Four engineers, Monday to Friday, for six weeks
A firm working on the new substation books four of your rooms, Monday to Friday, for six weeks. The engineers pay nothing themselves; the company pays. Their office wants an invoice every Friday, addressed to the company, with a purchase order number, the engineers' names, the nights and the rate. They also want the evening meals you do on Tuesdays and Thursdays shown separately.
Each Friday afternoon you open the word processor, find last week's invoice, change the dates, check which engineer was here which nights (one went home early on Wednesday), add the meals, save it as a PDF and email it. In week four they change the purchase order number. In week five the office emails asking for an invoice from week two that they have lost.
Meanwhile a sales rep who stays one night a month wants a receipt with the company's name on it, and a university lecturer's department needs an invoice in a particular format.
Why business invoices take so long
B&B booking systems are built for leisure guests who pay at checkout. A receipt is easy. A proper invoice for a company is a different document, with different details, and each company wants something slightly different.
- The company name, address and contact are different from the guest's.
- Purchase order numbers change and must appear on every invoice.
- Long stays are invoiced weekly or monthly, not at checkout.
- Extras such as evening meals or packed lunches need showing separately.
- Payment arrives weeks later, by bank transfer, and needs matching.
What hand-written invoices cost you
Friday afternoons, for as long as the contract lasts. Mistakes: a night charged that the engineer did not stay, an old purchase order number that gets the invoice rejected, a meal left off. Late payment, because an invoice that does not match the company's paperwork goes to the bottom of their pile.
Contractor work is valuable to many B&Bs, especially outside the holiday season. Being easy to deal with is part of what keeps a firm coming back for the next job.
Lost invoices are a particular nuisance. Company offices lose them, ask for copies, and ask again when the person who asked leaves. If your invoices live in a folder of documents called 'invoice final 2' and 'invoice final 2 new', finding the right one takes longer than it should, and resending the wrong one causes more confusion.
How we build invoices from your bookings
- Each company that books with you gets a record: name, address, contact for invoices, purchase order number, how often they want invoicing and what format.
- Bookings in your booking system or calendar are linked to the company, with the guest names.
- Nights actually stayed are taken from the bookings, and you can mark a night as not stayed in a tap if someone goes home early.
- Extras such as meals are added from a simple list you tick as you go.
- On the agreed day, invoices are produced in the company's preferred layout, numbered in sequence, and sent to their contact. A copy goes to your accounting package, such as Xero or QuickBooks, if you use one.
- Payments are matched as they arrive, and a polite reminder goes out if an invoice is unpaid after the terms you set.
| Company | Invoicing | Details on each invoice |
|---|---|---|
| Substation contractor | Weekly, Fridays | PO number, engineers' names, nights, meals shown separately |
| Sales rep's employer | Per stay | Company name and receipt |
| University department | Per stay | Department's required reference and layout |
Whether and how you charge VAT is for you and your accountant to decide. The invoices show whatever you tell us they need to.
Friday afternoon, with invoices produced for you
On Friday morning you get a message: four invoices ready. You check that the engineer who left on Wednesday is only charged for two nights, and approve them. They go out. When the office asks for week two again, you resend it from the list in seconds. When the purchase order number changes, you update it once.
The rep gets a proper receipt at checkout, and the university's invoice is in the format their finance team wants, so it is paid without questions.
Do business guests mean paperwork?
- You write invoices for companies by hand in a word processor.
- Contractors stay for weeks and want weekly invoices.
- Purchase order numbers and company details are kept in emails.
- Invoices have been rejected or paid late because details were wrong.
- Matching company payments to invoices is done by hand.