Budgeting was not something we realized until recently. It can make or break shows and tours. We share some simple tricks that will help you create a budget template you can use for any show. This will allow you to keep your spending and ensure you don’t lose money. It’s really bad to pay for play.

Trick 1 – Work with at least three sales targets to get a clear picture of your draft tour budget

You are touring for an album launch within a few months. Although it will be your first time performing in some cities, you have been receiving some radio play, so things look pretty good. Your potential audience will still be a mystery. Other factors could also play a role in whether that is sloppy. On the same night, a major sporting event. It’s not hard to imagine how it works.

You need to be able to achieve a variety of sales targets. There is a capacity of 500 people in the room. Let’s aim for 70% (335), 90% (445) and 100% (505).

These targets can help you calculate a projected income based on your ticket price and guide your spending. This can help you adjust the ticket price to ensure you are on track.

Second Trick: Get specific about what you need to spend on

It is important to think ahead and plan for everything, from your flights, accommodation, and transport costs to additional production, social media ads, and the PER DIEMS. Remember to include your management and booking agency fees. Below are some examples:

Three-Step Trick: Find out how much it will cost

Here is where tour budgets are magic. Take a look at this example:

It is easy to see that even if you sell 350 tickets, you will lose $830 before spending any marketing money on ads or posters.

This information can be used in several ways.

1. More income is needed. Increase your ticket price. What if you don’t have a $20 ticket yet? Consider other options.
2. A lot of merchandise could be sold on the night. You could sell a lot of merchandise on the night.
3. Marketing can be a great way to increase your sales. You will likely sell 100 more tickets to reach your 90% goal. It’s better for your bottom line, mood, and career. It’s risky.
4. These line items can be cut. Are you going to need the extra light FX that will cost you $350? Stay with friends and not pay for a hotel room. Look for cheaper flights. Are you all going to need $100 per day?

You’ll start to feel more comfortable with your ticket sales information, and you might be able to make last-minute calls for extra production or lighting. After you have worked through several budgets, you will be able to understand better how to translate the numbers. You can tweak the numbers to determine how they affect your bottom line. This will help you make better decisions.

We love you, so we asked our Amplifire Music friends (managers of Confidence Man, Jungle Giants and many more) to share one of their tour-budget templates with me. To make your next tour and shows more real, click the link to download an Excel spreadsheet template.

If you still feel like you are struggling to understand bands’ finances, we recommend that you visit our Book Keeping Course. It’s bloody excellent if we do say so ourselves.