You open the event setup and reach the first real decisions: how payments will come in, who receives part of the revenue, and when you will settle with them. Plans can change closer to the date. These three decisions need a place now.
People organising their first event usually focus on booking, promotion, and logistics, leaving the financial setup until show night. That makes sense: it feels less pressing than confirming an artist or paying the venue deposit. Then the doors close and someone asks what they are owed.
This is a working outline of the financial jobs in a first event. It is not a profit guide, that comes with experience. It sets out the decisions you face and what each choice means when the event is actually running.
Three decisions before ticket sales open
Start with how you will take payment. Your main choices are presales through a platform, collecting only at the door by cash or card, or using both. Presales bring money early, show demand, and leave a guest record. Door collection takes less setup, but offers no advance signal or revenue and leaves you with a reconciliation job after the show.
For a first event, some presales are usually worth the setup. Selling 20% of expected attendance ahead of time can show whether interest is genuine before the venue commitment is locked in. It also gives people who meant to come but forgot a purchase record that helps turn intention into attendance.
Next decide who receives revenue. If you are the artist and organiser, with the venue paid a flat hire fee, you keep what is left after costs. A booked artist, a percentage split with the venue, or a promised guaranteed payment creates obligations. Record them before the event, rather than relying on memory afterward.
Then agree when and how payout happens. Will it be a bank transfer or cash on the night? How soon after the event? Anyone relying on a share will likely have a preference. Ask before the show, rather than answering midnight messages about the transfer. It is a small courtesy and makes settlement easier.
Set the ticket price from costs
New organisers often copy nearby event prices or choose what feels acceptable for a first show. Neither approach begins with costs. Costs determine whether the event works financially at the attendance you can reasonably expect.
Add your fixed costs: venue hire, sound, and guaranteed performer payments. Divide the total by the tickets you can realistically sell now, remembering that an unfamiliar venue and a first event may draw fewer people than hoped. That figure is your floor. Below it, each ticket loses money. Price above it according to what you want to retain once costs are covered.
For a first event in a 60-80 person Lisbon room, fixed costs typically sit at 400-700 EUR. If 40-50 tickets is realistic, the floor is 8-17.50 EUR per ticket. Below that, you fund the event yourself. Choosing that to build an audience can be valid, but it should be intentional, not the result of pricing by instinct.
Presale platform fees lower the money that reaches you. When the charge is 2.5-5% of the ticket price, include it in the floor calculation. A 12 EUR ticket with a 5% fee leaves 11.40 EUR. The gap is modest, but useful to know before pricing.
How door payment collection works
On show night, you need to admit guests and log entry. Presales require a way to check and scan tickets. Door sales require a way to take payment.
For presale checks, a QR scanner on your phone is the simplest option. Most ticket platforms provide a door app or scan function. Test it with at least one ticket purchase before the show, and brief the person working the door. Finding that the scanner will not load ten minutes before opening is avoidable.
Door card payments require a reader. Broadly, you can use a mobile reader such as SumUp, Square, or a similar consumer device, a reader supplied by the ticketing platform, if available, or cash. Fees and practical work differ. Cash needs a float and an end of night count. Mobile readers charge per transaction, which costs more per euro on small payments. Presales plus card at the door is common and sensible: most guests arrive paid, and you collect the rest there.
Discuss the split before the show
Paying another artist or sharing revenue with the venue means agreeing and confirming the terms in writing before the show date. This is not about expecting conflict. Verbal percentage agreements are simply easy for two people to remember differently.
Put three points in writing: the revenue base, whether that is gross ticket revenue, net after platform fees, or net after all costs; each party's percentage; and any guaranteed payment, including which way it applies if the door brings in less than the guarantee. A message or email is enough. It gives everyone one reference and avoids the usual post show dispute, an honest memory mismatch about terms discussed weeks earlier.
Timing is part of the split. Will you pay from a float that night, or send a bank transfer within a few days? A clear expectation stops people chasing updates afterward. "I will transfer your share by Tuesday" is easier than "I will sort it out when I have counted everything."
What settlement looks like
After the show, establish the amount available: total revenue collected, minus platform fees, minus agreed deductions when the split uses a net base. Then calculate every stakeholder's share under the agreement and pay it.
Presales through a platform normally produce a transaction report showing the total collected and fees taken. Treat it as the ticket revenue record. Print or screenshot it before distributing money. If cash also came in at the door, remove the float, count the remainder separately, and add it to the platform total.
Record money in and money out, whether in a phone note or spreadsheet. A first event often leads to a second and third, and the first record makes planning easier. You will see normal costs, realistic attendance, and the margin available at different prices.
What first time organisers miss
The venue deposit is paid before the event, while ticket revenue arrives afterward. With a 200 EUR deposit that you expect ticket sales to cover, you need 200 EUR in working capital before sales open. Some organisers book the venue without the deposit, then scramble when the invoice arrives. It is manageable, but the gap needs planning.
Refund requests happen. Even at a small show, someone may buy a ticket and later be unable to attend. Set the refund policy before opening sales. "No refunds" is legally permissible in most cases but can create friction. "Refunds up to 48 hours before the show" is more flexible and limits difficult conversations on the day. State the policy clearly in the purchase flow.
The finances of a first live event are not especially complicated. At this size, they are manageable. The point is to resolve the important questions before show night, rather than finding missing pieces at midnight while everyone is ready to leave and the totals do not match.