The invoice is the one travel document a client reads to the last line. Ours comes in Excel, where the sums, tax and balance due work themselves out, and in Word, with a filled sample PDF. Below are the fields a travel invoice needs, how to show a package price without showing your margin, deposits and cancellation terms, and what GST and VAT rules add in India, Singapore and the UAE.
Quick answer: A travel agency invoice template needs your agency name, address and any licence or tax number; a unique invoice number and date; the client name and address; the booking reference, destination and travel dates; each service (or one package line) with quantity, unit price and amount; any discount and tax lines; the total, the amount paid and the balance due with its due date; payment instructions; and your deposit and cancellation terms. Our free travel agency invoice template does all of this in Excel, with a Word version and a filled sample PDF.
The same list works as a travel agency bill format, since "bill" and "invoice" usually mean the same document here. Most of it is common sense. Three fields cause most of the arguments later: the balance due date, the cancellation terms, and any tax line you aren't registered to charge.
| Field | Why it's there | What to watch |
|---|---|---|
| Agency name, address and contact | Shows who sold the trip. | Use your legal name. If you trade under another name, show both. |
| Licence or registration number | Some licensing bodies expect it on the documents you issue. | Only if your country issues one. Delete the line otherwise. |
| Tax registration number | Lets a business client claim the tax back. | Only if you are registered. No registration, no tax lines. |
| Invoice number | Makes every invoice traceable and shows none is missing. | One unbroken series. Never reuse a number, even after a cancellation. |
| Invoice date and balance due date | Fixes when the sale happened and when the money is due. | Tie the due date to departure and set it before your own supplier deadlines. |
| Client name and address | Says who owes you the money. | On a corporate booking the company is the client, not the traveller. |
| Booking reference, destination, dates, travellers | Links the invoice to the booking and the voucher. | If you list travellers, copy the names from the passports. |
| Description, quantity, unit price | What the client is paying for, and sums they can check. | One package line or itemised lines, at selling price. Never your net cost. |
| Discount and tax lines | Price reductions and each tax charged, openly. | Only the taxes your accountant confirms apply to you. |
| Total, amount paid, balance due | What is left to pay. | Show each deposit received as paid, with its date. |
| Currency | Avoids "which dollars?" emails. | State it once near the totals. Tax rules may also want a local-currency figure. |
| Payment instructions | Bank details and a payment reference. | Ask the client to quote the invoice number so you can match the money. |
| Deposit, balance and cancellation terms | What happens if the client pays late or cancels. | Write dates and charges, not "as per supplier policy". |
A filled example: a five-night Bali family package with one fee line and one at-cost line. The agency, client and figures are made up. The same numbers sit in the yellow cells of the Excel template and in the sample PDF.
Mr and Mrs A. Sample
12 Sample Road, Your City
Ref. BALI-0320 · Bali, Indonesia
20-Mar-2027 to 25-Mar-2027 (5 nights)
2 adults, 2 children
| Description | Qty | Unit price | Taxed? | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bali family package, 5 nights: Seminyak hotel (1 family room, breakfast), private return airport transfers, 2 full-day guided tours, as per itinerary | 1 | 2,850.00 | Y | 2,850.00 |
| Entry fees paid on the client's behalf, at cost | 4 | 30.00 | N | 120.00 |
| Service fee: trip planning and booking (non-refundable) | 1 | 75.00 | Y | 75.00 |
The 5% line is an example rate to show how the sums work, not a rate we're suggesting for you. The tax section below explains what decides it.
travel-agency-invoice-template.xlsx: Invoice, Receipt and Instructions sheets. Line amounts, the discount, two tax lines with your own label and rate, the total, the balance due, the nights and the balance due date all calculate themselves. Prints on one A4 page.
Download Exceltravel-agency-invoice-template.docx: the same layout as a fill-in Word document, with a matching payment receipt page.
Download Wordtravel-agency-invoice-sample.pdf: the filled sample above as an invoice and a deposit receipt, marked SAMPLE.
Download sample PDFA travel agency invoice format in Word suits agencies whose letterhead lives there, but you'll be adding up lines and working out tax by hand, which is where mistakes creep in. Our suggestion: keep the Excel travel agency invoice template as your master, use Word only to match existing stationery, and always send the client a PDF.
The Receipt sheet in the Excel file, and page two of the Word file, is a payment receipt: number, date, payer, method, transaction reference, the invoice it belongs to, and the balance left. Give receipts their own number series.
One receipt per payment.
It keeps a deposit and a balance payment from blurring together when a client asks, months later, what they paid and when.
