Knowledge Base

Venues

Bookings

Creating a Simple Booking

Learn how to create a simple booking through the full sales process of iVvy.

Creating a Simple Booking

The following guide will take you through the full sales process of iVvy. This is a simple workflow guide and may be adjusted to suit your own business practices. Throughout this guide, you will be able to skip to the relevant section using the provided links. Pro tips and shortcuts will also be provided.

The following guide will cover:

Creating an Opportunity

An opportunity is initially created when you receive a new enquiry from a client. iVvy uses Opportunities to track your sales pipeline, conversion rates and enable the emailing features of the system.

To create an Opportunity, you can:

Click onto any date in the Diary and click Opportunity
On your Diary, click the Blue '+' Button and click Opportunity
Navigate to Sales > Opportunities > Click on Add Opportunity

Working top to bottom down the screen, ensure that you fill in all the mandatory fields (with a grey line) and any additional custom fields that you have created.

Opportunity Name- Name of the event inquiry
Contact Type- Whether a Company or Contact has inquired about the event
Company/Contact- Search and select a Company/Contact should they exist in your Contact database or 'Add' them into the system if they are a new Company/Contact. If the company or contact does exist but needs updating, select it and click 'Edit'
Sales Person- The Sales Person responsible for the opportunity
Opportunity Type/Market Segment- What type of business this event will be. For example: Corporate, Private, Member, Wedding etc
Source- Where did the opportunity come from
Channel- What communication method was used to attract the opportunity
Quality- What is the chance that this opportunity will progress to a confirmed sale
Stage- Where does this opportunity currently sit in your sales pipeline
Description- Any detail of the enquiry

All the above bolded fields are mandatory in the iVvy system and help ensure team members capture this data which will be populated into the reporting features of iVvy.

Clicking the 'Save' button will add this opportunity to the Sales > Opportunities tab on the left of the screen.

adding an opportunity

Note: If you have additional fields and information that you wish to capture during the enquiry stage, you are able to add these by navigating to Global Settings > CRM > Custom Fields.

Tracking Emails for an Opportunity

If you want to track and log your emails in iVvy that have been sent from your current email system, you can use the CC email address that is unique to each opportunity that you create.

Sales > Opportunities > Edit Opportunity
Click on the Emails tab
Click on the Copy CC Address link
Paste email link when sending an email to your client from your normal email address. The email will send through to the Emails tab of your Opportunity so you have a record of your communication. It will also allow you to forward any existing email chains back into iVvy.
Pro Tip: If you need to send a Function Kit or Brochure to a client, send it from your normal email address, and CC or BCC this email address at the same time so that your team can see that this email has been sent.

Tracking Activities for an Opportunity

iVvy has the ability to record Activities, which are a record of what you have done to secure the sale. They can include tracking your phone calls, emails, follow-ups, site inspections, networking events, etc. Learn more about Setting up your Activities. Managers will be able to use reports to track recorded activities over a set period of time.

To add an Activity:

Sales > Opportunities > Edit Opportunity
Click on the Activities tab > Add Activity
Add in the Activity Name
Select the Type
Select the Purpose of the Activity
Select the Optional Start and End Date and Time of the Activity.
Note: If you wish the Activity to show in your Activity Calendar, you will need to add in the time and date
Add in the location of the Activity
Assign a Team Member to the Activity
Add in the Description of the Activity
Create an Optional Follow-up Task. Learn more about Creating Tasks
Click Save

Adding a Quote to an Opportunity

Once you have created your opportunity and have discussed the details of the booking with the client, you can prepare a quote for them. Before adding the quote:

Navigate to the Details Tab
Update the Stage of the Opportunity to Quoted. This will ensure that your reports are up to date at all times. The system will prompt you again to update the stage of the opportunity when converting to tentative, confirmed or cancelled

To add a Quote to an Opportunity:

