Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

By Curate

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General Questions

What's the differences between you and other software in the market?

  • While we avoid comparing apples to apples - we are certainly the industry leader and a more holistic solution for what you are looking for. In addition, we support our U.S. and International customers around the world with two separate offices, departments, and teams. We staff over fifteen team members. You can read more about our differences through our Blog!

Is Curate in the cloud?

  • Yep. Curate is a web-based application! You can access it from any computer, tablet, or web-accessible device. Unfortunately, that means you can even take it on vacation!

Is Curate a POS?

  • Curate is a platform of services and features that help event professionals manage their business and events from beginning to end. For the most part, our customers are using us to manage their weddings, events, and large business functions. In addition, some users will even use this to project out their Mother's Day and Valentine's Day. 

How does the system work with multiple team members?

  • Team members are able to log into the main account of the software. We just recommend one user working on a single event at a time. You can also add additional users which gives you the ability to send quotes and proposals from different people, customized features, and more. We even have admin and non-admin privileges.

Proposal Questions

Can you send invoices?

  • Definitely! You can send auto-generated invoices as well through the proposals product.

Can you send a contract?

  • Yes! Clients can view the proposal, pay a deposit, and sign a contract all from a single link.

Does Curate generate a PDF version?

  • We actually take it a step further! We create interactive, mobile-friendly proposals that your clients can view on the go. However, you can create a beautiful PDF of your proposal along with the contract if you’d like. We even have a digital format to email it in so you have your preference.

Does it have a mood board/inspiration board/color palate?

  • Yes, and we even have it so that every item has its own mood board if preferred. You can even drag and drop pictures from Pinterest.

Can you take payments through the system?

  • Certainly. You can easily connect up your deposit and payment schedule so that they can view, sign, and pay from the same screen. We even have customizable payment reminders, so your customer can pay you appropriately.

What systems do you connect with to receive payments?

  • We currently utilize Card Connect and Stripe, which are the most popular online processing systems today, and it’s super simple to set up an account. Many users who prefer to use another processor will simply copy the link into the event for the clients to pay with. You can even mark payments within the software, and still send them a receipt directly from the proposal, however you'd like.

Do you take ACH payments?

  • You can record ACH and check payments through the system and even send receipts as well for any payment method type.

What’s the processing fee for your payment systems?

  • Stripe’s processing fee is 2.9% + 0.30 per transaction. We don’t add any fee onto that! And you can even cover the expense by including the service fee charge in the proposal itself.

Does the system allow me to upload photos to my proposal?

  • Very easily! In fact, you can even drag and drop from Pinterest or bring in photos from other sources directly to your Media Library to use.

Does Curate have proposal templates?

  • Yes! Your account comes with a Starter Template and during your onboardings, we discuss how to craft the templates to fit your event needs. You can certainly create templates yourself.

Does Curate generate business reports?

  • Yes! You can generate a report on all of your events through a given time frame or even a report of your payments that you’ve received or that you are waiting on. You can even see sales close rates between users, and more!

Does Curate let me add my own logo?

  • Yes! you can easily add your own logo to your account and proposals.

How much can I customize the proposal?

  • We have great customization items like custom header photos that can be changed for different types of events and those can even be saved individually for your templates. You can even customize your colors. Our Mood Board is 100% customizable with your pictures, and there's more to come! Our biggest goal is to create something that clients can use on their phone, iPad, or any other device they’re using. So keeping this consistent helps ensure the proposals are mobile-friendly and fully interactive.

Can I upload documents?

  • Certainly. We have a lot of our users that attach floor plan layouts, seating arrangements, different pictures, or any other file they need to attach to the event.

CRM Questions

Does Curate work as a CRM?

  • It certainly does! It works specifically as a central source of information for your clients' names, addresses, and other important information. It also shows all the events and which ones they are connected to.

Does Curate keep up with venues and vendors?

  • Yes! You’re able to quickly access your list of vendors, venues, and any other contacts and companies you work with and see what events they are linked to.

"Back of House" Questions

Do you have access to multiple markups?

  • You can create a variety of markup profiles and easily select between markups, per each event or even each item.

Are you able to create recipes with it?

  • Certainly! You can use your own library of items to build and cost out each recipe. Although, it already comes pre-loaded with thousands of variations of items, flowers, and photos!

If I have multiple events, can I combine my wholesalers or supplier lists together?

  • Certainly. The Curate COGS Established product is built for companies that are needing features just like that. You can even send out multiple orders as one, combine items for consolidated shipping, and meet minimums for lower ordering costs.

Does it create my wholesaler or supplier list for an event automatically?

  • It does! Once you add your recipes for your line item, it automatically builds out what you should order, including your leftovers.

How long does it take to load in all the items in your library if we gave that to you? How will you load those in?

  • It varies from company to company, but we’ve had some great innovations to speed it up like library starters, giving you an extensive library with items already loaded. In addition, you always have the ability to add new items yourself and they are then in your library forever.

Does Curate tabulate all my cost?

  • Yes! It will take your library of items and build it out with cost and retail numbers automatically. You can even include crucial elements, like delivery fees, taxes, and pretty much anything that you need to charge for the customer.