Each has a different job, and mixing them up is where a lot of invoicing confusion starts.
| Document | When you send it | What it does | Watch out |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quotation | Before the client decides | Offers a price for a set time | Prices aren't held unless the supplier has agreed to hold them. |
| Proforma invoice | Client says yes, booking not final yet | Asks for a deposit or full payment on the planned trip | Not a tax invoice and not a sale. Use its own number series. |
| Invoice or tax invoice | When the sale is made, under your tax rules | Records the sale and the amount owed | Registered businesses may have a deadline: 30 days in Singapore, 14 in the UAE. |
| Receipt | Each time money arrives | Proves payment | Number receipts separately from invoices. |
| Voucher | After confirmation, before travel | Tells the hotel or supplier what is booked and paid | No prices on a client voucher. |
| Credit note | After a cancellation, refund or error | Reduces or cancels an invoice | Don't edit or delete the original invoice. |
A proforma invoice format for a travel agency is the same layout with a different title: change ours to PROFORMA INVOICE, give it a PF- number, and issue the real invoice once the sale is made. Vouchers have their own pitfalls, covered in our hotel voucher format guide.
There are two honest ways to write a tour package invoice, and one mistake.
"Bali family package, 5 nights, hotel with breakfast, transfers and two tours": one line, one price. It matches what the client bought and keeps your margin private. It is also the shape that the 5% GST option for tour operators in India expects (see the tax section). The downside: if the client cancels one tour, nothing on the invoice says what it was worth.
Hotel, transfers, each tour, each on its own line. Corporate and MICE clients may ask for this, and it makes partial cancellations easier to price. Every line is still your selling price.
The gap between your net cost and your selling price is your income. Put the nets on the invoice and every component becomes a price comparison against whatever the client finds online. If your margin has to be visible, show it as a service fee rather than as the gap between two prices. Our B2B hotel markup strategy guide covers how to set that margin in the first place.
One honest exception. Some corporate contracts require transparent pricing: supplier cost plus an agreed management fee. If you've signed one, follow the contract, not this page.
For a hotel-only sale, the description needs the hotel and city, check-in and check-out dates, nights, rooms, room type, meal plan, and whether the rate is refundable, with the free-cancellation date if it is. Don't attach the supplier confirmation if it shows what you paid.
Selling ground arrangements to other agencies? Then the client is the agency, not the traveller. Bill the agency by its legal name, list lead passenger names and service dates, and quote their booking reference as well as yours. A registered agency will usually want your tax number on the invoice so it can claim the tax back.
A service fee belongs on its own line, saying what it covers ("trip planning and booking", "visa application handling") and whether it's refundable. Bury it inside the package price and you'll struggle to keep it when a client cancels, because nothing on the invoice says it was separate.
The tax on a fee can also differ from the tax on the trip. Singapore shows it clearly: IRAS zero-rates outbound tour packages, but a fee charged to a local traveller for arranging an overseas tour package is standard-rated (IRAS, travel industry). That's why our Excel template has a Taxed? column, so each line can follow its own treatment once your accountant has told you what it is.
How much to charge, and when, is covered in our guide to travel agency service fees.
This is the part of the invoice that protects you, or fails to. The order we'd follow on a package:
If a client cancels: don't edit the original invoice. Issue a credit note for whatever you refund and keep the cancellation charge on record. Our hotel cancellation policies guide explains how to read the charge steps before you copy them onto an invoice.
Read this first: this section lists what official sources say must appear on a tax invoice in three markets. It isn't tax advice. Whether you must register, which rate applies and how each part of a package is treated are questions for your accountant, and the rules change.
Tax lines only belong on an invoice if you're registered.
A GST-registered agency issues a tax invoice under rule 46 of the CGST Rules. For a travel agency the key particulars are:
To use our Excel file as a travel agency GST invoice format, put your GSTIN in the tax number line and the client GSTIN under Bill to, add the SAC code to each description, and use the two tax lines for CGST and SGST, or one for IGST. It still can't produce an e-invoice.
Tour operators get a choice of rates. Under serial 23 of Notification 11/2017-Central Tax (Rate), tour operator services can be taxed at 5% (2.5% CGST plus 2.5% SGST) without input tax credit, except credit on input services in the same line of business, or at 18% with credit (Ministry of Tourism, via PIB). The 5% option carries a condition that is really an invoice-format rule: the bill must say it includes the charges for the accommodation and transport the tour needs, and the amount must be the gross amount for the tour including them. Notification 15/2025-Central Tax (Rate), which brought in the September 2025 rate changes, did not amend this entry.
Whether you count as a tour operator for that entry, or as an agent earning a commission or fee, is the first question to put to your CA.
Two more Indian points. Once your aggregate turnover has exceeded ₹5 crore in any year since 2017-18, invoices to registered business clients must be e-invoices with an IRN and QR code (Notification 10/2023-Central Tax), which needs GST software. And overseas tour packages also carry TCS under income-tax law, separate from GST; the Union Budget 2026-27 proposed a flat 2% (Budget speech, paragraph 103), so confirm the rate in force.
