A booking is the commercial commitment for an event: its contract, its advance and its payment schedule. This guide takes an approved quotation to a confirmed booking with a signed contract and money collected.
Click Sales › Pipeline › Bookings (/bookings). The table shows Code, Event, Customer, Contract, Advance, Balance, Status, Actions, and chips All, Tentative, Confirmed, Completed, Cancelled. Balance is the contract minus what has been paid, not minus the advance. Press New booking. Choose the Event (required). Under From approved quotation (optional) choose QTN-000007. Enter Contract amount (PKR) 2,037,250 and Advance (PKR) 600,000.
Press Add installment. For each row pick a Label (Advance, Balance, Booking deposit, Security deposit, Installment, Final payment), a Due date and an Amount. Here: Installment, 12 November 2026, Rs 700,000; Final payment, 5 December 2026, Rs 737,250. A line under the rows adds up the advance plus the instalments. When it does not equal the contract it turns amber and names the amount unallocated. Add Notes if you wish, then press Create booking.
The dialog closes with no message. BKG-000013, Saad Rauf Butt Barat, is on top with a Tentative badge: contract Rs 2,037,250, advance Rs 600,000, and a balance that is still the whole contract because nothing has been paid. In Sales › Pipeline › Quotations, QTN-000007 now reads Converted, so it cannot be booked twice.
An event can hold only one active booking: choosing the Barat again gives "This event already has an active booking". A quotation must belong to the event's customer: a Zenith Corp quotation on a Saad Rauf Butt event gives "Quotation and event belong to different customers".
On a Tentative booking, Actions offers Confirm, Reschedule and Cancel booking (reschedule and cancel are explained in MMS-S32). Confirming now is refused: a red message appears above the table, "Move the event to 'tentative' (hold the hall) before confirming the booking", and the booking stays Tentative. Open Operations › Delivery › Events, open the Barat (badge Draft), press Move status and choose Tentative. The badge turns amber: the event now holds the hall.
On the event, open the Contract tab ("No contract yet"). Press Generate: an Event Service Agreement (CON-00003, Draft, Rs 2,037,250) is written from the booking. View shows the venue, client, event date and time (12 December, 6 pm to 11 pm), booking reference and contract value. Press Sign. Enter the Signer name, optionally a Role (Customer), and draw the signature. Without them you see "Enter the signer's name." or "Please draw the signature." Press Sign & save: the contract is Signed on 12-Oct-2026.
Open the Billing tab. Booking & collection shows Contract, Advance, Collected and Balance due. Press Collect payment. In Via choose Cash, Bank transfer, Online / gateway or Card / credit. For Bank transfer pick the Bank account (Main Account · Primary Bank), enter Amount 600,000, the Date and a Reference. Withholding tax withheld by customer offers 10%, left at 0 here. Leave "Customer says they paid — verify before posting" off, then press Post payment. Now Collected is Rs 600,000, Balance due Rs 1,437,250 and receipt RCPT-00006 is listed. Both instalments still read Upcoming: the advance is not an instalment.
Creating the booking and signing the contract posted nothing. The payment posted JV-000007: debit Bank, Main Account Rs 600,000, credit Accounts Receivable Rs 600,000 against the customer. In Finance › Payments the same receipt, RCPT-00006 against BKG-000013, is listed as plus Rs 600,000.
Back on Bookings, open Actions on the booking and choose Confirm. No message appears: the badge turns green and reads Confirmed, and the balance stays Rs 1,437,250. In Operations › Delivery › Events the Barat now reads Confirmed and Due shows Rs 1,437,250. On the event Overview, the Booking & contract card shows Next instalment: Installment, Rs 700,000, 12-Nov-2026.
On Billing press Collect payment again: Bank transfer, Main Account, Rs 700,000, a reference. The schedule now marks Installment as Paid; Collected is Rs 1,300,000 and Balance due Rs 737,250. Next instalment moves to Final payment, Rs 737,250, due 5 December. Receipt RCPT-00007 posts JV-000008: debit Bank, Main Account Rs 700,000, credit Accounts Receivable Rs 700,000.
| Mistake | What you see | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Confirming while the event is still Draft | Red message above the Bookings table asking you to move the event to tentative | Hold the hall first (Step 5) |
| Booking an event that already has one | "This event already has an active booking" | Work with the existing booking |
| Quotation from another customer | "Quotation and event belong to different customers" | Pick that customer's event or quotation |
| Ticking "Customer says they paid" | Only a claim is recorded; ledger and balance do not move | Leave it off for money actually received |
| Item | Meaning / rule |
|---|---|
| Balance | Contract minus what has been paid |
| Advance | Agreed deposit; money only counts once a payment is posted |
| Tentative / Confirmed | Booking stages; the event must hold the hall before Confirm |
| Payment schedule | Instalments with due date, amount, paid and status |
| Payment journal | Debit bank, credit Accounts Receivable |
Does entering an advance on the booking collect any money? No. The advance is only a figure on the booking. Money counts once you press Collect payment and Post payment, which posts a journal voucher: debit Bank, credit Accounts Receivable.
Why is Confirm refused on my booking? The event is still Draft. Open the event, press Move status and choose Tentative to hold the hall, then choose Confirm on the booking.
Can one event have two bookings? No. An event can hold only one active booking, and a quotation must belong to the event's customer. Otherwise you see "This event already has an active booking" or "Quotation and event belong to different customers".
Marquee runs this whole workflow. See what Marquee does and what it costs, or browse all step-by-step guides.