Make one list for costs tied to attending the event and another for the cost of making or buying each product. That separation helps you avoid counting the same materials once as unit cost and again as a fair expense.
Event costs to consider
- Pitch or table fee: the organiser’s charge and any booking or electricity add-on.
- Getting there: fuel, public transport, parking, tolls or delivery.
- Staying overnight: accommodation and associated travel if the event requires it.
- Event-only supplies: packaging, labels, display hire or replacement materials used for this fair.
- Taking payments: the actual charge from a payment provider if applicable and known.
- Other direct costs: record a short description and a realistic planned amount, then update it to the actual when known.
Product costs belong with the product
Materials, wholesale purchase cost and any maker labour you choose to allocate belong in your unit-cost assumption. Multiply the unit cost by the quantity sold when estimating cost of goods. If you include a material or labour cost there, do not enter it again as a separate event expense.
Separate plan from actual
Before the fair, you may only know an expected amount. Afterward, use the receipt or statement to enter the amount you actually paid. A missing actual is unknown; it should not silently inherit the plan. Likewise, a fee-rate estimate for future sales does not replace the real processing fees from a completed event.
Quick check before booking
List the pitch, transport, event-only supplies and other direct costs. Add the product cost and any payment fee once. Then compare the total with a realistic contribution estimate, while remembering that demand and weather are uncertain.
Illustrative market-day example
A seller expects a £45 pitch, £18 travel and £7 of event packaging. Their product unit costs are tracked separately. If the actual pitch becomes £50 and the travel receipt is £22, update those actual figures after the event rather than rewriting the original plan. The example is illustrative, not a forecast of typical costs.
FairProfit Desktop stores planned and actual event expenses separately and keeps product unit-cost snapshots with the event. It is an operational planner, not tax software or statutory accounting.
Put planned costs beside the event, not on a forgotten scrap of paper.