1. The package
2. Hosts
3. What the party costs to run
Open-play margin given up: what walk-in guests would have paid you, after their own costs, in an hour the party uses your floor or tables. Enter 0 if the party room is separate and walk-in traffic is unaffected.
4. Your year
Fill in the numbers, then click Check this party.
Result
| Line | Per party |
|---|
5. Compare with a second package
Package A is everything above. Package B shares your wages, fees, open-play cost and yearly overhead, and has its own price, children, party length, setup, hosts and per-child costs.
How it is built
Party costs: host pay (hosts × (party hours + setup and cleanup hours) × pay × (1 + payroll burden)), food and goodies for every child, supplies, card fees on the whole price, the open-play margin given up (party hours × the hourly figure you enter), and a fixed share: yearly rent, insurance and utilities ÷ parties per year. True profit is the price minus those costs, before tax.
Lowest price: the costs that do not depend on price, divided by (1 − card fees − target margin). The test suite checks that charging exactly that amount earns the target margin for hundreds of random parties. Break-even parties: yearly overhead ÷ what one party earns above its direct costs.
Common questions
How do I price a kids birthday party package so it makes money?
Count the room hours, not the party hours: the party plus setup and cleanup, with every host paid for all of them. Add food and drink and the goodie bag for every child, supplies, card fees, the open-play revenue the floor or room would have earned during the party, and a share of your yearly rent, insurance and utilities. Divide the costs that do not scale with price by one minus card fees and your target margin to get the lowest package price.
Why does a sold-out Saturday of birthday parties still lose money?
Because the cheapest-looking costs repeat on every party. Two hosts for a three-hour room block, pizza and goodie bags for twelve children, and an open-play customer the room could have served all land on a package priced from the pizza cost, and a share of rent lands on each party whether or not the calendar is full.
What is the open-play cost of a birthday party?
If the party closes a jump area or takes tables from walk-in guests, the margin those guests would have paid during the party hours is given up. Enter it per party hour (zero if the party room is separate and walk-in traffic is unaffected) and the calculator adds it to the party's cost.
Should I sell a basic or a deluxe package?
Compare profit per party and profit per room hour. When Saturday slots are the limit, the package with the higher profit per room hour fills the room better, even if another package makes more by itself.
How many parties a year does a venue need to cover its fixed costs?
Take what one party earns above its direct costs, which is everything except the yearly rent, insurance and utilities share, and divide the yearly total by that. The calculator shows the parties a year needed and the profit at the number you actually run.
Is my data uploaded?
No. Everything runs in your browser, there are no accounts, and nothing is sent to a server. Use Save to download a scenario file.
Is this tax, insurance or business advice?
No. It is arithmetic on the numbers you type. Your insurance, waivers, permits, payroll and sales tax depend on where you operate. Check with an accountant or your insurer.