Guide · Playbooks

Plan a tour, from first hold to settlement

Last updated 13 June 2026

A tour touches almost every part of ArtistHQ — shows, contacts, crew, documents, money, calendar. This is the order we'd actually do it in, so nothing falls through the cracks between the first hold and the last settlement.

1. Get the dates in and move them down the pipeline

Start in Shows. Add each date and let it sit at hold while routing firms up; flip it to confirmed once the offer's signed. The pipeline (inquiry → offer → hold → confirmed → advancing → day-of → completed → settled) is the single source of truth for where every date stands. More on the stages in Managing your shows.

2. Group them with Plan Tour

Once a run of dates is confirmed, use Plan Tour to group them. That's what unlocks per-tour profitability later, so do it before you start spending.

3. Set timezone + showtime on each show

In each show's Overview, set the venue timezone and showtime. This isn't busywork — it's what makes the calendar export land at the right moment instead of a date with no time.

4. Advance every date

Move a show to advancing and work through it: attach the promoter and venue from Contacts, fill the day sheet (load-in, soundcheck, doors, curfew), and generate the Technical Rider straight from the show data. Riders, day sheets, and settlement sheets all share via a secure link with optional password and expiry — see Documents & sharing.

5. Assign crew

Add your crew to each show with their day rate. Their pay flows automatically into Money's Band Bank, so you're not re-keying it later. (Crew is separate from your money-split Band — see Contacts & crew.)

6. Watch the budget as you go

Log costs with + Expense in Money as they land — vans, hotels, per diems. Check Money → Reports for live per-tour profitability so a thin night doesn't surprise you at the end.

7. Settle each night

After each show, run the settlement: gross fee minus venue cut, agent split, and deductions. Reports use that real take-home number, not the headline fee — see Tracking money.

8. Export the whole run

Finally, export an .ics from the calendar and drop it into Google or Apple Calendar. Shows with a timezone and showtime become real timed events. Details in Calendar & timezones.

Stuck somewhere in the run? Email hello@artisthq.app — we tour too.