What Is a Banquet Event Order (BEO)?

A banquet event order, or BEO, is the working document for a catered event. It sets out everything the club has agreed to deliver — the timeline, the room, the menu, the headcount, the setup, the bar, the audiovisual needs and how the event will be billed — and it is the single page that the catering office, the kitchen, the banquet captain and the accounting office all run the function from.

What a BEO contains

Formats vary, but a complete BEO covers:

• Event header — host, contact, event type, date, room and the BEO number and revision.
• Timeline — setup, guest arrival, cocktails, dinner service, toasts, last call and breakdown.
• Counts — the expected count and the guaranteed count, and for plated dinners the number of each entrée.
• Menu — every course, with dietary notes and allergy flags by seat or guest where the event calls for it.
• Beverage — hosted bar, cash bar or consumption, with brands and cut-off times.
• Setup — floor plan, table shapes, linens, staging, dance floor and AV.
• Billing — pricing per guest, service charge, tax, deposits received and the balance due.

How it is used

The catering manager drafts the BEO once the host confirms the details, and the host signs it. The kitchen reads it for production and the chef count; the banquet captain reads it for staffing and room setup; accounting reads it for the final invoice. Any change after signing — an extra table, a switch from salmon to beef — is issued as a revision so every department works from the same version.

Why it matters at a private club

Club banquets mix members, non-members and outside clients, and each is billed differently: a member's party goes on the member's statement; a wedding for an outside couple is invoiced. When the BEO, the seating chart and the bill live in separate spreadsheets, counts drift, and the club ends up cooking for 180 and billing for 172. A BEO tied to the floor plan and the invoice closes that gap.

Related terms

• Guaranteed count
• Service charge
• Unrelated business income — non-member banquets often count toward it.

For a full walkthrough, read the BEO guide or start from the BEO template.

In Bubs: events include floor plans with per-seat meal selections, BEOs generated from the event, chef counts for the kitchen and billing at the guaranteed count. See events & banquets.