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Restaurant invoicing encompasses the entire process of creating and collecting invoices. These are documents that reflect the commercial transactions carried out in the establishment. That is, they show the products and services that have been offered to customers

It is important that you control everything you need to know about invoicing to know how to properly manage the accounting of your business. This way, you will avoid making a mistake that could have financial consequences.

We show you the different types of invoicing that exist according to each hospitality business, as well as tips to improve this service.

Types of invoicing

Each business has a billing model to establish in order to avoid problems with the tax authorities or customers complaining at the time of payment if they find errors in the bill

Find out which billing model best suits your business, a basic and essential knowledge for you to run your hospitality business successfully.

Restaurant Billing

To perform restaurant invoicing you have to follow a certain structure. You start by placing the word “invoice” in capital letters and centered at the top. Another option is to place the name of your business.

Then, there are a series of aspects that you must include in the following order:

• Invoice number: The invoice number identifies the order placed by the diners. It must be consecutive, since the Tax Authorities do not allow jumps in the numbering of the accounts.

• Date of issue of the invoice: The date is one of the most important data of the invoice, because it reflects the day on which the document is generated. In addition, it is necessary for you to know in which quarter you must include it for tax purposes.

• Identification: The invoice must include the customer’s identification, ID number and address. Do not forget to include also the number of the personnel that attends to the client and the address of invoicing, that is to say, the fiscal address that you indicated to the Treasury in the declaration of the discharge.

• Goods and services rendered: Following the identification data, you must list the goods and services rendered, in detail. In the invoice must appear the description of the products, quantity and price per unit, as well as discounts and the economic total of each one of them. These data must appear registered in the account taking into account the order in which the customer’s order was taken.

• Taxes and final amount: It is necessary to detail the taxes that correspond to each service charged in the invoice, either Value Added Tax (VAT) or Personal Income Tax (IRPF). To do so, you must specify which tax it is and its amount. Do not forget that you must also indicate whether the invoiced product is exempt or not from VAT in case you sell products or services with this characteristic. Finally you must put the final amount that the customer must pay for everything he/she has consumed in your restaurant.

Invoicing of a bar or a pub

In the case of bars or pubs you can use two different invoicing models: either you use the restaurant invoicing model that we have exposed above, or you can use a simplified invoice model, that is to say, a checkbook sheet.

This last type of invoicing does not require identification data nor detail the VAT applied. It is filled in with the date, invoice number and business data such as name, fiscal address, full name of the person taking the order and tax identification number (NIF).

In addition, it is important to detail the goods and services offered during that service. You cannot just put the final amount.

This type of invoicing can be used in your bar without any inconvenience as long as the service has a total amount of less than 3.000€ including VAT.

Invoicing a catering company

Catering companies use a billing system according to the services provided to their customers.

If it is a food and beverage service, restaurant invoicing is used. That is to say, it maintains the structure of the document and charges 10% output VAT.

However, invoicing is different when customers want additional services from the company such as presentation, organization, decoration, entertainment or waiter service during an event.

In these cases, you should prepare a detailed invoice, stating the type of service provided and the VAT percentage applied. Finally, the total amount to be paid for the event is placed.

Invoicing of delivery companies

The invoice used by delivery companies is not very different from restaurant invoices, but it includes other important data for this service.

These invoices need the customer’s full details: name, surname, ID number, telephone number and the address where you wish to receive your order. Then the products of your order and the shipping cost are detailed.

Finally, the amount of the service is entered and includes the unit price together with the applicable VAT and the total to be paid at the end of the bill.

Importance of restaurant billing management

Regardless of the branch of catering to which your business corresponds, invoices will be the justification of your expenses and income.

All the information that is part of the invoices must appear within your accounting books. In addition, it is essential for calculating the VAT and income tax of your business.

To have a correct management of the invoicing of restaurants is a sample of the level of liquidity that your business has and an indicator to know its solvency.

Remember to keep a copy of the invoices and thus you will have the necessary information to justify all your commercial activity.