The event was in May and the invoice is still unpaid
Your finance assistant sends the final invoice the week after a two-day leadership conference. A fortnight later an automated email arrives from the client's accounts payable system: rejected, no valid purchase order reference. The organiser, who was lovely to deal with, says she will chase her procurement team for a PO. When it arrives, the PO is for a lower amount than the invoice because it was raised against the original proposal, before the extra dinner and the added breakout room.
So the invoice has to be split, or the PO increased, and each step waits in someone else's queue. Your team has done nothing wrong except not know, at booking stage, what that company's finance process requires.
The booker is not the payer
The person who books an event is usually an organiser, a PA or an agency. The person who pays is an accounts payable team working to rules the organiser may not know about. Those rules differ by company and they rarely reach the venue until an invoice fails.
- A purchase order must exist before the invoice, sometimes one per cost centre.
- The invoice must name the exact legal entity, which may differ from the brand on the booking.
- Some companies require invoices through a supplier portal rather than by email.
- Splits are common: accommodation to one budget, conference costs to another, bar to the individual.
- Extras added on the day may need a separate PO or approval.
Cash tied up in paperwork
Late payment on corporate events is often not a credit problem. It is a paperwork problem. The cost is money sitting in debtors longer than it should, finance staff chasing organisers who have moved on to their next event, and awkward calls that put a strain on a relationship the sales team worked hard to build.
It also clouds your view. When a large balance is outstanding, you cannot easily tell whether it is a real dispute or a missing reference.
How we build billing requirements into the booking
- At confirmation, the organiser receives a short billing form: paying entity, billing address, PO number or the date it will be issued, cost centres, invoice route (email, portal) and any required splits.
- Those details are stored on the booking and on the client's account, so repeat bookers do not have to answer again.
- If a PO is outstanding as the event nears, the organiser is reminded and your events team sees it on a list.
- Before an invoice is issued, it is checked: PO present and its value covers the total, entity name matches, splits applied, day-of-event extras flagged if they need separate approval.
- Invoices are created in your accounts system, such as Xero or Sage, through its API, with the PO and cost centre in the fields that client's finance team reads.
- Where a client uses a supplier portal, the invoice is prepared in that format and a task is created for whoever uploads it, unless the portal accepts files automatically.
| Check | Catches |
|---|---|
| PO number present | Invoices sent before procurement raised one |
| PO value vs invoice total | Extras added after the PO was raised |
| Legal entity name | Brand name used instead of the paying company |
| Split rules | Accommodation and conference on one invoice when two were asked for |
| Invoice route | Emailed invoices to clients who only accept portal uploads |
We do not advise on your payment terms or credit control policy. That is for your finance lead and accountant.
What finance and events see afterwards
The events team hears about a missing PO before the event rather than a month after it. Finance issues invoices that match what the client's system expects, so rejections become the exception. Outstanding balances that remain are real conversations rather than admin loops.
Repeat corporate clients stop being asked for the same billing details every time they book.
Signs this is costing your venue
- Corporate invoices regularly come back for a PO or entity correction.
- You find out about a client's invoice portal only when an emailed invoice is ignored.
- Day-of-event extras cause disputes because the PO did not cover them.
- Finance chases organisers for billing details after the event.
- Large balances are outstanding for reasons nobody is quite sure about.