Invoicing companies for tables and ticket blocks
How an organiser invoices a company buying a table or a block of tickets, with clear line wording, pay links, part payments and statements.
By Achekam · · 4 min read · For Events businesses in South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya
A company booking a table of ten at an awards dinner, or forty tickets for its staff at a conference, does not buy the way a member of the public does. Nobody in its finance department will pay because someone in marketing said yes. They need an invoice, addressed correctly, showing what is being bought and the VAT on it, matched to a purchase order, and paid in their next payment run.
Getting that invoice right first time is the difference between being paid before the event and chasing a large company for weeks after it. This article explains how to invoice corporate bookings in Achekam.
Why corporates want an invoice, not a till slip
A till receipt proves a sale happened. It does not give a company's accounts payable team what it needs to approve a payment: its own purchase order number, its registered name and tax number, a description it can code to the right budget, and payment terms.
So corporate bookings belong on invoices. Create the invoice as a draft, which can be changed or deleted, and issue it once the details are confirmed. Issuing takes the next number in your sequence and posts it to the ledger as debtors, sales and output VAT. Default terms are 30 days, which may be longer than you can wait before the event; set the due date to suit the event date.
Before issuing, ask the booker for:
- the company's registered name and address for invoicing;
- its tax or VAT number;
- its purchase order number, if it uses them;
- the name and e-mail of the person in accounts payable.
On your own side, your VAT registration number sits in Settings under Firm Profile. Documents the server makes print it and are titled Tax Invoice only when it is set. A customer's tax number prints as a VAT number only when it looks like a South African VAT number; otherwise it prints as a tax number, which Nigerian and Kenyan corporate clients may ask about.
Line wording for tables and seats
Write lines a stranger in the company's finance team can understand without phoning anyone:
- The event name and date, the number of seats and the table number, rather than just "Table".
- "Annual conference: delegate passes" with the quantity and the per-delegate price.
- Separate lines for extras such as branding on the table, a wine package or parking, so each can be coded to a budget.
- The company's purchase order number in the reference or description.
If the company wants named guests, keep the guest list as a separate document rather than putting names on the invoice. Names change; invoices should not have to.
Pay links on issued invoices
You can create a payment link for an issued invoice, copy it or e-mail it with the invoice, and the customer pays on a public page showing your business's name and branding. A link lasts 14 days by default, and the business can set its own duration; an open link for the same amount is reused rather than duplicated. There is no link for a draft or voided invoice.
Many companies will still pay by bank transfer through their own payment run. A pay link is most useful for smaller firms, or for a booker paying with a company card. Send both: the invoice PDF, on your letterhead, with the pay link, from the invoice itself. If the e-mail fails, Achekam reports it as not sent.
Part payments before the event
Corporate buyers often pay in two parts: a deposit to secure the table, and the balance closer to the event. Record each payment against the invoice when it arrives. A part payment leaves the invoice part-paid, and any overpayment is held on the customer's account.
One invoice for the full booking, paid in parts, is usually clearer for a company than a string of separate invoices. If your terms require a deposit invoice before anything else is confirmed, the approach is covered in why event deposits need an invoice.
Achekam's credit control, on for new workspaces, e-mails overdue reminders and a monthly statement to customers with a balance. Make sure the due date on the invoice reflects the date you actually need the money, so reminders start at the right time.
Statements for the company's finance team
Larger companies reconcile their supplier accounts from statements. Achekam's server produces a customer statement of account as a PDF that can be e-mailed, and the screen says whether it was sent.
Send a statement:
- when the balance is due;
- after any part payment, so the company can see what remains;
- after the event, if anything is still outstanding.
Investopedia explains accounts receivable, money owed to a business for goods or services delivered but not yet paid for. A corporate table paid after the event is exactly that, and the statement is your clearest way to keep it in front of the people who pay it.
A corporate booking checklist
- Collect invoicing details and the purchase order number.
- Draft the invoice with clear lines, then issue it.
- Send the PDF with a pay link to the booker and accounts payable.
- Record each payment against the invoice.
- Send a statement before the due date and after the event if needed.
Vendors who pay you for pitches at the same event are invoiced in a similar way, as described in food vendor pitch fees. Before the next booking season, write the five steps into the sales team's booking form, so the invoice details are collected at the moment of the sale.
General guidance only, not advice on your own circumstances. Tax and payroll rules change: check the current position with the authority or your adviser.
