What is a hotel invoice?
A hotel invoice is a document that is issued by hotels to guests, which provides a detailed record of charges incurred during their stay.
What is the difference between a hotel invoice and a receipt?
Hotel invoices and hotel receipts are slightly different documents. Once the invoice is paid by the guest, a receipt is generated as proof of that payment.
In this guide we’ll reveal everything that hotel businesses need to know about invoices: why they’re important, how and when they’re created, and how a hotel can better manage them.
Table of contents
What is the purpose of a hotel invoice?
The purpose of a hotel invoice is to provide your guests with a detailed record of the charges they’ve incurred during their stay. It offers transparency to guests and shows that your business is trustworthy.
And if the trip is tax-deductible, the hotel invoice also serves as the official record of the transaction if the local tax authorities ever conduct an audit of either the guest or hotel.
Why is streamlined hotel invoicing important?
Invoicing is an unavoidable part of any business’s operations (not to mention the part that ensures you get paid), so you should work to make the process of invoicing as efficient and effective as possible.
By streamlining invoicing and ensuring it is fast and accurate, you can:
- Reduce the time your staff spend on laborious admin, and increase the amount of time they spend on high value tasks like enhancing the guest experience.
- Minimise human errors through automation, to enhance both accuracy and compliance.
- Reduce waiting times for guests, and leave them with a good impression at check-out.
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Understanding the lifecycle of a hotel invoice
Hotel invoices form the third of four steps in the hotel payment process, which goes folio > bill > invoice > receipt.
A hotel invoice is generated from a hotel bill that the guest usually reviews at check-out. The bill is created from a hotel folio – the record of the charges that a guest accrues during their stay. Once the invoice is paid, a receipt is generated as proof of payment.
How to check a hotel booking invoice
When you generate a hotel invoice you should check it over before handing it to your guest. You should verify the guest’s details by asking their name or checking their ID, then briefly review the charges for anything that looks odd or out of place.
Who pays a hotel invoice?
Most hotel invoices are paid by the guest at check-out. But if a guest has pre-paid for the room, and not accrued any extra charges or paid for everything as they went, there may not be any payment to complete at check-out.
There’s also direct billing, where a company or organisation pays for a guest’s stay. This is a common payment option with corporate travellers and tour groups.
How to pay a hotel room invoice
In terms of how a guest pays their invoice, hotels are in total control of which methods they offer. Successful hotels always try to offer all the payment options that their target guests prefer.
Hotel invoice examples
Let’s look at a few sample hotel invoices to understand the look of a hotel room invoice template.
Hotel invoice sample
Looking for a free hotel invoice template? The following generic accommodation invoice template could be used by any type of accommodation business. It could be a hotel invoice template for a small, independent B&B, or it could even be an Expedia hotel invoice.
Marriott hotel invoice
If you want to take inspiration from a booking invoice template used by one of the big hotel chains, here’s what a Marriott hotel invoice looks like.
Hilton hotel invoice
You might also want to use Hilton’s hotel invoice format as inspiration for your own.
How to make a hotel invoice: Format fundamentals
How do I make a hotel invoice? These days most documents are created automatically by hotel invoice generators or billing tools, but it’s good to know how to create one yourself, just in case your power or systems go down. Here are the fundamentals.
What to include in an accommodation invoice
Hotel invoices should include the following information:
- Hotel details
- Guest details
- Stay details
- An itemised list of charges
- Payments and adjustments
- Subtotal, tax and gross total
- Payment terms
Customising invoices for brand identity
Invoices offer an excellent opportunity to display your hotel brand. Add logos and contact details, dress the document up in your brand colours, and place a custom thank-you message at the bottom.
Ensuring tax compliance and accuracy
Work with an accounting professional to ensure your invoices and billing systems meet all relevant tax codes and requirements.
Managing complex room invoicing scenarios
Choose an invoicing tool that can handle situations like group stays, extended stays, cancellations, split payments and bundled services like packages or events.
Streamlining hotel invoicing with technology
The best invoicing tools aren’t standalone solutions. They have the ability to integrate with the rest of your hotel software, which opens up the option of automating and streamlining the entire billing process, reducing errors in the process: a bar bill that is automatically added to a guest’s folio at the end of the evening, for example.
Alexandra Rolton,
Strategic Sales & Key Account Manager
Brady Hotels & Apartments
Hotel invoice data strategies
When data flows freely between your hotel software, it also grants you the ability to analyse the information generated by your invoicing software. The resulting insights can help you to track your occupancy, refine your pricing strategies, forecast revenue and identify service gaps and opportunities.
And if you’re looking for a hotel revenue and distribution tool that can maximise your use of data, by seamlessly connecting to whatever your chosen invoicing solution might be, there’s no better option than SiteMinder.
