board, then close the open points.
If 48 people turn up on the day, record 48 as actual attendance. Do not go back and overwrite the contracted or preparation number. What is billed follows the proposal and any confirmed changes. When accounts discuss the difference with the client a month later, both numbers will still make sense.
How do you check that departments received a change?
A sent email proves the information went out, not that anyone understood it. For a later lunch you need a reply from the kitchen and from the restaurant or banquet manager. For a new room set-up you need one from the team that sets it.
A short record is enough: which change, which department, who confirmed and whether they raised a concern. Do not ask for confirmation on every small detail; match it to how much the change affects the work. If a department flags a problem, take the decision back to the sales owner before the client is promised anything.
What goes to finance after the event?
For billing, pass on actual attendance, consumption and approved extras, together with where the figures come from and who will explain any difference. A deposit received is separate financial information; a confirmed scope does not mean the money has arrived.
Then pick one or two things that made delivery harder and adjust the handover accordingly – for example, add a question about supplier arrival times to the list. Only add a new field if it helps someone make a decision or prepare a service.
How can the proposal support preparation?
If you want enquiries, proposals, contracts, deposits and events in one place, take a look at Verando for hotels. The setup guide explains how to work with an event in the app. The best test is a real event of your own: try Verando for free and build a brief where the team can see at a glance what is agreed, what is being prepared and what is still open.
Frequently asked questions
Who should own an event handover?
A sales owner for the agreement with the client and an operations coordinator for delivery, each with a deputy. In a smaller hotel it can be one person, but the brief should make clear who decides what.
Is sending the proposal to operations enough?
No. A proposal is a sales document. Operations needs current preparation instructions, a list of open decisions and confirmation that important changes have been taken on board.
How do you record a change from 40 to 50 guests?
First as a request to be checked. Once the client agrees, record the new contracted number, the preparation number separately and, after the event, actual attendance. Billing follows the agreed terms.
When should the handover meeting take place?
Early enough for departments to prepare their services and resolve open questions. For a simple training day a short conversation a few days before is fine; for a conference or wedding, earlier and in more detail.