A folder of pro forma invoices and a calendar reminder
Your contract with a hotel in the Dolomites asks for a deposit when you confirm the allocation and the balance thirty days before arrival, based on the final rooming list. The coach company in Italy wants payment in full a week before the tour. The ground agent in Croatia invoices monthly. The boat operator wants cash on the day through your tour leader.
In the office, these dates live in a spreadsheet, a calendar and a folder of pro forma invoices. The accounts person pays what arrives. Occasionally a hotel emails to say the final payment is overdue and they will release the rooms, and nobody had it in the diary because the pro forma never arrived.
Payment terms are per supplier, and amounts depend on final numbers
Paying suppliers is not complicated, but the schedule is. Each supplier has its own terms, the amount often depends on numbers that change until late, and some invoices never arrive unless you ask for them.
- Deposit and balance rules differ by supplier and sometimes by season.
- Final amounts depend on rooming lists and passenger numbers.
- Pro forma invoices arrive by email, sometimes late or not at all.
- Payments in euros or other currencies are worked out on the day.
- Accounts and operations each hold part of the picture.
How you manage foreign currency and how you protect client money are matters for your own advisers. This is about knowing what is due and when.
Late payments strain supplier relationships
Hotels and ground suppliers hold your rooms and vehicles on trust. Paying late, or paying the wrong amount because numbers changed, uses up goodwill you need when you want an extra room or a better allocation next year. At worst, rooms are released.
Paying early or twice has its own cost, and finding out takes time. And the accounts person spends hours each month reconstructing what is due from emails and contracts.
A supplier payment schedule tied to departures
We build a payment schedule that combines supplier terms, departures and your accounts.
- Each supplier's payment terms are recorded: deposit rule, balance rule, currency, and whether they send a pro forma or you calculate the amount.
- When a departure is confirmed with a supplier, the schedule creates the expected payments with due dates, calculated from the arrival date and the terms.
- Expected amounts are calculated from the contract rates and the current rooming list or passenger numbers, and update as numbers change until the payment is made.
- Pro formas arriving in the accounts inbox are read and matched to the expected payment. Differences between the pro forma and the expected amount are flagged for a person.
- A weekly list shows payments due in the coming weeks, with amount, currency and supplier bank details, for the person who approves payments.
- When a payment is made in your accounts system (for example Xero), the schedule marks it paid and stores the reference.
- Missing pro formas are chased automatically a set number of days before the due date.
| Payment | Due date from | Amount from |
|---|---|---|
| Hotel deposit | Allocation confirmation | Contract rule |
| Hotel balance | Days before arrival | Rooming list and rates |
| Coach hire | Days before the tour starts | Quote and final days |
| Ground agent | Monthly invoice date | Services on departures that month |
| Cash on the day | Tour day | Added to the tour leader's float |
The weekly payment run with the schedule
On Tuesday the accounts person opens the week's list: seven supplier payments due, two with pro formas that differ from the expected amount. One difference is an extra room agreed last week, which is fine. The other is a hotel charging an old rate, which goes back to operations. The remaining payments are approved and made, and the schedule updates from Xero.
Operations can see from the departure screen which suppliers are fully paid, so the question "have we paid the hotel?" is answered without asking accounts.
Signs supplier payments are hard to track
- Supplier payment dates are kept in a spreadsheet or calendar.
- A supplier has chased you for a payment you did not know was due.
- Final amounts are calculated by hand from rooming lists.
- Pro formas that never arrived were never chased.
- Operations and accounts each hold half the picture.