Group booking deposits without a pro-forma
How a guesthouse or venue can ask for a group deposit when Achekam offers no pro-forma: a deposit invoice, a pay link and a balance invoice.
By Achekam · · 5 min read · For Hospitality businesses in South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya
A sports club wants a block of rooms for a tournament weekend. A company is bringing its sales team for a two-night strategy session. A wedding party has asked about the whole guesthouse. In each case the organiser says the same thing: "Send us a pro-forma and our finance office will pay the deposit."
Many venues have always sent pro-formas for this. Achekam does not offer pro-forma invoices. That is not a dead end, but it does change the paperwork, and it is worth understanding before the next group asks.
This article sets out what to send instead, how the deposit and the balance fit together, and how to handle a cancellation, for guesthouses, lodges, hotels and venues in South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya.
What to send instead of a pro-forma
There are two ways to give an organiser something to act on.
A deposit invoice. Raise an ordinary invoice for the deposit amount. It starts as a draft you can change or delete; issuing it takes the next number in your sequence and posts it to the ledger as debtors, sales and output VAT. The issued invoice can be downloaded as a PDF on your letterhead and e-mailed from the invoice.
Signed booking terms first. If the organiser needs to agree terms before anyone invoices anything, send your booking terms for electronic signature. Any document can be sent for e-signing, including one composed from text blocks or a saved template, and the signed PDF is filed back into Documents. Once signed, issue the deposit invoice.
One point to settle with your accountant before you start: because issuing a deposit invoice posts sales and output VAT immediately, the deposit appears in your income and VAT figures when the invoice is issued, not when the guests arrive. Agree how you want that treated, and whether VAT on a deposit is due at that point in your country.
The deposit invoice and its pay link
For an issued invoice, you can create a payment link, copy it, or e-mail it with the invoice. The organiser pays on a public page showing your business's name and branding, through the payment gateways you have set up. A link lasts 14 days by default, and the business can set it anywhere from 1 to 720 hours. If an open link already exists for the same amount, it is reused rather than duplicated.
Many corporate finance offices pay by bank transfer instead. The pay page can show your bank details and a payment reference, and a staff member marks the payment received once it appears on the bank statement. Ask the organiser to quote the invoice number as the reference; it saves time when the money arrives.
When the deposit is paid, it is recorded against the invoice. A part payment leaves the invoice part-paid. If the organiser pays more than the deposit, the extra is held on their account and can be allocated to the balance later.
The balance invoice after the stay
After the stay or event, raise a second invoice for what remains: the rooms, meals and extras not already covered by the deposit invoice. Refer to the deposit invoice's number on it, so the organiser's finance office can see both documents together.
Be careful not to invoice the full stay and then subtract the deposit as a discount. The deposit invoice already counted that amount as sales; the balance invoice should carry only what is still to be billed. Anything the group spends at the bar or restaurant on the night is rung up at the till as usual, through tabs settled before they leave, as open bar tabs and parked sales across tills explains.
When the group cancels
What happens depends on whether the deposit invoice was paid.
- Unpaid deposit invoice. An administrator can void an issued invoice that has no payments or credits, which reverses its journal.
- Paid deposit, refundable under your terms. Issue a credit note from the deposit invoice, in full or for the chosen lines. Any leftover credit is held for the customer. Refunding the money is a separate step: a refund of an online invoice payment is made in the gateway's own dashboard and then recorded by a person, and administrators can refund or reverse a receipt in Achekam.
- Paid deposit, partly kept under your terms. Credit only the part you are returning, and keep the credit note's description clear about the cancellation fee retained. For South African venues, section 17 of the Consumer Protection Act covers when a supplier may take a reasonable deposit for a booking and what cancellation charge it may keep when the customer cancels, so set your terms with it in mind.
A credit note always comes from the invoice it corrects; there is no free-standing credit note. That is one more reason to issue the deposit as a proper invoice from the start.
A note for Nigerian and Kenyan venues
The New invoice form under Billing & Finance offers only 15% or 0% VAT and shows rand, so it does not follow Nigerian or Kenyan VAT. The invoice form under Accounting does follow your country's tax codes, so use that one for deposit and balance invoices. Achekam takes the VAT rate from the approved rule in force on the invoice date for your country, and refuses rather than guesses if no approved rule applies.
Explaining the paperwork to the organiser
Organisers are usually relaxed once they understand the process. Something like this works:
"We don't issue pro-formas. Instead, you'll receive an invoice for the deposit, with a link to pay online or our bank details for a transfer. After your stay, we'll send a second invoice for the balance, referring to the deposit invoice. If you cancel, the deposit is handled under the booking terms you signed, and we'll issue a credit note for anything refundable."
One known limit affects what the organiser sees: the invoice PDF downloaded or e-mailed from the invoice screen is currently always headed TAX INVOICE and cites South Africa's VAT Act, whatever the business's country or VAT number. If you are not VAT-registered, or you trade in Nigeria or Kenya, mention this to the organiser's finance office before they query it.
Supplier costs for a group, from extra food to hired equipment, arrive as bills of their own; paying food and beverage suppliers in parts covers that side.
Write down your deposit terms, decide with your accountant how deposits should show in your books, and prepare the organiser wording. The next group that asks for a pro-forma will get something better: a real invoice, a way to pay it, and a clear path to the balance.
General guidance only, not advice on your own circumstances. Tax and payroll rules change: check the current position with the authority or your adviser.