Click on Quotes tab within the Opportunity
Click on Add Quote
Amend the Reference Code if required (this must be a unique number and is automatically generated by default)
Add in a Block ID or Purchase Order # if known or required - This will display on your documents and invoices
Give the Quote a Name. This should include the client or company name, and the name of the event. This quote name will appear in the function diary, and on all documentation as the quote progresses through the booking life cycle
Confirm the contact details
Select the Industry if it is known at this stage and is applicable
Select the Event Type - this will help to segment the revenue of this quote for your reports
Select the Booking Type - SIMPLE. A simple booking is used when the booking is only using one of your function spaces and is only a one day event. Please see the Creating a Detailed Event if your event requires multiple function spaces or is over multiple days
Select the Event Start Date for the booking
Select if Accommodation is Required. Learn more about Adding Accommodation to your Quote Guide
Select if the Food and Beverage for the booking will be invoiced to the client by selecting Master Account
Under Event Template or Session/Function, Select CREATE SESSION/FUNCTION
Select the Status of this Session/Function. Please see the Session/Function Status article
Select the Space and Layout type for this quote
Select if you want the ability to override space pax maximum for the space
Enter in the Start and End time for the event
Add in the Optional Setup and Pack Down times in minutes. This will extend the function diary by x number of minutes and will give you a warning if you try and book in another event while you are setting up or packing down this event

Adding a quote to an Opportunity 4

Space Hire/Room Rental

Select if you are going to charge for the hire/rental for this space. Select Enter a Price to charge, or No Cost Associated for no charge. If you are not charging, skip to step #5
If charging, select the Room Hire Plan that you wish to pull the prices from. Learn more about Setting up your Room Hire Plans
Select the Price Type. This can be either Minimum Spend, Hourly, Half Day, Full Day or Night Rate. See additional notes below for Minimum Spend
The System will then show you the Estimated Price based on the Room Hire Plan selected. This will be automatically populated into the Space Hire Price. You can choose to accept this price, or manually override this to apply a discount or increase the price as required
Enter in the Total Attendees
Select the Payment Terms, if known, if the quote were to progress to a confirmed booking
Select if the booking is commissionable, and select the Agent who ou will be paying the commission to. Learn more about Adding Agents to Manage Commissions
Select an optional discount or surcharge campaign. Learn more about Creating Discount Campaigns
Assign any required Booking Roles. Learn more about Creating Booking Roles
Click Save

Minimum Spend

If selecting Minimum Spend, the Minimum Spend will be pre-filled based on your Room Hire/Rental Plan, or you can manually set the price here.

Next to Revenue, select the cost centres that will contribute to the client meeting your minimum spend.

Under Space Hire Price, only enter a price if you are charging for Room Hire/Rental IN ADDITION to the Minimum Spend, otherwise, add the price as zero.

Example 1.
Minimum Spend for your venue is $5000 on Food and Beverage. Set the Price Type as Minimum Spend and the Minimum Spend Value as $5000 and tick Food and Beverage. Leave the Space Hire Price as $0

Example 2.
Minimum Spend for your venue is $5000 and you also charge $1000 Room Hire/Rental. Set the Price Type as Minimum Spend and the Minimum Spend Value as $5000 and tick Food and Beverage. Set the Space Hire Price as $1000. Once you add $5000 of F&B Spend to your quote, an additional $1000 room hire/rental will be added, making the total minimum cost of this quote $6000. Anchor

Finding your Quote

You can find your quote again at any time by clicking on the SALES > QUOTES tab on the left of the screen.

You can add multiple quotes to the same opportunity by:

Clicking on the Details Tab
Click the Blue hyperlink for the Opportunity Name
Click on the Quotes Tab
Click on Add Quote

Preparing your Quote

We are now ready to add items and revenue to your quote. We do this by moving across the tabs from the left to right of the screen. The Details tab covers all of the content we entered in the previous steps. You can adjust the Date, Time, Attendees and Room Hire/Rental Price from the Details tab at any time.

Contacts

The Contacts tab allows you to add in additional contacts and their descriptions, who may need to be included in any correspondence for the booking.

Food & Beverage

Adding Menus

Adding a Menu with Menu Items Priced Per Person

Next, we will add a menu to our quote. You can add as many menus as required, or none if the event does not require catering. Learn more about Creating your Menus.

