Event fee inclusions schedule: what the fee covers
Two quotes arrive at different totals, and nobody can say whether they cover the same things.
The short answer
A fee inclusions schedule is a one-page table attached to a quote or agreement. For each line it says what is included, what is excluded, what is conditional, and who confirmed it.
Its job is administrative: to make the commercial scope visible before work starts. What the wording means in law, and how tax applies, are questions for your legal and finance advisers.
What goes in the schedule
List every service the supplier is expected to perform, then mark each line against the same columns. Blank cells are the problem: a blank means each side assumes something different.
| Column | What to record | Typical gap if left out |
|---|---|---|
| Service line | One task or item, for example registration desk staffing or stage set-up. | Items bundled into a single lump sum. |
| Included | Quantity, hours, dates and location covered by the fee. | No quantity, so "included" has no edge. |
| Excluded or extra | Items the supplier says are charged separately, with the rate if quoted. | Extras discovered on the invoice. |
| Conditional | Items included only if a condition holds, such as a notice date or a minimum headcount. | Condition known to the supplier but not to the client. |
| Confirmed by | Name and date of the person at the supplier who confirmed the line. | Verbal confirmation nobody can trace. |
Lines that are commonly left unclear
- Set-up, dismantling and load-in time versus event hours.
- Overtime thresholds and rates. Use the overtime cost scenario calculator to see what a late finish would add.
- Whether tax, service charge or other statutory add-ons are inside the quoted figure. Record the supplier's written statement and send the question to your finance adviser.
- Travel, accommodation, parking and meals for supplier staff.
- Printing, signage and consumables, and who owns leftover stock.
- Replacement staff or equipment if something fails.
How to build it in four steps
- Take the scope from your brief or request for proposal and copy each task into the first column.
- Send the blank schedule to every supplier being compared, so they fill in the same lines.
- Return unclear answers with a written question and record the reply in the Confirmed by column.
- Attach the final schedule to the signed agreement and use it as the reference when a later request arrives as a change request.
Using it after signing
When the invoice arrives, check each billed line against the schedule. The invoice reconciliation worksheet helps flag lines that match no included item.
Anything outside the schedule goes through the change route, not through a message on a chat app. That keeps a record of who approved the extra cost.
Worked example · Fictional example
Comparing two AV quotes for a one-day forum
Fictional organisation and figures, for illustration only.
Persatuan Fiktif Pengurus Logistik receives AV quotes of RM38,000 and RM44,500 for a one-day forum. The cheaper quote lists "technician support" without hours and does not mention load-in.
Using one schedule, the secretariat asks both suppliers to state technician hours, load-in time and overtime rate. The cheaper supplier replies that load-in the evening before is extra at an hourly rate; the second already includes it. After adding the stated extra, the gap is much smaller, and the committee compares like with like. Whether tax is in either figure is sent to the association's finance adviser.
Use this yourself
Fee inclusions schedule (copy and complete)
One row per service line. Write Not stated rather than leaving a cell blank.
- Service line:
- Included (quantity, hours, dates, place):
- Excluded or charged as extra (rate if quoted):
- Conditional on (condition, notice date, headcount):
- Tax, service charge or other add-ons: stated inside / outside / not stated
- Supplier staff travel, meals, accommodation: who pays
- Overtime threshold and rate, if any:
- Confirmed by (name, role, date, how):
- Question sent to finance or legal adviser, if any:
Handle it in-house, or bring in help?
Your team can usually handle this when
- You are comparing two or three quotes for a familiar service.
- One person can chase suppliers for written answers.
- The scope is already written in a brief.
Outside planning help earns its fee when
- Several workstreams and suppliers overlap and extras are likely to double up.
- Procurement needs a documented comparison before approving spend.
- The same supplier quotes across several events and the inclusions drift each time.
Need the schedule built across all suppliers?
A conference project lead can turn your brief into one inclusions schedule per supplier, chase the written answers and keep the reconciled list as the working reference. Review of the wording stays with your own legal and finance advisers.
Questions organisers ask
Is a fee inclusions schedule a contract?
It is a working document. Whether it forms part of an agreement depends on how the agreement refers to it, which is a question for your legal adviser. Attach it and refer to it by name so it is not lost.
Should we ask suppliers to use our schedule or theirs?
Ask them to complete yours, so every quote answers the same lines. They can add lines for items you did not think of; record those as questions.
What if a supplier will not state something in writing?
Record it as Not stated and treat it as an open cost risk in your budget. Raise it before signing, not after the first invoice.
Related resources
Content record: Draft. Written from the cited sources and checked by automated rules; not yet independently reviewed.