A GST-registered agency must give a GST-registered customer a tax invoice within 30 days of the time of supply. IRAS requires the words "Tax Invoice", your name, address and GST registration number, an invoice number and date, the customer name and address, a description, the GST rate, and the total excluding GST, the GST amount and the total including GST, in Singapore dollars if you bill in another currency.
For customers who aren't GST-registered, which covers most holidaymakers, a receipt will do: serially numbered and dated, with your GST registration number, the total including GST and a statement that the price includes GST.
Travel adds a layer. IRAS zero-rates outbound tour packages, standard-rates inbound ones and splits a regional package between its Singapore and overseas parts. A tax invoice for a zero-rated supply should say GST is charged at 0%, with each type of supply shown separately.
A UAE tax invoice is due within 14 days of the supply. The Federal Tax Authority lists:
A simplified tax invoice is allowed when the customer isn't VAT-registered, or when a registered customer's VAT-inclusive total is AED 10,000 or less. E-invoicing is coming too: under Ministerial Decision No. 244 of 2025, businesses with revenue of AED 50 million or more must implement it by 1 January 2027 and the rest by 1 July 2027. A spreadsheet invoice won't meet that on its own.
Elsewhere, start from the page on invoice contents published by your own tax authority and adapt the template to it. Not the other way round.
On DMC Quote you buy hotels, transfers, tours and attraction tickets at net rates and sell them at your own price. Your client never deals with us, so the invoice they get is yours: your name, number series, currency and terms.
Two portal documents are worth knowing about, because neither one is a client invoice:
If you build packages in the AI package builder, you can add a markup there and produce a client quotation. A quotation still isn't an invoice. If you quote by hand, our free travel quotation template in Excel and Word uses the same quote number. Once the client accepts, raise the invoice from your template at the same selling price.
What the portal doesn't do: it doesn't invoice your clients, hold their money or work out your tax. You collect from the client, pay us from your wallet, which you top up by bank transfer, and your accountant decides how each sale is taxed.
The registration guide lists the documents by country. Register free →
Your agency name, address and any licence or tax number; a unique invoice number and the date; the client name and address; the booking reference, destination and travel dates; each service, or one package line, with quantity, unit price and amount; any discount and tax lines; the total, the amount already paid and the balance due with its due date; payment instructions; and your deposit and cancellation terms.
Yes. Ours comes as an Excel file, where line amounts, tax, the total, the balance and its due date calculate themselves, and as a Word file with a receipt page. A filled sample PDF shows a finished invoice.
A proforma invoice asks for payment on a trip that isn't final yet, usually to collect a deposit. It doesn't record a sale and it isn't a tax invoice. The invoice, or tax invoice if you are registered for GST or VAT, records the sale itself. Keep proformas in their own number series so they never mix with real invoices.
Usually not. The gap between your net cost and your selling price is your income, and showing nets invites line-by-line price comparisons. Show one package line or itemised selling prices. If a corporate contract requires transparent pricing, follow the contract and show your fee as its own line.
Notification 11/2017-Central Tax (Rate) allows tour operator services to be taxed at 5% without input tax credit, except credit on input services in the same line of business, if the bill says it includes the accommodation and transport for the tour and shows the gross tour amount. Otherwise the rate is 18% with credit. Ask your CA which option suits you.
No. The invoice is your bill to the client and shows prices. The voucher is what the guest shows the hotel: the hotel confirmation number, guest names, dates, room and meal plan. A client-facing voucher shouldn't show your cost, so check every supplier document before it reaches the client.
Issue one each time money arrives, with a receipt number, the date, who paid and how, the invoice it relates to, the amount received and the balance left. The Receipt sheet in our Excel template picks up the client, invoice number and total from the invoice.
No. Booking invoices from the portal are made out to your agency, not your client, so they are your supplier invoices. The hotel voucher is branded Travel DMC Group and includes a payment summary showing the total paid. Invoice the client from your own template, at your selling price.
DMC Quote (dmcquote.com) is a B2B travel portal run by Travel DMC Group, Singapore, operating since 2012, with 10,000+ travel agencies registered. You buy at net and invoice your own clients in your own name.
What you can book
1.5M+ hotels in 190+ countries, airport transfers at 15+ airports, attraction tickets and tours. We don't sell flights.
Cost
Free to register: no joining fee, no subscription, no minimum volume. You pay the net rate and set your own selling price.
Who invoices your client
You do, from your own template. Booking invoices you download from the portal are made out to your agency, not your client.
Vouchers
Issued by Travel DMC Group with the hotel confirmation number, a payment summary and a 24/7 emergency line, +65 8034 8190.
Paying us
Wallet top-ups by bank transfer, in AED, AUD, CAD, EUR, GBP, INR, NZD, PHP, SGD or USD.
Client quotations
The AI package builder lets you add a markup and produce a client quotation for a package.
Contact: [email protected] · +65 8034 8190 (Singapore) · +62 815-1153-4545 (Indonesia)
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