Group check-out: splitting the company and guest bills

Part 1: The rules in force from 1 July 2026

From 1 July 2026, e-invoices follow Decree 254/2026/ND-CP and Circular 91/2026/TT-BTC. Decree 123/2020/ND-CP and Decree 70/2025/ND-CP ceased to be effective on 1 July 2026 (Decree 254, Article 43); Circular 32/2025/TT-BTC also ceased to be effective on 1 July 2026 (Circular 91, Article 25).

For a chain, this is worth checking in internal documents: the front desk manual, accounting procedures, the sales team's group contract template. Anything still citing the old documents is best updated once for every property, so all properties read from the same set of references.

Part 2: Why groups get stuck on invoices at check-out

A conference group, a corporate incentive trip, guests at an event: many rooms, and many payers. Common sticking points at the desk:

• The agreement on who pays what sits in the sales team's email, and the check-out shift cannot see it.
• The company's invoice details arrive late, or are read out over the phone with one letter wrong in the name or one digit wrong in the tax code.
• Check-outs bunch into one window, with dozens of guests waiting at the desk.
• Guests use services outside the agreement, such as bar drinks charged to the room, and nobody is sure who pays.
• Each property in the chain does it differently, so corporate clients get invoices one way at one property and another way at the next.

None of these is a question about the wording of the Decree. They are about the flow of information between sales, front office and accounting, and they can be fixed with a routine. On the legal side, most of it sits in section 4 of the Appendix, plus Article 9(2) for when to issue the invoice.

Part 3: The company pays for rooms, guests pay for extras — reading Appendix section 4

Section 4 of the Appendix to Decree 254 sets out buyer information by type of buyer. Four sentences bear directly on groups:

• Business buyer (section 4(a)): “the buyer's name, address and tax code shown on the invoice shall follow the business registration certificate, branch registration certificate, household business registration certificate, tax registration certificate or tax code notice…”.
• Individual who provides details (section 4(b)): “where the buyer is a consumer who provides a name, address and personal identification number, the invoice shall show the name, address and personal identification number”.
• Foreign guest (section 4(b)): the address and personal identification number may be replaced by the passport or entry–exit document number and the guest's nationality.
• Buyer who provides no details (section 4(b)): “where the buyer does not provide a name, address or personal identification number, the invoice clearly states ‘sold to consumer’”.

And the sentence that explains why the company needs an invoice in its own name, also in section 4(b): “An invoice without buyer information or an invoice issued to a consumer has no value for economic organisations, agencies, other organisations, household businesses or individual businesses to use for recording expenses or tax finalisation under the law on tax.”

The company pays for rooms, guests pay for extras: what goes where

Decree 254 has no specific provision for a group with several payers; the safe reading is that each invoice carries the details of the buyer of the part of the service that person pays for, as in the table below.

In a specific case, the hotel should ask the tax authority that directly manages it.

The table describes how buyer details are recorded, not how many invoices every group gets. Some companies pay for everything, including services; in some groups guests pay their own rooms; some companies also pay for breakfast or a food and drink allowance. Each group's payment agreement decides which bill belongs to whom; Appendix section 4 decides what each bill's invoice records.

Part 4: Splitting group folios — agree who pays what at signing

Splitting group folios starts at the sales desk, before the group reaches the front desk. If the group contract says clearly what the company pays and what guests pay, the desk just follows the table at check-out. If not, the desk guesses, and a wrong guess means either the company refuses part of the statement or a guest is charged for something the company agreed to cover.

The payment split table worth having in the group contract

An example of a common arrangement for a corporate conference group:

This table is an example, not a template for every group. What matters is that the table exists, sits on the group's booking record and can be seen by every shift.

The group's shared bill and each guest's own bill

Many hotels call the group's shared bill, which collects what the company pays, the master folio; each guest's own bill is an individual folio. The names vary, the practice is the same: the company pays for rooms, guests pay for extras, each on its own bill.

In DiHotel this is split payment: room charges on one bill, services such as the minibar on another, so separate invoices can be issued to the company and to the guest. When the split table is agreed in the contract, the desk posts each charge to the right bill as it happens, instead of splitting everything at check-out.

The company's invoice details: once, in writing

The company's details belong in the group contract or the confirmation email: full name, address and tax code as on the registration certificate, the email for invoices, and a contact in the company's accounting team. Get them once, in writing, check them against a photo of the registration certificate and file them on the group record. As Appendix section 4(a) says, the name, address and tax code follow the registration, so a name from a business card or the event's brand name cannot stand in for it.

Allowances and charges outside the agreement

For anything the company pays up to an allowance, agree beforehand which bill takes the excess, who may approve more, and how. For charges outside the agreement, the default is best set as guest-pays unless the group leader confirms otherwise in writing. These two lines head off many arguments at the desk at check-out.

Part 5: When to issue invoices if the group prepays or pays a deposit

Groups often have their own payment schedule: a deposit at signing, part payment before arrival, the balance after the stay. Decree 254, Article 9(2), first sentence: “The time of issuing an invoice for the provision of services is the time the provision of the service is completed (including services provided to foreign organisations and individuals), regardless of whether payment has been received.” Second sentence: “Where the service provider collects money before or during the provision of the service, the time of issuing the invoice is the time the money is collected (excluding deposits collected under the Civil Code to secure performance of the service contract).”

