Contract administration and commercial boundaries
Event cancellation question checklist
Cancellation is being discussed, and you realise nobody has read what each supplier agreement says about it.
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The short answer
Before deciding anything, collect each supplier's cancellation position in a table: what the document says, what the supplier says, key dates and the amount paid or committed.
Then send the questions that need interpretation to your legal and finance advisers. This page gives you the question pack; it does not say what any agreement allows.
Build a commitments table first
Make one row per supplier or venue. Record the document, the clause or page reference where cancellation is mentioned, the notice dates stated, the amount paid and the amount committed but unpaid.
Cancellation scenarios are alternatives, not a sequence. A cancellation 90 days out and one 30 days out are two separate cases. Do not add them together. The cancellation exposure worksheet keeps each scenario separate, and the deposit exposure calculator lists payments already made.
Questions for each venue or supplier
- What does the agreement say happens if the event is cancelled by the client? Please point to the clause.
- What are the notice dates, and how is notice to be given?
- What has been paid, what is outstanding and what depends on the date of notice?
- Are any amounts described as refundable, partly refundable or non-refundable? On what stated conditions?
- Can the booking be moved to another date instead, and under what conditions?
- Which costs have already been committed to third parties, and can you show them?
- Who at the supplier can confirm this in writing, and by when?
Questions for your own adviser
- Which of these clauses need interpretation before we choose an option?
- Does anything in the agreements affect who may give notice for our organisation?
- How should payments already made be treated in our accounts?
- Are there insurance or tax points we should raise with the relevant adviser? Share the table, not just the headline.
Making the table decision-ready
- Fill the table for every supplier before a committee meeting.
- Run each scenario once, with its own date, in the worksheet.
- Mark each cell as "from the document", "from the supplier by message" or "unknown".
- Take the table, the scenarios and the adviser questions to the decision-maker. If the decision is a postponement, use the postponement decision record.
Worked example · Fictional example
Mapping three suppliers before a committee meeting
Fictional organisation and figures, for illustration only.
A fictional association lists a venue, an AV supplier and a catering supplier. The venue has received RM20,000, with a notice date stated in the agreement. The AV supplier has been paid nothing, and a notice date is not stated. The caterer's quote refers to separate terms the secretariat has not seen.
The secretary requests the missing terms from the caterer, asks the AV supplier to state its position by message, and enters both as "from the supplier, not yet in writing". The worksheet shows a 90-day scenario and a 30-day scenario separately. The legal adviser receives the venue clause and the caterer terms with three specific questions.
Use this yourself
Cancellation question checklist and commitments table
Complete the table for each supplier, then send the questions.
- Supplier or venue, document name and clause or page reference:
- Notice dates stated, and how notice must be given:
- Amount paid / amount committed and unpaid:
- Amounts described as refundable, partly or not, and stated conditions:
- Option to move date instead, and stated conditions:
- Costs already committed to third parties, with evidence if shown:
- Source of each answer: document / supplier message / unknown
- Supplier contact who confirms in writing, and by when:
- Questions for legal adviser (list):
- Questions for finance adviser (list):
- Insurance questions to raise with the relevant adviser (list):
Handle it in-house, or bring in help?
Your team can usually handle this when
- Few suppliers and clear documents on file.
- One person can chase written answers.
- A legal adviser is already available to review.
Outside planning help earns its fee when
- Terms are scattered across emails, quotes and verbal promises.
- Many suppliers have different notice dates.
- The committee needs scenarios and costs side by side within days.
Need the commitments mapped and the questions sent?
A conference project lead can gather every supplier document, build the commitments table, chase written positions and prepare the scenarios and adviser questions for the decision-maker. Interpretation of the agreements stays with your legal adviser.
Questions organisers ask
Can this checklist tell us what we owe?
No. It collects what documents and suppliers say and organises the questions. What is owed is a legal and finance question for your advisers.
Why not add all cancellation scenarios together?
Only one scenario will happen. Adding them overstates the exposure and hides which date matters. Run each scenario separately.
What if a supplier will not answer in writing?
Record the cell as unknown and tell your adviser. Continue to ask, with a date for reply.
Related resources
Content record: Draft. Written from the cited sources and checked by automated rules; not yet independently reviewed.