Production P&LEasyStagecraft Module 5 · 5 cost categories + 5 income categories · pre-filled worked example for a 5-night Year-12 musical · principal-ready

How to use. The worked example is St Joseph's Senior College's Les Misérables · 5 performances · 200-seat hall used at 92% average capacity · ticket A$25. Principal's cap A$35,000. Numbers are realistic 2026 AUD. After the example: blank template for your show. Build it in week 8, update at week 4 + 1 + week +2 (post-mortem). The P&L IS the principal briefing's appendix — get this right and step 5.1 (Principal Briefing) writes itself.

Production

Les Misérables (worked example)

School

St Joseph's Senior College

Venue

School theatre · 200 seats

Season

Wed-Sat eve + Sat matinee · 5 shows · 14-18 Oct 2026

Principal-approved cap

A$35,000

Producer / PM

R. Davies

Costs

Line item	Vendor / source	Budget (A$)	Actual (A$)
1 · Rights + royalties		—	—
Grand rights — MTI Australasia (Les Mis School Edition)	MTI	3,800	3,800
APRA AMCOS — Schools licence (incl. in school's annual fee)	APRA AMCOS	0	0
Streaming rights — declined (not licensed for streaming)	—	0	0
Rights subtotal		3,800	3,800
2 · Equipment hire + production		—	—
Lighting hire + crew (StageFX Hire — post BS-detector review)	StageFX Hire	20,845	20,610
Sound hire + 2 ops + RF wireless mics × 16	NorthEast Audio	7,200	7,400
EWP hire (1 scissor lift, 4 days)	Coates Hire	1,920	1,920
Set materials (timber, paint, hardware — Bunnings)	Bunnings #45872	2,400	2,184
Costume hire (Costume Pty Ltd — 32 cast)	Costume Pty	2,800	2,800
Wigs + makeup consumables	school-internal	450	420
Production subtotal		35,615	35,334
3 · Crew + paid roles		—	—
Casual LX tech for focus + plot (incl. in StageFX above)	—	0	0
Pit musicians — 2 paid ringers (trumpet, percussion)	local musos	1,200	1,200
Choreographer fee — 8 sessions	L. Murray	2,400	2,400
MD honorarium — 12 weeks	Mr Chen	1,500	1,500
Crew subtotal		5,100	5,100
4 · Front of house + marketing		—	—
Programme print (300 × 12pp colour)	Officeworks	680	680
Posters + flyers print	Officeworks	220	220
Ticket platform fee (TryBooking 2.5%)	TryBooking	575	575
Cast/crew opening-night supper + thank-you	school catering	600	600
FOH + marketing subtotal		2,075	2,075
5 · Contingency + insurance		—	—
Insurance allocation (event-level, school's existing policy load)	school	350	350
Contingency reserve — 5% of production budget	—	1,790	516
Contingency subtotal		2,140	866
TOTAL COSTS		A$ 48,730	A$ 47,175

Note: total exceeds principal cap because cap is the NET deficit ceiling, not gross spend. Revenue (below) brings net to a sustainable position.

Income

Line item	Source	Forecast (A$)	Actual (A$)
1 · Ticket sales		—	—
Adult tickets — $25 × est 600 (5 shows × 200 × 60%)	TryBooking	15,000	15,825
Concession (student / senior) — $18 × 280	TryBooking	5,040	4,896
Family pass — $75 × 30	TryBooking	2,250	2,475
Opening-night premium — $35 × 50	TryBooking	1,750	1,750
2 · Programme ads + sponsorship		—	—
Programme ads — 4 full-page @ $150, 6 half @ $90, 8 quarter @ $50	local biz	1,540	1,540
Major sponsor — local bookshop	Sons of Reading	800	800
3 · Programme + merch sales		—	—
Programme sales — $5 × 280	FOH	1,400	1,295
Show t-shirts — $25 × 60	FOH	1,500	1,275
4 · Bar / refreshments (school-licenced)		—	—
Bar sales — interval × 5 nights	parent volunteers	2,400	2,520
5 · School subsidy + fundraising		—	—
Drama dept budget allocation	school	12,000	12,000
P&F fundraiser contribution	school P&F	5,000	5,000
TOTAL INCOME		A$ 48,680	A$ 49,376

Bottom line

Net surplus / (deficit)	Forecast	Actual	Variance reason
Income − costs	(50)	2,201	Better ticket sales (sold-out Sat eve), tighter set materials spend, contingency only partially used

Break-even capacity check

Total costs (incl. contingency)	A$ 48,730
Less non-ticket revenue (sponsorship + bar + merch + subsidy)	A$ 24,640
Net cost to recover from tickets	A$ 24,090
Total seats available (5 × 200)	1,000
Average ticket price (weighted)	A$ 24.50
Break-even capacity	983 / 1,000 = 98% capacity
Practical capacity at 75% (industry norm)	750 seats × A$24.50 = A$18,375 ticket revenue → deficit A$5,715 absorbed by P&F

Blank template

For your show — populate the same structure. Pre-fill costs at week 8 with quotes. Refresh at week 4 with POs raised. Final actuals at week +1. Variances explained at week +2 in the post-mortem.

Line	Vendor	Budget	Actual
1 · Rights + royalties

2 · Equipment hire + production


3 · Crew + paid roles

4 · Front of house + marketing

5 · Contingency + insurance

TOTAL COSTS
Income (5 categories)
TOTAL INCOME
NET