The third row only applies when the money really is a deposit. Whether money a group sends in advance is a deposit or an advance payment for the service depends on the specific contract and documents; this article does not answer that (see the open questions and the note on the tax authority in Part 8).

What you can do now: make the group contract and receipts name each payment correctly, deposit or advance payment, and have accounting read the group contract before arrival rather than after departure. For a chain, one standard group payment clause for every property lets group accounting read them all the same way.

Part 6: A five-step routine for front office and accounting

Step 1: Before arrival

Sales passes three things to front office and accounting: the group's rooming list, the payment split table, and the company's invoice details in writing. If any of the three is missing, chase it before arrival, not on check-out day.

Step 2: At check-in

Confirm the split table with the group leader. Tell each guest what the company pays and what they pay themselves, and ask whether they need an invoice for their own part, with personal details or the details of the company they work for. The in-house guest's details already in the PMS from check-in are the basis for the invoice when the guest agrees.

Step 3: During the stay

Every charge at the restaurant, bar, minibar or laundry is posted to the right bill as it happens. Charges outside the agreement go to the guest's own bill unless the group leader has confirmed otherwise in writing. Charging services to the room at resort scale is covered in the article on charging services to the room.

Step 4: At check-out

Run two lines: guests settle their own bills first and receive invoices for their own part; the group's shared bill is closed afterwards, once the group leader or the person the company names has checked and confirmed the statement. Before issuing the company invoice, check name, address and tax code against what the company sent in writing.

Step 5: After the group leaves

Accounting checks the shared bill against the group contract, sends the invoice to the company accounting email provided and files it with the confirmed statement. An e-invoice does not need the buyer's digital signature unless the buyer and the seller have agreed otherwise (Decree 254, Article 10(1)(e)), so a group leader who has already left does not hold up the invoice.

Part 7: Common group invoice mistakes and how to avoid them

Part 8: Questions this article does not answer

When you ask, attach the group contract or the channel contract, a sample statement with guests' personal details masked, and a description of who pays whom and when. In a chain, share the written answer with accounting at every property, noting which tax office answered and for which property.

Part 9: Where DiHotel helps with invoices

DiHotel is a PMS; it does not replace accountants or the tax authority. For invoices at group check-out, DiHotel does three things:

• Split payment: room charges on one bill, services such as the minibar on another, so separate invoices can be issued to the company and to the guest.
• Connection with the e-invoice provider the hotel already uses. DiHotel does not issue e-invoices itself; each property keeps its own e-invoice provider.
• The in-house guest's details are pulled in for the invoice, with no retyping. Useful when guests provide a name, ID number, or passport number and nationality for the invoice for their own part.

The guest's details are in the PMS from check-in; how to use them for guest registration without retyping is covered in the article on guest registration for chains and resorts. For the books after invoices are issued, see chain accounting under Circular 99 and the DiACC accounting module page.

What DiHotel does not decide for the hotel: whose details go on the invoice, how a group's prepayment is classified, and tax questions. Those belong to the hotel's accountant and the tax authority.

The company pays for rooms and guests pay for extras: how are invoices issued?

Operationally, the group's room charges go on one bill in the PMS for the company to pay, services such as the minibar go on each guest's own bill, and separate invoices are issued to the company and to the guests. Decree 254/2026/ND-CP has no specific provision for a group with several payers; the safe reading is that each invoice carries the details of the buyer of the part of the service that person pays for. In a specific case, the hotel should ask the tax authority that directly manages it.

Does Decree 254 have a specific provision on splitting invoices for groups?

Decree 254/2026/ND-CP has no specific provision for groups or for splitting invoices by payer; the safe reading is that the buyer details on each invoice follow whoever buys that part of the service, as Appendix section 4 describes for businesses and for individuals. In a specific case, the hotel should ask the tax authority that directly manages it.

Why does the company need an invoice with its own name and tax code?

Under the Appendix to Decree 254/2026/ND-CP, section 4(b), an invoice without buyer information or issued to a consumer cannot be used by a business to record expenses. For a business buyer, the name, address and tax code follow the business or tax registration certificate (section 4(a)).

What is a master folio?

It is the name many hotels use for the group's shared bill, which collects the charges the company or organiser pays, such as rooms. Charges guests pay themselves sit on each guest's own bill. The name matters less than agreeing in the group contract which charge goes on which bill.

What if a guest in the group does not want to give any details?

Under the Appendix to Decree 254/2026/ND-CP, section 4(b), when the buyer does not provide a name, address or personal identification number, the invoice clearly states that it is sold to a consumer. The front desk should tell the guest beforehand that a business cannot use such an invoice to record expenses.

Does DiHotel issue e-invoices itself?

No. DiHotel connects with the e-invoice provider the hotel already uses. DiHotel can split payment, with room charges on one bill and services such as the minibar on another, so separate invoices can be issued to the company and to the guest, and it pulls in the details of the in-house guest for the invoice, with no retyping.