[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":174},["ShallowReactive",2],{"guide-\u002Fguides\u002Fbookings-and-scheduling\u002Fhow-to-keep-track-of-bookings":3,"guide-siblings-\u002Fguides\u002Fbookings-and-scheduling\u002Fhow-to-keep-track-of-bookings":164},{"id":4,"title":5,"author":6,"body":7,"description":139,"disclaimer":140,"draft":141,"extension":142,"faq":143,"lastReviewed":156,"meta":157,"navigation":158,"path":159,"publishedAt":156,"seo":160,"sitemap":161,"stem":162,"__hash__":163},"guides\u002Fguides\u002Fbookings-and-scheduling\u002Fhow-to-keep-track-of-bookings.md","How to keep track of bookings (and when a spreadsheet stops working)","Rally",{"type":8,"value":9,"toc":130},"minimark",[10,14,19,22,25,29,32,57,60,64,67,85,89,92,109,112,115,123,127],[11,12,13],"p",{},"Keep every booking in one list with a status, an event date, and a next\naction. One list, whatever the tool. A notebook works at five bookings a\nmonth. A spreadsheet works at twenty. Past that, the cracks start costing\nyou real parties, and it's time for a system.",[15,16,18],"h2",{"id":17},"where-bookings-actually-get-lost","Where bookings actually get lost",[11,20,21],{},"Bookings rarely die in the calendar. They die in the gaps between tools: a\nbooking form here, a spreadsheet there, contracts in email, a group text to\nthe crew, and a sticky note on the dash. You wrote a booking on a sticky\nnote and never saw it again. That is a party gone, and the deposit with it.",[11,23,24],{},"Every gap is a handoff you do by hand. Each one holds while the month is\nslow. Then June hits, you're working the parties yourself, and the handoffs\nstart dropping.",[15,26,28],{"id":27},"what-a-booking-record-needs","What a booking record needs",[11,30,31],{},"Whatever you track bookings in, every booking needs the same row:",[33,34,35,39,42,45,48,51,54],"ul",{},[36,37,38],"li",{},"Client name, phone, and email",[36,40,41],{},"Event date, start time, and address",[36,43,44],{},"Package, add-ons, and the agreed price",[36,46,47],{},"Deposit taken, balance due, and when",[36,49,50],{},"Status: inquiry, confirmed, or completed",[36,52,53],{},"Crew working it, and the gear it needs",[36,55,56],{},"The next action, with an owner",[11,58,59],{},"If any of those lives somewhere else, that somewhere else is where the\nbooking will get lost.",[15,61,63],{"id":62},"the-spreadsheet-stage-done-well","The spreadsheet stage, done well",[11,65,66],{},"A spreadsheet is a fine system for a young party business. Set it up so it\ncan tell you the truth at a glance:",[68,69,70,73,76,79,82],"ol",{},[36,71,72],{},"One row per booking, never one row per payment or per email.",[36,74,75],{},"A status column with three values only: inquiry, confirmed, completed.",[36,77,78],{},"Deposit and balance columns, colored red until they clear.",[36,80,81],{},"Sort by event date, always. The top of the sheet is your week.",[36,83,84],{},"One owner. If two people edit it, one person still owns it.",[15,86,88],{"id":87},"the-signs-youve-outgrown-it","The signs you've outgrown it",[11,90,91],{},"The spreadsheet fails quietly, so watch for these instead:",[33,93,94,97,100,103,106],{},[36,95,96],{},"The same cannon or truck got promised to two parties.",[36,98,99],{},"A deposit went unchased because the red cell scrolled off screen.",[36,101,102],{},"A reschedule got agreed in a text thread and never made it to the sheet.",[36,104,105],{},"Crew texted you for an address on a Saturday morning.",[36,107,108],{},"You added a second brand and started a second sheet.",[11,110,111],{},"Any one of these, once, is a warning. Two in a month is the business\ntelling you it has outgrown the tool.",[11,113,114],{},"We know where the ceiling is because we hit it. In 2025 Danny ran 650\nbookings across his own party brands, with one person handling nearly all\nthe admin. That only worked because every booking lived in one system,\nbuilt over five years of running those weekends. That system became Rally.",[116,117,120],"rally-aside",{"label":118,"to":119},"See bookings in Rally","\u002Ffeatures",[11,121,122],{},"Rally keeps every booking in one pipeline, from first request to completed\nevent. The form on your website prices the job live, and a request missing\nwater or power gets flagged before it reaches your calendar.",[15,124,126],{"id":125},"if-you-change-one-thing-this-week","If you change one thing this week",[11,128,129],{},"Pick the one list. Move every open booking into it, whatever it is, and\ndelete the copies. Most of the pain in tracking bookings is really the\npain of tracking them twice.",{"title":131,"searchDepth":132,"depth":132,"links":133},"",2,[134,135,136,137,138],{"id":17,"depth":132,"text":18},{"id":27,"depth":132,"text":28},{"id":62,"depth":132,"text":63},{"id":87,"depth":132,"text":88},{"id":125,"depth":132,"text":126},"Keep every booking in one list with a status, an event date, and a next action. A spreadsheet works to about twenty bookings a month. Past that, the cracks cost you parties.","none",false,"md",[144,147,150,153],{"q":145,"a":146},"What is the best free way to track party bookings?","A spreadsheet with one row per booking and a status column. Put the event date, the client, the package, the deposit, and the balance on the same row. The free part ends when you start losing time to it every Monday.",{"q":148,"a":149},"When should a party business switch from a spreadsheet to booking software?","When the spreadsheet stops being the truth. If gear got promised twice, a deposit went unchased, or your crew texted you for an address this month, the list has already fallen behind the business.",{"q":151,"a":152},"Can I keep taking bookings by phone and Facebook?","Yes, and most operators always will. The rule is that every request lands in the same list within the hour, whatever door it came in through. Two lists is how a party disappears.",{"q":154,"a":155},"Should I track inquiries and confirmed bookings in the same place?","Yes, one pipeline with statuses beats two lists. An inquiry is a booking that has not paid yet. When it sits somewhere separate, nobody chases it.","2026-07-12",{},true,"\u002Fguides\u002Fbookings-and-scheduling\u002Fhow-to-keep-track-of-bookings",{"title":5,"description":139},{"loc":159},"guides\u002Fbookings-and-scheduling\u002Fhow-to-keep-track-of-bookings","v9UMuXg_zPf_uuEBgYUX6FWFnJEJBQaAjfAhEOpt-nc",[165,168,171],{"path":166,"title":167},"\u002Fguides\u002Fbookings-and-scheduling\u002Fhow-far-in-advance-do-people-book-parties","How far in advance do people book parties?",{"path":169,"title":170},"\u002Fguides\u002Fbookings-and-scheduling\u002Fhow-to-take-bookings-from-your-website","How to take bookings from your website (without playing phone tag)",{"path":172,"title":173},"\u002Fguides\u002Fbookings-and-scheduling\u002Fwhat-to-do-when-two-clients-want-the-same-date","What to do when two clients want the same date",1783921368108]