Event venue management software for Kenyan garden venues and conference hotels

Two kinds of Kenyan venue, two kinds of booking

A garden venue sells Saturdays. Couples visit with their parents, ask about tents and parking, and want the date held while the wedding committee meets. A hold with an expiry date, and a reminder before it lapses, is the single most useful thing software can do for a garden venue.

A conference venue sells days and half days. The client is a procurement officer who needs a quotation with the rate per delegate, then raises an LPO, then pays thirty days after the invoice. The software has to track the quotation, the LPO number and the invoice age.

Rain matters too. Kenya has long rains around March to May and short rains around October to December. Outdoor venues that offer a tented fallback should record which bookings carry that option and what it costs, so the decision on the day is quick.

Quoting fast in wedding season

Couples visit several gardens on one Saturday and decide within days. A venue that sends a clear quotation that evening, with the hire price, the tent package, the deposit and the payment plan, is far more likely to receive the first M-Pesa payment.

Keep the common packages ready in the system so a coordinator can send the quote from a phone before the couple reaches the next venue.

Sample quote from a venue system: Karen garden wedding

Saturday wedding reception for 250 guests at a garden venue in Karen, Nairobi, with an outside caterer. Prices are illustrative.

• Illustrative prices in Kenya shillings for a VAT-registered venue.
• The client receives an eTIMS invoice issued through KRA's system.
• The damage deposit is refunded after the garden check, less any recorded damage.

What to test in a demo before choosing venue management software in Kenya

Deposits by M-Pesa, bank transfer and LPO

Most private clients pay by M-Pesa to your Paybill or Till number, often in several instalments and often from different phones. Each payment should be recorded against the booking with the transaction code and the sender's name, so the balance is never in doubt.

Wedding committees are a Kenyan habit worth planning for. Friends and family meet, pledge and pay over weeks. The couple may ask for a statement showing what has been paid so far. If the system can produce that in one step, you look organised and you get paid sooner.

Corporate and government clients need the LPO number on the invoice and expect to pay on terms. A weekly list of unpaid invoices by age stops a quiet backlog becoming a cash problem.

VAT, eTIMS and the tourism levy

VAT is 16 percent on venue hire, catering and event services, and registration is required once taxable supplies reach KES 5 million a year. Below that line, many venues register anyway because corporate clients want to claim input VAT.

KRA requires every person in business, VAT-registered or not, to issue electronic tax invoices through eTIMS, and buyers can only claim expenses that are backed by one. A conference client will ask for an eTIMS invoice before paying. KRA offers several routes, from the online portal and eTIMS Lite to system-to-system integration for larger businesses. Venura does not transmit invoices to eTIMS, so you will still issue the eTIMS invoice through one of KRA's routes.

Regulated hotels, restaurants and other tourism businesses also pay a 2 percent tourism levy to the Tourism Fund, due by the 10th of the following month. Whether your venue is a regulated enterprise depends on its classification. Our guide to the catering levy and Tourism Fund portal explains how to check and how the levy is calculated.

Weddings, ruracio and outside caterers

Many families hold the ruracio or another traditional ceremony at home and the wedding reception at a venue, sometimes months apart. A venue that hosts both should link them to one client, so payments and notes are not split across two files.

Garden venues often let couples bring an outside caterer. Put the caterer's name, arrival time, kitchen or tent space and any outside caterer fee on the booking. Food handlers working on your premises should carry valid medical certificates. Our guide to food handler certificates in Kenya explains what county officers look for.

On the day, the event sheet should show the tent layout, the number of chairs, the sound cut-off time, security and parking marshals, and who has the keys to the generator room.

Where Venura fits for a Kenyan venue

Venura runs the enquiry pipeline, a booking calendar across gardens, halls and rooms that warns before two events overlap, quotations, invoices and receipts with the VAT rate you set on each line, deposits and balances, event sheets, staff roles and sharing by email or WhatsApp. It works on the web, Android and iOS, and Kenyan plans are priced on request after a free 30-day trial.

It suits garden venues, banquet halls, conference centres and caterers that run many events a month. A large resort whose income is mostly rooms should start with a hotel system and ask how events connect to it.

Venura does not connect to eTIMS, M-Pesa or the Tourism Fund portal. It keeps quotes, invoices, payment records with M-Pesa codes, and LPO numbers in one place, which is what your accountant needs at the end of each month.

Running the conference desk: rooms, rates and day packages

Conference venues sell space by the day, half day and residential package, often in several rooms at once. A client may book a plenary hall for three days and breakout rooms for two. The calendar has to show each room, not only the building.

Rates usually come per delegate, with the room, tea breaks, lunch, water and basic equipment included. Write the package once and reuse it. When a client asks for an extra breakout room or a working dinner, add it as a line rather than editing the package price.

Government and NGO clients often send an LPO only after the event is confirmed, and pay weeks after the invoice. Record the expected payment date. A weekly look at invoices older than thirty days is the simplest cash-flow control a conference venue can run.

Venue management software questions from Kenya