A VAT invoice template for Irish function venues and caterers

What Revenue says a VAT invoice must show

Revenue publishes the list. The ones that apply to a domestic venue or catering invoice are below. Items for intra-Community supplies, reverse charge and tax representatives rarely apply to Irish functions, because the place of supply for a service connected with an event in Ireland is normally Ireland.

• Date of issue
• A unique sequential number
• Your full name, address and VAT registration number
• The customer full name and address
• The extent and nature of the services, and quantity and nature of any goods
• The VAT-exclusive unit price
• Any payment received in advance, net of VAT
• Discounts or price reductions
• The breakdown by rate of VAT
• The total VAT payable
• The date on which the goods or services were supplied

What your invoice must show in Ireland

Breaking the invoice down by rate

A conference day in a Dublin hotel is a good example of why the rate breakdown matters. The meeting room is hire of a room, standard-rated at 23% since 1 January 2026. Lunch and the tea and coffee breaks are catering, at 9% since 1 July 2026. Bottled water on the tables and the drinks reception are 23%, because Revenue keeps alcohol, soft drinks and bottled water at the standard rate in all catering circumstances. Projector and microphone hire are 23%.

Show a small table at the foot of the invoice: net amount and VAT at 9%, net amount and VAT at 23%, then the totals. Your client accounts team, and a Revenue auditor, can then check the VAT at a glance.

VAT invoice: conference day, Dublin hotel

One-day industry conference for 90 delegates at a Dublin city hotel on 8 October 2026, 8.30 am to 5.30 pm

• Catering at 9% from 1 July 2026; room hire and bottled water at 23%.
• Advance payment received 12 August 2026; VAT invoice for it issued by 15 September 2026.
• Invoice issued within 15 days of the end of October.

The 15-day rules and advance payments

A VAT invoice must issue within 15 days of the end of the month in which the goods or services were supplied. For a function on 3 October, that means by 15 November at the latest, although sending it the Monday after the event is better practice.

Advance payments carry their own deadline. Where you receive a payment before the supply, you must issue a VAT invoice by the 15th day of the month following the month the payment was received. So a wedding deposit received on 20 March needs a VAT invoice by 15 April. The final invoice then shows the advance payments received, net of VAT, and charges VAT only on the balance.

Corporate clients working to a purchase order will want the PO number on the invoice and often on the advance-payment invoice too. Ask for it at booking. An invoice without it tends to sit in an approvals queue until someone chases it, which can add a month to your payment.

Wedding invoices: packages, evening guests and the final count

Most Irish hotels sell weddings as a per-head package, and the invoice is where that package has to be unbundled. Show the agreed package price, then the lines that make it up at their own VAT rates: meal and evening food at 9%, drinks reception and wine at 23%, ceremony room at 23%. Agree the split with your accountant before the wedding season and use it for every couple, so that two weddings on the same package never show different VAT.

Base the food lines on the final numbers confirmed in writing, usually a week or ten days before, and list evening guests separately from day guests. Add any extras agreed on the night, such as an extra hour of bar or late food for residents, as their own lines with the time they were approved. Then list each advance payment with its date and the VAT already accounted for on it, so the balance is clear.

Couples often ask for the invoice to be split between two families. You can issue two invoices only if there really are two customers for two defined parts of the supply. Otherwise issue one invoice to the couple and give each family a receipt for what they paid.

Simplified invoices and small amounts

Revenue allows a simplified invoice where the amount is not greater than €100, or where business practice in a sector makes full invoicing difficult. Bar tabs and small add-ons on the night may fall within this. Anything a company will reclaim VAT on should be a full VAT invoice with the rate breakdown.

Service charges and tips on the invoice

If you include a service charge on a catering bill, Revenue treats it as part of the consideration for the meal and taxes it at the catering rate. Tips a customer leaves that are not on the bill are outside the scope of VAT. Under the Tips Act, any charge called a service charge must be distributed to staff, so a venue that wants to keep a charge should give it a different, accurate name and still apply VAT to it.

Credit notes, corrections and records

Never edit an issued invoice. Issue a credit note that references it, then a new invoice. Revenue has a separate list of information required on a VAT credit note. Keep invoices, credit notes and supporting records for six years, and keep the invoice number sequence unbroken, with any voided numbers recorded.

If a client disputes a line after the event, reply with the signed final numbers and the function sheet rather than a revised invoice. Change the invoice only by credit note once the correction is agreed.

Invoice questions from Ireland