How-To Guide: Clear and transparent invoices
Thanks to the feedback you provide, we have verified that billing is a relevant topic to address for you. In this post, we will try to solve some of the most common doubts.
FROM THE OWNER’S POINT OF VIEW:
Q: How will I receive money from a company that I have no bill to justify that income? Why does the invoice I have issued have a VAT higher than the money I will receive?
A: Go—PopUp is not an event agency, but an intermediation platform between owners and users of spaces. As such, we follow the model and regulation (as far as it is developed) of the collaborative economy. We work as Airbnb, BlaBlaCar, or a retail travel agency. As in all these cases, who provides the basic service is the one who has to bill the end user since we are not legally the one who gives the space.
From the point of view of the user, therefore, we make an invoice that includes the owner’s as “supplied”.
They will be “supplied” when for these services complementary to our activity, there is an invoice issued by the owner or supplier and we take care of it on behalf of the user, subsequently repercussion along with the invoice of our services.
When sending our invoice to the user we include the owner’s a supply and, therefore, between the two, is the VAT perfectly disaggregated.
For its part, the owner receives a bill from us with the percentage of our management costs, which is 15% on the price of the owner’s invoice to the user. This 15% includes the commercial commission (visibility on the platform, customer contribution, negotiation of price and conditions, closure of the agreement), collection management and liability insurance to cover the owner of possible damages to the user within the space during the duration of the event.
Once we receive the payment of the user (for the total amount) and the owner’s invoice, we make the payment to the owner for the difference between your invoice and ours (which includes VAT of management fees).
In this way, the time that passes between we receive the payment of the user and that the owner receives his / her will be strictly the one that the bank takes to complete the corresponding transfers (normally, two or three days), and we make sure that everything is transparent and balanced from the accounting point of view.
In a simple and simplified way, the process of billing an activity related to Go—PopUp would consist of three phases:
- First, Go—PopUp issues and sends an invoice to the User for “User Management” expenses (5% of the amount of the assignment), disaggregating the VAT, plus the amount of the assignment of the space as supplied without disaggregating the VAT.
- Then, the Owner of the space issues an invoice to the User for the amount of the space assignment, disaggregating the VAT. This invoice is sent to Go—PopUp so that we have a record and we can send it to the User.
- Finally, Go—PopUp issues a final invoice, in this case to the Owner, for the amount of the costs of “Management to the Owner”, disaggregating the VAT (15% of the amount of the assignment).
FROM THE CLIENT’S POINT OF VIEW:
Q: I see that there are two invoices, which have the same concepts, can you clarify this?
A: We have sent two Go—PopUp invoices that include the concept of space assignment with VAT as a supplement and our commission (this with VAT disaggregated). The space bill goes with your disaggregated VAT since we can not break it down because we do not invoice it, we only act as tax collectors and therefore you need to have both bills. Our company policy is to make all the steps in the most transparent way possible.
We have done thousands of transactions in more than two years with this model and, although it may generate doubts the first time, in general, it is very clear and transparent and everyone is very satisfied. And what is more important! We fulfil the legality of the service provision and fiscal point of view. For more information, we encourage you to consult our Terms and Conditions.
We hope to have clarified the doubts regarding this issue, as we work day after day following the strictest legal and current legislation. We are confident that although this model may create some doubt, it is the most transparent and beneficial process for all those who believe in us to carry out their projects.
Thank you for joining Go—PopUp!
