Invoicing software for your B&B or hotel: what to look for

Short answer: invoicing software for a B&B or hotel has to do more than a general invoicing tool. It creates an invoice from every booking automatically, with the nights, the extras and the tourist tax, applies the right VAT rate per line (accommodation at the reduced rate, other items sometimes at another rate), keeps sequential numbering, issues credit notes instead of deleting invoices, sends invoices to businesses via Peppol and passes everything on to your accountant. If it runs in the cloud, you have all of that at hand anywhere, even at the breakfast table.

Below are the eight things worth checking before you choose, and why a general invoicing tool often trips over them.

Why a general invoicing tool doesn't fit

Invoicing software for a plumber or a web shop works with customers, products and quantities. A stay fits poorly into that. You sell nights at a price that can differ per night, for a number of people, with a tourist tax counted per person or per room. Some guests book via Booking.com or Airbnb, where the money arrives through the channel. And anyone who adds a night or leaves a day early changes the invoice.

With a separate tool, you retype all of that from your booking system. That takes time, and every booking is a chance for a mistake. The best invoicing software for accommodation is therefore usually the software that already knows your bookings.

1. One invoice per booking, no retyping

The most important point: the invoice should come from the booking. Guest, dates, nights with their prices, extras such as breakfast or a late check-out, tourist tax and total are on it straight away. If the booking changes, the invoice changes with it as long as it is not final.

So in a demo, don't ask "can I create an invoice?" but "what do I still have to type after a guest booked through my website or Booking.com?". The right answer is: nothing.

2. Pro forma first, final invoice after the stay

In a B&B, a guest often pays a deposit, the rest on arrival and a drink afterwards. A pro forma at booking, which you turn into a final invoice at departure, handles that neatly. The final number only follows when the bill is truly complete, and your numbering stays without gaps.

3. VAT and tourist tax per line

In Belgium, accommodation falls under the reduced VAT rate. What that rate is since 2026 is explained in VAT on accommodation in Belgium. But not everything on your bill does: a bottle of wine or another product can have a different rate. Good software sets the rate per line and totals the VAT per rate.

Tourist tax is another such line. Every city charges differently: per person, per adult or per room. Your software should let you set this per property and show the amount as a separate line on the invoice. How that works is explained in handling tourist tax in your B&B.

4. Sequential numbering and the mandatory details

An invoice has a unique number in a continuous series, a date, your company details and VAT number, the customer's details (with VAT number if it is a business), what you supplied, and the taxable amount and VAT per rate. The full list is published by your tax authority. Your software should handle this automatically, even when two people invoice at the same time.

5. Credit notes instead of deleting

You don't delete a final invoice. If a guest cancels or you refund something, you issue a credit note that refers to the original invoice. Check that your software does this in a few clicks and that the credit note goes to your accountant too. More on the refund itself in processing a guest refund.

6. Payments per invoice, including Booking.com

You want to see per invoice what has been paid and what is still open: paid online, by bank transfer, in cash, by card terminal, or paid out by a channel. Good software links an online payment to the invoice automatically and lets you record a Booking.com payment as a channel payout, so your balance is right. A friendly payment reminder with a pay button is a nice extra.

7. Peppol for invoices to businesses

Since 1 January 2026, e-invoicing via Peppol has been mandatory for invoices between Belgian VAT-registered businesses. If a company stays with you and asks for an invoice in its name, it has to go out in structured form via Peppol. Your software needs to create a UBL file and send it via Peppol, itself or through your accounting package. What falls under it is explained in Peppol and e-invoicing for your B&B.

8. A link with your accountant, in the cloud

Emailing a folder of PDFs every month is no longer necessary. Check whether your software sends your invoices to your accountant's package automatically, and which packages it supports. And choose cloud software: you invoice from your laptop, your phone or the reception PC, and you don't have to make backups yourself.

A quick test before you choose

Take a real booking from last month: two nights, two adults, one breakfast, booked via Booking.com. Ask to see how the invoice is created, how the Booking.com money is recorded, and how that invoice reaches your accountant. If that works without retyping, you're in good shape.

How BedFlow PMS handles it

In BedFlow PMS, every booking automatically gets a pro forma, whether it comes from your website, Booking.com, Airbnb or the phone. After the stay it becomes a final invoice with a sequential number, as a PDF and as UBL. You set up VAT and tourist tax once per property. You record payments per invoice, including channel payouts. If you cancel a booking that already has a final invoice, BedFlow PMS creates the credit note itself, taking into account what you refunded. Your invoices go to Yuki, Billit, Octopus or ClearFacts automatically, and invoices to businesses go out via Peppol through Yuki or Billit. Everything is explained in the invoicing guide.

Want to see how that works with your own bookings? Try BedFlow PMS free for 30 days, no card details needed. Or check our pricing first.