A BEO (banquet event order) is the reference document for a catered event: date, schedule, venue, number of guests, menu, allergies, room, equipment, staff and billing, on a single page that sales, kitchen, service and delivery all read. It is produced from the accepted proposal and follows the event all the way to the invoice. In France, it is more often called an event technical sheet or a function sheet.
What a BEO is for
An event goes through five or six people who don't all talk to each other: the person who made the sale, the chef, the cooks, the drivers, the floor manager, accounting. Without a BEO, everyone works from their own version of the client's email. The BEO solves three problems:
- **a single version**: when the client changes the number of guests, everyone sees it;
- **nothing forgotten**: allergies, venue access and return time are on the document, not in a conversation;
- **an accurate invoice**: the BEO carries the guest guarantee and the accepted extras.
What a BEO contains
- **Client**: company, contact person, on-site phone number.
- **Event**: type, date, service hours, venue and access.
- **Guests**: confirmed count and guaranteed count.
- **Menu**: each course, quantities, options.
- **Allergens and diets**: prominently displayed, with the number of portions for each case.
- **Staff**: roles, headcount, arrival times.
- **Equipment and room**: dishes, furniture, rentals, what the venue provides, floor plan.
- **Logistics**: loading, setup, service, teardown, return.
- **Payment**: deposit received, balance, due date.
- **Notes**: everything the client said that doesn't fit anywhere else.
Example of a filled-in BEO
| Section | Content |
|---|---|
| Client | Groupe Lavoie inc. · Josée Lavoie |
| Event | 25th anniversary cocktail reception |
| Date | Thursday, November 12, 2026 · 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. |
| Venue | Salle Montcalm · 1200, rue Saint-Jean |
| Guests | 180 confirmed (guarantee 170) |
| Menu | 12 bites · oyster bar · pasta station |
| Allergens | 3 gluten-free · 2 vegan · 1 peanuts |
| Staff | 1 chef · 4 cooks · 8 servers · 1 bartender |
| Logistics | Loading 2 p.m. · Setup 3:30 p.m. · Return 11 p.m. |
| Payment | 50% deposit received · Balance 7 days before |
The names and places in this example are fictitious.
Common mistakes
- **A BEO written once, never updated.** The version printed in the kitchen is from last week; the client changed the menu the day before yesterday. The BEO must be generated from the up-to-date file, not copied by hand.
- **Allergies at the bottom of the page.** They go at the top, in bold, with the number of portions.
- **No return time.** Loading is scheduled, the return never is; that's what causes overtime.
- **One BEO per department.** Three documents, three versions. One page, read by everyone.
How CM does it
In Caterer Manager, the BEO report is generated automatically from the event record in the Events module: timeline, guest list, multiple deliveries, documents and logistics statuses are already there. Every change to the proposal carries through to production and billing, and the reprinted BEO always reflects the latest version.
A free template
Caterer Manager's BEO template covers the sections above on one page, with the guest guarantee, prominently displayed allergens and the day's timeline. It's the same template CM generates.