Click on the Food and Beverage tab
Click on Add Menu
Use the Optional Menu Type Filter to filter your menus by category. This is useful if you have a lot of menus
Select the Menu to add to this Quote
Select the Menu Group headings and Menu Items if known at this stage. If not you can add them later from the Items tab
Confirm the Name of the Menu - You can override the name for this quote and it will not affect the menu name for other quotes or bookings
Confirm the number of attendees this menu will be catered for
Enter the Serving Start and End time (if known at this stage - it can be updated later)

Pro Tip: Click the Copy From Session - This will automatically populate the time from the session times you have already loaded.
Check the Estimated Sales Price - This is the Price you have loaded into the system in your setup
Check the Cost Centre that this revenue will be allocated to for your reports
Confirm the Sales Price - You can override the Price to provide a discount, or change the price if creating a bespoke menu
Click Save to add this Menu to the Quote

Adding a Menu with Menu Items Priced Per Item

When adding in a menu with items priced per item, you will need to complete some additional steps before saving the menu.

Click Add Menu and select the menu to add to the Quote
Select the Menu Group headings and Menu Items if known at this stage. If not you can add them later from the Items tab
Click on the Items tab
Click on Add Items and click on Optional Menu Items. This will allow you to select the items that have individual prices
Select the items and enter the quantity. If you are adding in the same quantity of multiple items you can simply multi-select the items and enter the quantity and click save. If you are adding in multiple items with different quantities, select them all here and we can edit them in the next step
Leave the Sales Price empty, unless you want to manually enter a price for these items. If left blank the system will automatically add the price on the next step based on what you have loaded into the system during your menu setup
Click Save

If required, click Edit to adjust the quantity and price of any items, and click Add Item again to add additional items
You will notice that the Estimated Sale Price is calculated based on the quantity and sales price of each item entered - however, the sales price remains at zero

Click on the Menu Tab and enter the Estimated Price into the Sales Price to confirm the revenue for this menu. Of course, you can override this price to provide a discount or create a bespoke menu price.

adding a menu options pricing

Adding a Beverage Package
The next step is to add any required Beverage Packages. Like Menus, you can add in as many combinations of beverage packages as you require. Learn more about Creating your Beverage Packages.

Click on the Food & Beverage tab
Click Add Beverage Package
Select the required Beverage Package
Confirm the name. You can override the name for this event and it will not change the name of this beverage package for any other quote or booking
If you have selected a per hour beverage package, select if the package is to be charged hourly or daily, and for how many hours
Confirm the Total Attendees this Beverage Package will be catering for
Confirm the Start and End Time for the package
Pro Tip: Click the Copy from Session Button
Check and confirm the Estimated Sale Price against the Sales Price and override as required. The cost centre will default to the cost centre that was setup originally and can be changed as required
Click on the Items tab to view, add or amend the items that will be included as part of this package
Click Save

adding a beverage menu Anchor Adding Resources

The next tab to the right is the Resources tab which is where you will find all of your AV equipment, theming, linen and any other item that you wish to either charge for, or track the quantity of in the system. Learn more about Creating your Resources.

Click on the Resources tab
Click Add Resource
Select either:
Internal - This is an Inhouse Resource
External - This is a Resource managed by a 3rd Party Supplier and will need to have a company associated to the resource
Select the required resource
Select the Quantity of this resource required
Select the time that this resource is required from and until, Start and End Time
Select the Price Method of Hourly or Daily for a flat rate fee
Check the Estimated Sales Price Per Item
Confirm the Cost Centre where the revenue for this item will be reported to
Confirm the Sale Price Per Item
Click Save
Repeat the process for each Resource required

Anchor adding a resource

Adding an Additional Item

We will now skip to the Additional Items tab. Additional Items allow you to add in any other bespoke item that has not been added to your setup, or to provide a line item discount that will be visible on the proposal document and invoices. It can also be used when adding an additional item after the event date, for example if your event had a Bar Tab on Consumption and the organiser was paying at the end of the event.

Adding an additional item.

