How should an Irish hotel separate company-paid accommodation from a guest’s personal extras?

Agree the billing instructions before arrival

In your property management system (PMS), keep the staying guest distinct from the company booking contact. Use written instructions that reception and accounts can both follow.

• Confirm the customer and recipient: company legal name, full billing address, accounts email and purchase order reference where requested. Check whether the employer books the accommodation itself or merely reimburses its employee.
• Record the scope: covered nights, room allowance, agreed breakfast and exclusions. Confirm whether limits include value-added tax (VAT), whether parking is covered and who can approve exceptions.
• Record settlement separately: company deposit, approved credit terms and due date; guest payment method for extras. A card guarantee or pre-authorisation is not a received payment.

Worked example: two nights and a €12 correction

Hypothetical example: a Galway hotel hosts a business traveller for two nights. The employer is the accommodation customer and authorises room and breakfast only. All figures are invented, VAT-inclusive amounts for allocation practice, not market prices or a VAT invoice template.

Reception verifies the employer’s legal name and full billing address against its booking authorisation, with its accounts email and purchase order saved separately. Assume a €200 company deposit has cleared; the remaining company balance is payable by bank transfer on agreed 14-day terms. The guest pays personal extras by card.

Correct parking billed to the company after departure

At check-out, parking is mistakenly included on company invoice C3401 for €368. Guest invoice G3402 is €60 and paid in full. The next day, accounts discovers the €12 routing error.

1. Check the original parking charge and authorisation; confirm with the guest that parking is theirs. Preserve the original invoices and transaction references.
2. For this example, assume finance approves credit note CN3403 for €12 against C3401, with the reason and original charge reference, plus guest invoice G3404 for €12. Retain the parking tax treatment and relevant supply date.
3. Send the credit note and updated company statement to accounts. Send the additional invoice to the guest and obtain an authorised €12 payment; do not silently recharge a stored card.
4. Keep the €200 deposit and €60 card payment where they belong. Match the company’s later €156 transfer and the guest’s €12 payment to their respective outstanding documents.

Control total: net charges €356 + €72 = €428; payments €200 + €60 + €156 + €12 = €428. The correction reallocates €12; it creates no additional sale overall.

Check documents, payments and exceptions

Before issue, inspect both invoice previews against the written authorisation and charge list. For a full VAT invoice, Revenue requires the customer’s name and address, supplier details, dates, a sequential number, service details and VAT information. Use the Revenue VAT invoice checklist; a purchase order reference does not replace those details.

Keep a routing correction distinct from a tax or price error. Revenue’s amendment guidance specifies different documents for price increases, reductions and incorrect VAT. It does not establish one universal procedure for changing the customer. Have finance confirm whether partial crediting or cancellation and reissue fits the actual error.

When issuing a VAT credit note, follow Revenue’s credit note requirements, including the reason, original invoice reference and applicable tax details. Retain the correction trail in the accounting export.

• Check no charge appears on both accounts and no deposit is deducted twice.
• Keep an unpaid company invoice outstanding even after the guest checks out; record its due date and follow-up owner.
• If the employer disputes an extra, check the agreed liability before transferring it to the guest. Obtain approval for exceptions.

Test the split-billing workflow in RoomRaccoon

The RoomRaccoon property management system page lists splitting and emailing invoices from the reservation card. Demonstrate this scenario in your proposed setup: two customer records, a company deposit, personal extras and a correction after check-out. Confirm staff permissions, payment allocation, accounting export behaviour and any subscription or integration requirements.

The Gleesons Roscommon case study describes itemised charges through a Pixelpoint point-of-sale integration. That is a specific integration example; deciding who pays each item still needs your billing instructions.

Company and guest billing questions