What it does. A banquet event order, or BEO, is the single sheet your crew works from on event day. Better Cater builds it out of what is already on the event, so the timeline, the food, the rentals, the staff, and the money come out together in one PDF you can print or email to the kitchen.
When you’d use it. The week of the event, once the guest count and the menu are settled. Also any time the client changes something late and the crew needs a fresh copy.
The BEO is generated, not written. Whatever is missing from the event is missing from the BEO, so fill the event out first. The part most people forget is the timeline, because nothing else in Better Cater asks for it.
Add the timeline
- Open the event and stay on the Details tab.
- Scroll down to Event Timeline and click Add Timeline Item.
- Under Item Name, type what is happening, like “Guest arrival” or “Cake cutting”.
- Set the Date and Time.
- Add Internal Notes if the crew needs instructions for that moment, like where to stage the buffet.
- Click Save & add another to keep going, or Save to finish.
Generate the BEO
- Open the event and find Event Totals on the right.
- Click Create report.
- Click Banquet Event Order (BEO).
- Leave Include financials checked to show pricing and totals. Uncheck it for a kitchen copy.
- Leave Include internal notes checked for your own crew. Uncheck it if anyone outside the crew will see the sheet.
- Add Print notes if you want a line on this copy only, like “final count confirmed Friday”.
- Click Generate & download PDF.
What you’ll see. A PDF downloads, named after the event. It opens with your logo, then the event name, date, guest count, client, and contact. Below that it runs through your internal notes, the timeline, menu items, packages, rentals, staff, and a financial summary. Sections with nothing in them are left out, so an event with no rentals has no rentals section. The BEO always reflects the event as it stands right now, so if something changes, generate it again and hand out the new copy.