Event Staffing Agency Invoicing App (2026)
Event staffing is billed by staff hours at a bill rate, with shift minimums, overtime, late-cancellation charges, and per-role rates for servers, bartenders, brand ambassadors, and leads. ShowTheReceipts ($15/mo) saves bill rates by role, invoices each event with hours and headcount itemized, takes a deposit at booking, and gets the invoice out before the staff payroll clears.
How we picked
Entry-plan prices as published in 2026, taken from each vendor's own pricing page or a recent third-party summary. Judged on the small agency's workflow — bill rates by role, shift minimums and overtime, deposits, cancellation charges, and fast event-to-invoice turnaround against weekly payroll — not on applicant sourcing marketplaces, gig-worker dispatch apps, or enterprise workforce management.
| Software | Starting price | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| ShowTheReceipts That's us | $15/mo | Small agencies: bill rates by role, event invoicing, deposits, cancellation charges |
| Invoice2go | $9.99/mo+ | Basic mobile invoicing |
| Wave | Free / $16/mo | Free invoicing with light bookkeeping |
| Kickserv Flex | $19/mo | Budget scheduling with invoicing |
| Nowsta | Quote only | Larger operations needing shift scheduling and worker payments at scale |
Your payroll doesn’t wait for the venue
Staff get paid within days; venues and planners pay on terms. That gap is the whole financial risk of an agency, and it gets wider every time an invoice sits unsent over a weekend.
The agencies that grow are the ones that invoice the same night the event ends.
1. ShowTheReceipts — $15/mo
Bill rates by role, event invoices with hours and headcount, deposits at booking, cancellation charges per policy.
2. Invoice2go — $9.99/mo+
Basic mobile invoicing.
3. Wave — Free / $16/mo
Free invoices with light bookkeeping.
4. Kickserv Flex — $19/mo
Budget scheduling with invoicing.
5. Nowsta — quote only
Built for larger operations needing shift scheduling and worker payments at scale.
The lines an event staffing invoice needs
- Staff hours by role — server, bartender, brand ambassador, lead, security
- Shift minimum — applied per staff member
- Overtime — at contracted rate, when the event runs long
- Lead or supervisor premium
- Travel time or mileage — for out-of-area events
- Uniform or specialty attire — where the client specifies it
- Late cancellation — per stated window
- Deposit applied
- Administrative or booking fee — where you charge one
Bill the cancellation you already staffed
Staff booked for Saturday turned down other work to be there. A stated cancellation window — full charge inside 48 hours, deposit retained beyond it — is standard in event work, and every professional planner you’ll deal with already expects it.
Credit no-shows instantly
An agency’s worst moment is a staff member who doesn’t arrive. Credit the hours immediately, without being asked — clients forgive a staffing failure handled cleanly and almost never forgive one defended on an invoice.
Rate cards beat per-event quoting
Publish rates by role, with minimums and OT terms stated. A rate card sent once becomes the terms of every future booking, and it ends the negotiation that a repeat client’s planner would otherwise reopen every time.
Frequently asked questions
Why take a deposit for staffing?
Because you commit staff to a date and turn away other work for it. An event cancelled 48 hours out has already cost you the weekend, and a deposit plus a stated cancellation window is the only version of that policy that collects.
What shift minimum is standard?
Four hours per staff member, sometimes five for events requiring travel. Staff won't reliably accept two-hour bookings, and a minimum protects both them and you when an event ends early.
How should overtime be handled?
Billed at the contracted OT rate when the event runs long. Put it in the booking agreement with the trigger stated — events routinely run over, and 'we'll sort it out after' always means you absorb it.
How do I handle no-show staff?
Credit the client for hours not worked, immediately and without argument, then handle the staffing problem internally. A fast credit protects a client relationship that a defended invoice destroys.