Concierge Invoicing
Concierge invoicing turns confirmed services into invoices the guest can pay through the guest portal. When you confirm a sailing tour, a private chef dinner, or an airport transfer that is set to be collected by the platform, the system creates an invoice line for it automatically. You then send those invoices to the guest as a single bundle, and they pay through the same portal where the rest of their booking lives.
This guide covers how invoices are built, when they are sent to the guest, what the guest sees, and how to track payment status from the concierge dashboard.
How Invoices Are Built
Every booking has its own concierge invoice ledger. As you confirm services on a guest's trip portfolio, those services land on the booking's draft invoice -- one line per service -- with the gross price you set when creating the item. Only services with a platform-collects payment strategy enter the invoice. Services that the operator collects directly, or that are included in the stay, are skipped because the guest is not paying you for them.
While the invoice is in Draft, you can keep adding new lines as more services are confirmed. The guest does not see anything yet. This lets you build up a complete bill across a planning week and send it once, instead of dripping individual invoices to the guest every time you confirm a service.
Service Item Payment Strategies
When you create a service item, you choose how payment is handled. Only two strategies generate invoices:
| Strategy | Invoice generated? | What the guest sees |
|---|---|---|
| Operator Collects Full | No | "Pay Provider" tag on the service. The guest pays the operator at the time of service. |
| Platform Collects Full | Yes | The full amount appears as a line on the concierge invoice. |
| Platform Collects Deposit | Yes (deposit only) | The deposit appears as a line. Balance is collected by the operator at the time of service. |
| Included in Stay | No | "Included in Stay" tag on the service. No separate charge. |
Make sure the strategy is correct before you confirm a service -- the invoice line is created at confirmation time and reflects the strategy you chose.
Sending an Invoice
When you are ready to bill the guest:
- Open the booking's Trip Portfolio in the concierge dashboard.
- Review the draft invoice in the Payments panel. Every confirmed platform-collects line should be listed with its description and amount.
- Click Send Invoice.
The system flips the invoice from Draft to Active and triggers a notification to the guest through the lifecycle template you have configured for Invoice Sent. The guest receives a message linking to the Payments card in their portal where the invoice is now ready to pay.
You cannot send an empty draft. If no platform-collects services have been confirmed on the booking, Send Invoice is disabled.
What the Guest Sees
In the guest portal Payments card, the concierge section appears below the accommodation plan. It shows:
- A line for every billable service, with its description and amount.
- The total due and the currency.
- A Pay button that takes the guest through the checkout flow.
If multiple invoices are open at the same time -- for example, you sent one early in the trip and added another after the guest requested more services -- a Pay All toggle appears so the guest can settle them in a single transaction.
After payment succeeds, the invoice flips to Paid. Each underlying service item also picks up a Paid badge in the guest's services list.
Tracking Payment Status
Service items have a payment status that you can see at a glance from the concierge dashboard:
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Pending Invoice | The service is confirmed but not yet on a sent invoice. |
| Payment Pending | The invoice is sent and waiting for the guest to pay. |
| Paid | The guest has paid. The service is fully settled from the platform's side. |
| Pay Provider | Operator-collected services. The platform never bills these -- the operator collects directly. |
| Included in Stay | Service is bundled into the accommodation rate. No separate billing. |
The portfolio detail page colour-codes these statuses so a quick scan tells you what is outstanding and what is settled.
Adding Services After an Invoice Is Sent
You can keep confirming services after the first invoice is sent. New platform-collects items create a fresh draft invoice on the same booking. When you are ready, click Send Invoice again to bill the second batch. The guest sees both invoices listed in their portal and can pay them individually or together with Pay All.
This pattern keeps the audit trail clean: each invoice you send is locked once it is active, so what you billed and when is unambiguous.
Handling Cancellations and Refunds
If a service is cancelled before the invoice is sent, the line is removed from the draft automatically -- the guest is never billed.
If a service is cancelled after the invoice is sent and paid, the cancellation does not auto-refund the guest. Issue a refund through the connector's normal refund process and note it on the booking. Once the cancellation is recorded, the service is removed from the active list and reflected in the booking's concierge totals.
If a booking is cancelled entirely, the entire portfolio cancels with it. Any draft invoices are voided. Sent-but-unpaid invoices remain visible in the audit log; resolve them with the guest as part of the booking cancellation conversation.
Common Questions
Can I edit a sent invoice? No. Once Send Invoice is clicked, the invoice is locked. To bill an additional amount, confirm new services and send a new invoice. To remove a charge, cancel the underlying service item and issue a refund if the guest already paid.
Can I send an invoice for unconfirmed services? No. Only confirmed services with a platform-collects strategy generate invoice lines. This is intentional -- it prevents billing the guest for something that is not yet committed.
Why does the deposit option only invoice the deposit amount? Because the operator is collecting the balance at the time of service. The platform only bills what it is collecting -- the deposit -- and the operator handles the rest at delivery.
Where can I see what the guest has paid so far? Open the booking's Payments panel in the concierge dashboard. Each invoice shows its status (Draft, Active, Paid, Voided) along with the total amount and date. The booking's overall paid total is the sum of all paid concierge invoices plus accommodation payments.
Can guests dispute a single line? Guests pay invoices, not lines. If a guest disputes one service on an invoice, settle it operationally (refund or replace the service), then communicate clearly. The invoice itself is the unit of record.
Related
- Trip Services -- Confirming services and choosing the payment strategy that controls invoicing.
- Batch Checkout -- The Pay All flow guests use to combine multiple concierge invoices.
- Commissions -- How operator commissions are recorded for paid services.
- Lifecycle Templates -- The Invoice Sent and Payment Received messages that fire automatically.