Click on Additional Items tab
Click on Add Item
Give the Item a Name in the Description section
If you want the item to appear on your Event Order (BEO) enter the date and time
Add the Quantity of this item
Allocate the cost centre of where the revenue for this item will be reported to
Confirm the Sale price of this item
Click Save

adding an additional item

Adding an additional item as a discount line item

Complete steps 1-6 above, giving the description of item as a discount - such as 10% Discount off Food and Beverage, or $100 Room Hire Discount or VIP Voucher Used
Under the Sale Price, enter the amount as a negative (-) amount. This will remove this amount from the cost centre you have selected and will appear as a negative amount on the summary screen and as a negative line item on your invoices

Anchor adding an additional item discount 2

Reviewing the Summary Tab

Now that we have added in revenue and items to our quote, we can review the summary tab to check the line items of the quote and check the total revenue for the event.

Note: You can add and remove items at any time and the summary tab will always remain up to date once you click save on any item.

Click the Summary tab.

You will see:

Each line item that you have added
The quantity of each line item
A break down of the price including and excluding tax
Any additional items
Any service fees and additional taxes

It is important to always check the summary tab, as the information and pricing shown here is what will be merged into your proposal and contract documents.

Pro Tip: You can select 'Set Columns' on the top right should you wish to add or hide any columns from the table.

Anchor reviewing the summary

Generating and Emailing the Proposal Document

Once the Summary Tab is correct we can merge all of the items of the quote into a proposal document that can be emailed quickly to the client.

Click on the Documents tab
Click on Documents
Click Create Document
Select PDF Proposal or E-Proposal depending on your preference. Learn more about Setting up your Document Templates
Select My Templates from Template Type. Only use standard templates if you have been advised to do so.
Under Custom Template select your preferred template for this quote
Click Save
The page will keep refreshing itself while the document is created. Once ready select the proposal with the checkbox and click the Edit button
Scrolling down the page you will be able to preview the proposal document before generating it and sending it to the client. You are able to edit any text at this stage and save the document as a Draft
Important Note: Do not edit any text or monetary value in the Summary Outline or Estimated Budget Outline. If you need to alter the items or price, cancel this preview and change the actual items from the tabs from the steps above and recheck the summary tab.
When ready click the blue Generate PDF or Generate E-Proposal button
The page will again refresh until the document is created
To download the document, select the quote with the checkbox and click the Download button
To email the document to your client, select the quote with the checkbox and click the Email button
Select your preferred Email Template and click Continue. Learn more about Setting up your Email Templates
Confirm the contact who will be receiving your proposal. You can change this to another contact who is attached to this quote, or manually enter another email address
Add in any additional email addresses, separated by a comma and space (eg 1@2.com, 2@3.com)
The BCC email address is the same email address that we saw when adding in the Opportunity, so this proposal email, and any reply from the client (if they select Reply All) will be tracked in the Email tab automatically for you
Confirm the subject line and content of the email and click Send

Anchor emailing a pdf proposal

Updating your Tasks

As you go through the process of creating opportunities, quotes, bookings and invoices, iVvy will be automatically adding tasks to your to-do-list. Learn more about Setting up your Tasks Templates

Click on the Tasks tab
Select a task to be updated with the checkbox
Click on Update Status
Select the appropriate Status and agree to the pop up tab
To check the status of all of your Tasks, click on Sales > Tasks on the left of the screen

Anchor updating tasks

Converting a Quote to a Tentative Booking

Once a client has accepted your proposal you can move the quote to the tentative booking stage. Note: You can continue to edit the price and items that have been added to your quote as required, and send updated versions of the proposal.

Before converting the quote to tentative we want to confirm that the space is still available. The easiest way to do this is to:

Navigate to the Diary
Go to the Date of the Quote
Confirm that there are no other Tentative or Confirmed Bookings on at the same time
Click on the Quote from the Diary or navigate back to Sales > Quotes > Select your Quote
Click on the Details tab
Click on Change Status
Change the Status to Tentative
Update the Opportunity Stage and Reason
Confirm the Closed Date. You are able to retrospectively date stamp the date the quote was converted for reporting purposes
Click Change
The Quote will now be moved from Sales > Quotes to the Bookings tab

Anchor Converting a Quote to a Tentative Booking

Adding Payment Terms and Creating an Invoice

Depending on your own workflow, the next step is normally to confirm the payment terms for the contract and to create a deposit invoice. Please review our Invoice Overview Knowledge Article for an in-depth understanding of how payment terms and invoices are added and created.

