So did DOJ really pay $16 for muffins? Of course not. In fact, it’s obvious that someone quite carefully calculated the amount they were allowed to spend and then gave the hotel a budget. The hotel agreed, but for some reason decided to divide up the charges into just a few categories instead of writing a detailed invoice for every single piece of food they provided. This is unremarkable. In fact, I’m here to tell you that this happens All. The. Time. I’ve been involved in what feels like a thousand conferences of this kind, and I’d be shocked if it happened any other way. Hell, I’m surprised DOJ even got that much of a breakdown. Far more commonly, your event person negotiates what kind of refreshments you’ll get, and the invoice ends up looking something like this:

Refreshment table (bev/morn/aft) — 5 days………………..$39,500