How much should our banquet hall charge for A.V. Rentals?

Question

We provide catering services for many events. We recently purchased a large LCD television & wireless microphone system. To help re-coup our cost we will have to charge a rental fee to use them. Any ideas on how much we should charge per item per event? Thanks in advance!

Answer 1

They typical rental rate is 500% of the daily expense.  That is, if you spent $1000.00 on the equipment, and you expect the equipment to last for a full year, you divide that amount by the 365 days in the year ($2.73 per thousand) times 5.  Or $13.70 per day.  (This assumes that you expect the equipment to be used daily, for a year.)  If it has a shorter lifespan (a bulb in a projector may only have a 100-hour life, for instance.)  I'd round up to $14.95 for $1,000.00 worth of video equipment.