Click on the Statement tab
Click on Payment Terms
Confirm or edit the payment terms for the contract
Click on the Statement tab
Click on Add Invoice > Payment Terms > Select the Deposit Payment (or your required invoice)
If you wish to send the invoice to the client now, select the invoice and select Email button. Alternatively, you can send the invoice and the contract together in the next section

Creating Payment invoice 2

Creating and Emailing a PDF or E-Contract

Before creating a contract, ensure you have added the Payment Terms to the booking, as these will be merged into the contract.

Click the Documents tab
Click Create Document
Select PDF Contract or E-Contract depending on your preference. Learn more about Creating Document Templates.
Select My Templates from Template Type. Only use standard templates if you have been advised to do so
Select your preferred template
Add in the optional expiry date of the contract
Click Save
The page will refresh automatically until the document is ready. Select the contract with checkbox and click Edit
Review the document and amend the terms and conditions as required. At this stage you can save the document as a draft
Important Note: Do not edit any text or monetary value in the Summary Outline or Estimated Budget Outline. If you need to alter the items or price, cancel this preview and change the actual items from the tabs from the steps above and recheck the summary tab
When ready click the Generate PDF or Generate E-Document button
The page will refresh until the document is ready
Select the contract with the checkbox and click the Email button
Select a template, and select the documents you wish to send. At this stage you can send both the contract and the invoice generated in the last section at the same time. Click Continue and send the email as per sending the proposal

Confirming a Booking, Uploading a Contract and Paying an Invoice

Once the client has paid their deposit and signed the contract (depending on your own business procedures) we can now confirm the booking.

Note: Under Setup > Venue Details > There is an option to automatically update the status of the booking to confirmed once the deposit invoice has been paid. If you have used the Pay Now button and an E-Contract Template, you will receive a confirmation email and the status of the booking will automatically be changed to Confirmed.

Navigate to your booking under Bookings > Bookings or from the Diary
Click on the Details tab
Click Change Status and change the status to Confirmed
Update the reasons why and the date as required
Click onto the Documents tab
Click on Upload to manually upload a signed paper copy of the contract
If the client has digitally signed the E-Contract, you will be able to view the client copy which is now saved in your booking. You will have also received an emailing advising you that the E-Contract has been signed
Click on View (Venue) to view your copy and countersign if required
Click on the Statement tab
If the invoice has been paid already via the Pay Now Button or via one of our integrated accounting systems - it will be marked as Paid. To manually mark the invoice as paid, select the invoice and click Pay Invoice > Other
Check the amount that was paid and select the Method and click Save
Learn more about Invoicing

Adding Setup Requirements

Setup Requirements are notes that are applied to the booking and will be displayed on the BEO (Event Order). Learn how to add Setup Requirement Templates to your venues.

Click on Setup Requirements tab
Click on Add Setup Requirements
Select New to add a new or bespoke setup requirement to this booking.
Note: This note will only be saved to this booking, and not to your list of setup requirements
Select Existing to add a setup requirement from your pre-populated list. You can select as many setup requirements to be added at the same time and then edit them in the next step.
Edit the setup requirement to add in any additional items or text. Editing the setup requirement here will only affect the note for this booking. To change the template, use the link above to amend your setup requirements
You can expand the text of the setup requirement by adding tables, dot points etc. into the description box
You can shuffle the order that the setup requirements are displayed on the Event Order (BEO) by clicking on the highlighted 8 dots on the left and dragging them into order. Make sure you click the Save Sort Order button to lock the order in place

Adding Booking Notes

Booking notes are the most efficient way to add recurring notes to your Event Orders. Learn how to setup Default Booking Notes so that you can have custom templated notes ready to apply to your bookings.

