What is a BEO?
A BEO (Banquet Event Order) is the single document that tells every team — kitchen, service and setup — exactly how to execute an event: date, start and end times, guest count, menu, room setup, AV, run-of-show timeline and pricing. If the contract says what was agreed and the invoice says what is owed, the BEO says how the event will actually be run on the day.
One page, one source of truth. When a detail is on the BEO, it happens; when it is missing, it usually doesn't. That is why it sits at the centre of professional catering and banquet operations.
The same document, many names.
Depending on the country, venue type and team, the BEO goes by several names. These all refer to the same operational document — the one your staff carry on the night:
Function sheet is the common term in UK, European and South African venues; Banquet Event Order or BEO is standard in North American hotels and catering. Event order, banquet order, function agenda, running sheet and kitchen order are regional or department-specific variations. Whichever label a team uses, the purpose is identical: a single, agreed sheet that translates a booking into instructions the kitchen, bar and floor can act on.
What a BEO includes.
A complete BEO covers the standard fields below. Together they answer who the event is for, when it runs, what is served, how the room is set, and who is responsible.
Event & client
Event name and type, client or organisation, the on-site point of contact with a mobile number, and the account manager who booked it.
Date & times
The event date, staff call time, setup-complete time, guest arrival, and the start and end times for each part of the event.
Guest count / covers
The working headcount and the final guaranteed number the event is billed and prepped against — the count the kitchen cooks to.
Room + floor plan / setup
The room or space, setup style (rounds, banquet rows, theatre, cocktail), table and chair counts, linens, staging and the floor-plan diagram.
Menu + dietary / allergens
Every course or station with its dishes, plus an explicit dietary breakdown — vegan, gluten-free and allergy counts, ideally by table and seat.
Beverage
The bar package, service hours and last call, bartender count, signature cocktails, and any bring-your-own or corkage arrangement.
AV & rentals
Microphones, speakers, projector and screen, lighting, plus any hired furniture or equipment — noting who supplies and who operates each.
Run-of-show timeline
The minute-by-minute order of events — arrival, speeches, service, first dance, cake cut, close — so the captain can keep the night on track.
Pricing & deposit
Per-head and package pricing, service charges and taxes, the deposit paid and the balance due — the figures that must match the contract.
Staffing / assignments
The named banquet captain with a mobile number, server and bartender counts, kitchen lead, and specific station or table assignments.
For a section-by-section walkthrough with a filled-in example, see the full banquet event order template guide.
Who uses a BEO, and why.
The BEO is written by whoever coordinates the event, then read by everyone who executes it. It is standard practice across:
- Caterers — to brief the kitchen and service team on an off-site event they may be seeing for the first time on the day
- Banquet halls and event venues — to coordinate setup, kitchen and floor across multiple simultaneous events
- Hotels — to hand a confirmed function from the sales office to banquet operations without detail being lost
Three reasons it is used everywhere: coordination — kitchen, bar and floor all work from one agreed sheet instead of scattered emails; client sign-off — the details can be confirmed with the client before the event so there are no surprises; and error prevention — a written headcount, dietary breakdown and timeline is far harder to get wrong than a memory or a hallway conversation. When something does go wrong on the night, it is almost always because a detail was missing from the BEO, or someone was working from an old version.
BEO vs contract vs invoice.
These three documents describe the same event but do different jobs. Confusing them is a common source of mistakes.
| Document | What it is | Main purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Contract | The legal agreement between client and venue | Makes the booking binding — terms, cancellation, deposit and liability |
| Invoice | The billing document | Requests and records payment — what is owed, what is paid, and when |
| BEO | The operational execution sheet | Tells the team how to run the event — timing, menu, room, staffing and dietary detail |
In short: the contract is about the deal, the invoice is about the money, and the BEO is about the day. All three should carry the same figures — which is exactly why teams increasingly generate them from a single event record instead of maintaining each by hand.
How software builds a BEO for you.
Historically the BEO was retyped by hand for every event. Modern catering and events software builds it automatically instead.
Because the client, date, room, menu, guest count and pricing are already captured when the booking is confirmed, the BEO can be produced as a view of that record rather than a separate document typed from scratch. The result is a printable function sheet with the timing, headcount, menu, room setup and dietary breakdown already filled in — one live version everyone works from, with every change tracked so a wrong detail on the night can be traced rather than argued about.
- See how an automated banquet event order works on the BEO software page
- Get the field-by-field banquet event order template to build your own
- See it alongside the rest of the workflow on the features page
BEO — common questions.
What does BEO stand for?
Is a function sheet the same as a BEO?
Who prepares the BEO?
What's the difference between a BEO and a contract?
When is a BEO finalized?
See a BEO build itself.
Set up a real event, confirm it, and print the banquet event order — timing, headcount, menu, room and dietary, straight from the record. Try it free for 14 days, no credit card to start.