What to charge per event. Flat fee vs percentage, priced from your real hours. Free, no signup.
How event planners price per event: flat fee vs percentage, built from real hours, assistant costs, and overhead. All calculations run in your browser; your numbers never leave your device.
Start by picking the package preset that matches your service: Day-of, Partial, or Full planning. Each preset fills in a starting hours figure (25, 80, or 200) that you can edit freely, then adjust the assistants count, pay per assistant, and your per-event overhead for items like insurance, software, and travel. Next enter the hourly rate you want to pay yourself, and optionally the flat fee you currently charge; leave it blank and the tool will simply tell you the minimum fee to hit your rate. In the client budget card, type a typical total event budget and the percentage rate you are considering, starting from the editable 12 percent default. The tool breaks your fee into three cost rows, then shows your minimum flat fee in large type with a caption explaining what it covers. If you entered a current fee, you get a verdict: priced to profit, close but leaking, or underpriced, with the dollar gap spelled out. A final comparison table pits your flat fee against the percentage model at the entered budget, showing what you keep and your effective hourly rate for each, plus the budget at which the percentage model takes the lead.
Example only, not typical earnings. Suppose a planner picks the Partial preset (80 hours), books 1 assistant at $250, carries $300 of overhead, targets $75 per hour for their own time, currently charges a $3,500 flat fee, and is comparing against a 12 percent rate on a $30,000 client budget. The math: 80 hours x $75 = $6,000 for their own time; plus 1 x $250 = $250 in assistant cost; plus $300 overhead, for a minimum flat fee of $6,550. Their current $3,500 fee leaves ($3,500 - $250 - $300) / 80 = $36.88 per hour after costs, well under the $75 target, so the verdict reads UNDERPRICED. On the percentage side, 12% of $30,000 = $3,600, which works out to ($3,600 - $250 - $300) / 80 = $38.13 per hour. The percentage model beats the flat fee once the client budget passes $3,500 / 0.12 = $29,167.
How is the minimum flat fee calculated?
The tool adds three parts: your own pay (your hours times your target hourly rate), your assistant cost (assistants times pay per assistant), and your per-event overhead. The result is the lowest flat fee that still pays you your target rate after every cost is covered.
What do the three verdicts mean?
PRICED TO PROFIT means your effective rate after costs is at least 95 percent of your target. CLOSE, BUT LEAKING means you land between 70 and 95 percent, and the tool tells you roughly how much to raise the fee to close the gap. UNDERPRICED means you are keeping less than 70 percent of your target rate, and the tool shows your minimum fee as the fix.
Should I charge a flat fee or a percentage of the event budget?
The comparison table shows both models side by side: what you keep and your effective hourly rate under each. Percentages scale with the client's spend while flat fees do not, so flat fees usually win on smaller budgets and percentages pull ahead on large ones. Use the table as information only; your market and services decide the right model, not this page.
What does the breakeven line tell me?
Below the comparison table, the tool shows the client budget at which the percentage model starts paying more than your flat fee, computed as the flat fee divided by the percentage rate. With a $3,500 flat fee and a 12 percent rate, that crossover is $29,167.
Is my business data stored or sent anywhere?
No. Everything computes directly in your browser on your device, and the page states that your numbers never leave your device. There is no account, no signup, and no server receiving your rates, fees, or budgets.