Does Curate connect with my wholesaler or supplier pricing lists?

  • The system is based on your library and how you’ve customized your pricing. You can certainly build in your wholesaler or supplier pricing in but because that changes so much, most users just put an average throughout the year and work off that. They’ll lose 15 cents on one wedding and make 15 cents on another.

Does Curate create a recipe sheet for my designers?

  • Certainly! This includes pictures, quantities, and notes, letting you choose which pieces of information you’d like to be on the sheet. You can even assign it to a designer or mark it as completed as you finish each arrangement or item.

Does Curate have the cost on the recipe sheet that my designers will use?

  • You can totally have it if you like! But, you can leave that off their view when printing as well.

Does Curate let me pay for my sales tax?

  • Curate calculates your sales tax for you and through the reports, it gives you detailed breakdowns.

Can I create my proposal first and recipes later?

  • Yes! Simply create the proposal as normal. Then when it’s time to cost out the recipes, add your recipes to each item.

Rental Questions

Are you able to manage rental items with it?

  • Yes! You can easily price out rental items. Then, you have a pull list generated for each event. We even have built-in inventory management of these items to keep you from overbooking during a busy weekend. It also keeps track of multi-day rentals and counts for the check-in or return of items.

Integration Questions

Does Curate connect to Quickbooks?

  • It does! Our Established level of the Proposals product connects with Quickbooks online, letting you sync your payments and invoices, and vice versa.

Does Curate capture customer information? Does it connect to any forms and questionnaires on my sites?

  • Yep, you can easily create a customizable form that automatically integrates into the software, letting you even create an event directly from your inquiries. It even lets you receive Inspiration Pictures and other custom information that you would like to source from your client.

Does Curate integrate with our calendar? Does it connect with Outlook or systems like Gmail?

  • You can easily connect your calendar with Google and Outlook via our Established Proposals product, and all your booked events will be automatically synced.

Catering Questions

How does Curate assist caterers?

  • We understand catering proposals, today, are ugly. We help event caterers and professionals create beautiful proposals and menus that generate more leads and convert more wins.

Who do you typically work within the catering market?

  • Caterers who come to us looking for a solution are typically coming from processes or outdated software that slow their processes rather than streamline them. Typically, we hear Excel Sheets, Caterease, and others are the most common when transferring to a solution like Curate.

What makes you stand out from the competition in the market?

  • We are a more modern event management sales and operations solution. We help you save time and money while earning more deals. The market today is full of Millennials who are always on the go and they need a platform where they can digest your proposal and content more easily than other outdated software solutions. All of our proposals are completely digital-friendly and can be accessed from any device. In addition, we have Caterers who enjoy keeping track of their inventories and minimizing waste on backend operations as we have features that streamline that entire process.

Do you integrate with any staffing management platforms?

  • Great question! We actually integrate with Nowsta to help with staffing.

Do you have the ability to show menus on the platform?

  • Of course! You can build menus using the proposals. It has the centered format and customization to it that you are familiar with. We can show you how to do it quickly and easily!

Can I import saved recipes or menus?

  • Of course! Up-front, you have the ability to create what we call products and packages (they are essentially saved recipes or items that you have previously created). They come packed with your costs, photos, description, and more. Plus, you can always update it per proposal or menu too!

How do you handle gratuity?

  • The way our caterers currently process gratuities is they will apply a fixed percentage rate of flat free called a Service Charge onto the proposal before or after the event. Then send the finalized invoice to the customer so they can pay directly from the software. In addition, they will often collect it in person then apply the amount to the proposal without sending a finalized invoice. That way, it's stored within their reporting as well and embedded into the event total.

Do you have seating charts in your system?

  • Great question. Typically, our customers will create their seating charts via Excel or Word. Then, upload them to the Documents/Files container in the proposal. The seating chart can go hand-in-hand with the rest of your event and proposals and be sent to the client directly from the software!

How do I assign recipes and items to suppliers?

  • Our customers today will put the name of their supplier or acronym upon adding the new item or recipe/menu item. When it comes time to order, they know exactly what and who to send it to from the system. Since we store your vendors and suppliers in the system, you can send orders to them right away!

Billing Questions

What is the cost for the software?

  • It really depends on what you need. We have several products within our portfolio including proposal creation, COGS management, rental and inventory tracking, and more. Our consultants are specialized in putting together the best solution for your business based on your current needs.

Which products should I purchase for my business? 

  • Our pricing breaks down to both Monthly and Yearly options whereas monthly is a month-to-month payment and the annual is paid upfront for the 12 months for the course of the year.

How many months do I have to sign up for? Am I locked into a contract?

  • The Monthly Option is a 12-month term where you pay month by month but if you’d like to save money over the year, you can purchase the annual plan as well.

What kind of contract do I need to sign?

  • We send over a simple checkout confirmation including our terms and conditions for your review before you sign up.

Do you offer a free trial?

  • Great question. We actually used to offer free trials and we received a lot of feedback that they were limited in features and support. We now offer both Monthly and Annual plans which include complimentary 1:1 onboarding sessions, unlimited chat support in-app, and more services!

Looking for something else? Let us know!

Tags: CurateU

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