Click on the Notes tab
Click on Add Note
Select Add New for a New Note
Select Add Internal Note for a Note that will NOT display on the Event Order
Select Add From Default Notes to select from your pre-populated list
Edit the note as required for this booking
Select where the note will be applied to. If you have used a Default Booking Note, the selection will be automatically selected for you
Note: if you do not assign the note to a section of the Event Order, the note will not be displayed on the Event Order.
If you have selected menu, beverage, session or resource, tick which items the note is to be applied to. You can select multiple items
Note: If you do not select an item, the note will not appear on the Event Order.
Click Save

booking notes 2

Adding Additional Contacts

You can add and tag additional contacts to your Event Order from the Contacts Tab.

Click on the Contacts tab
Click Add Contact
Search for or add in a new contact
Under description, click the appropriate tag
Click Save

adding additional contacts Anchor

Creating and Emailing a BEO (Event Order)

Preparing your Event Order is a combination of all of the previous steps. Ensure that you have:

Updated the date and start/end time of the booking
Added in any required Signage
Added your setup and pack down times
Added the serving times of your menus and beverages
Added specific serving times of any menu items as required
Added your setup requirements
Added your booking notes
Add in any additional items as required, remembering to include the day and time to the additional item if you wish it to appear on the Event Order

Once this has been completed:

Click on the Documents tab
Click BEOs (Banquet Event Orders)
Click Create BEO
Select the BEO Type
Booking BEO - This will create a PDF BEO of all sessions (used for simple bookings)
Session BEO - This will allow you to select the session(s) that you would like to create a PDF Event Order for. Not applicable to Simple Bookings only Detailed Bookings
E-Booking BEO - Same as the Booking BEO with the ability to digitally sign the document
E-Session BEO - Same as the Session BEO with the ability to digitally sign the document
Select My Templates and select your preferred document template. Only select standard templates if you have been advised to do so
Select if you wish to include the Estimated Budget Outline on your Event Order. Selecting No will remove the line item breakdown of the event from the document
Select if you want to split each day of the event into its own BEO. Leave this as defaulted to NO for Simple 1 day bookings
Select if you would like to show Prices or Menu Item Prices
Click Save
Click on Edit to review the document. If any changes are required, cancel the preview and adjust the items using the appropriate tabs. Once you have made the changes, click on Create BEO again or Recreate and click Edit
Scroll down to the bottom of the screen and click Generate PDF or E-Document
You can now select the Event Order with the checkbox and click Email button to send the Event Order to the client or staff member and Download button to save a copy of the document on your computer

As the booking gets closer to the booking date, changes will more than likely have been made. Instead of creating a new BEO, you can select the BEO and click on Recreate. This will create a new version of the BEO and record the history of previous versions in the history tab.

When Recreating the Event Order, you can choose to Display Recent Changes. If selected as YES, any changes made between now and the previous version of the Event Order will be highlighted in red to clearly show clients and staff what changes have been made. Anchor

Finalising a BEO (Event Order) and Checking the BEO Changelog

Common industry practice is to finalise all Event Orders for a week at the same time each week/fortnight. Finalising an Event Order will ensure that staff need to record and save a log of any changes made after the Event Order has been finalised.

To finalise an Event Order, select the Event Order and click on Finalise BEO. You will be prompted with an alert to accept.
Note: You can continue to make changes to a booking after you have finalised the BEO, however you are unable to reverse a finalised BEO and the change log will be prompted with each change made once finalised. Once you have made the changes a Record Change Box will appear. Select the Changelog BEO and add a Note of the changes. This note will be what appears in the BEO Changelog.

Finalising a BEO
To check all of the changes made to your finalised Event Orders Navigate to Bookings > Booking Change Log

To bulk download all of your generated Event Orders

Navigate to Bookings > Bookings
Select your bookings
Click Download Documents button
Enter a name for the document
Select the Document Type BEO
Confirm the dates
Select the Merge Type
Single - This will download all selected bookings into a single PDF document
Compressed - This will download all documents as individual PDF documents in a ZIP file
Choose to include either all latest documents or the most recently created document
If you have not created a BEO for an event the system will give an alert. You can override this by ticking the checkbox
Click Generate
This will take you to the Booking Change Log > Merged Documents where multiple BEOs can be downloaded from