Proforma or invoice for your B&B: what is the difference and when do you send which?

Short answer: a proforma is an overview of what the guest will pay, with a payment request attached. It is not a tax document: it does not count for your VAT return, it does not go to your bookkeeping and a business cannot reclaim VAT with it. The invoice is the tax document: it gets a sequential number, shows the VAT, goes to your bookkeeping and is not changed afterwards. Send the proforma when the booking comes in, and make the invoice only once the stay is settled, normally after check-out.

Sounds simple, but this is where things often go wrong. A guest asks for an "invoice" for their employer while you sent a proforma. An invoice made at booking time, after which the guest drops a night. An accountant who finds proformas mixed in with the invoices. Below you will read what each document is, when to send it and how to avoid those traps.

What is a proforma?

A proforma looks like an invoice: your details, the guest's details, the dates, the nights with their price, the extras, the tourist tax and the total. But it is a proposal or overview, not a settlement. You use it to:

• show the guest exactly what they will pay after booking;
• ask for a deposit or the full amount, with a payment link or your bank account number (see asking for a deposit on a direct booking);
• keep track of payments: what has been paid and what is still open.

You can change a proforma as long as the stay is not over. If the guest moves a night, adds breakfast or you give a discount, you simply update the proforma. Nothing goes to your bookkeeping and nothing needs to be credited.

What is an invoice?

The invoice is the document that counts for the tax authorities. It has a few features a proforma does not:

• a unique sequential number from a continuous series, without gaps;
• the VAT per rate, if you are VAT-registered (for accommodation in Belgium that has been 12% since 1 March 2026, see VAT on accommodation);
• it goes to your bookkeeping and, for some business customers, via Peppol (see Peppol and e-invoicing);
• it is final: if something turns out to be wrong, you don't edit it, you issue a credit note and a new invoice.

That last point is the biggest practical difference. A proforma is flexible, an invoice is not.

When do you send which?

The rule of thumb: only make the invoice when nothing can change anymore. If you issue a final invoice at booking time, every cancellation, date change or extra bottle of wine means a credit note. That is two extra documents in your books for something that was a small edit on a proforma.

Traps to avoid

The business guest only gets a proforma. A company needs an invoice to reclaim VAT and book the cost. If a guest asks for an invoice in their company's name, put the company name and VAT number on the proforma before you make the invoice. That way you don't have to credit anything afterwards. More in business guests and invoices in a company name.

Proformas in the bookkeeping. A proforma is not revenue. If you pass them on to your accountant, they may count revenue twice or look for an invoice number that doesn't exist. Only invoices and credit notes belong in your books.

Gaps in your numbering. Invoices are numbered continuously. An invoice you "throw away" because it was wrong leaves a gap. Correct it with a credit note, not with the bin.

Forgetting the invoice after the stay. The opposite happens too: the guest paid, left, and the proforma stayed a proforma. Make the invoice part of your check-out routine, or let it happen automatically.

VAT-exempt but VAT on your invoice. If you fall under the small-business exemption scheme, you don't charge VAT. Your invoice then mentions the exemption instead of a VAT amount. If you are unsure about your situation, ask your accountant.

How BedFlow PMS handles this

In BedFlow PMS you don't have to decide yourself when which document is created:

• For every booking, BedFlow PMS automatically creates a proforma, whether the booking comes in through your website, a channel, a quote or manually. The number starts with a P and the status shows whether it is open, partly paid or paid.
• Changes are made on the proforma: add an item, edit lines or apply a discount.
• Once the stay is over and fully paid, the proforma automatically becomes a final invoice every day at 18:00, with a sequential number from your property's series, a PDF and a UBL file. You can also finalise it yourself at check-out.
• Final invoices go to your connected accounting package automatically. Proformas never go to your bookkeeping.
• If an invoice needs different details, Credit and re-invoice creates the credit note and the new invoice in one step.

All the details are in the guide Invoicing: proforma, final, PDF, UBL.

In short

• Proforma = overview and payment request. Editable, not a tax document, not in your books.
• Invoice = tax document with a sequential number and VAT. Final, corrections only with a credit note.
• Send the proforma at booking, make the invoice once the stay is settled.
• Put company details on the proforma before invoicing, and don't let the invoice slip after check-out.

Want proformas, invoices and the flow to your bookkeeping to happen on their own? Check the pricing or try BedFlow PMS free for 30 days.