Invoicing in alojamento local: what the platforms don't do for you

Invoicing guests sounds straightforward — until you realise that Airbnb sends one document, Booking sends another, and the Portuguese tax authority (AT) expects a third. And then there's the guest who asks for a company invoice with their NIF at eleven o'clock on the last night of their stay.

Let's sort this out.

When you're required to issue an invoice

As an alojamento local (AL) owner, you're a VAT-registered entity for tax purposes — even if you're currently exempt — and that comes with invoicing obligations. The general rule is straightforward: every time you provide a service to someone — meaning every time you have a guest — you must issue a fiscal document.

In practice, there are two distinct scenarios:

• The guest doesn't ask for anything — you still need to issue a simplified receipt (fatura simplificada) by the end of the month following the service.
• The guest requests an invoice with their NIF — you must issue a full invoice with the guest's details, at the time of the request or by the legal deadline at the latest.

The request can come during the stay, at check-out, or days later. You need to be ready to respond in any of those cases.

What the platforms do (and what they don't)

Here's the most common source of confusion: Airbnb and Booking issue their own documents — payment receipts, booking confirmations, commission statements. These are useful for your own internal records, but they do not replace your invoicing obligation to the AT.

What the platforms issue is proof of the transaction between you and the platform. What Portuguese law requires is a fiscal document issued by you, through AT-certified software, recording the provision of service to the guest.

These are two different things. Treating one as the other is the most frequent mistake AL owners make — and one of the easiest for an inspector to spot.

How to issue invoices correctly

To issue valid invoices in Portugal, you must use AT-certified invoicing software. An Excel spreadsheet, a generic PDF, or a Word template won't cut it.

The basic process looks like this:

1. Register your software with the AT (or confirm your accountant has already done so).
2. Create the invoice or simplified receipt with the correct details: your NIF, the guest's name and address (if requested), a description of the service, the amount, and — where applicable — the VAT regime.
3. Report to the AT — most certified software does this automatically via SAF-T file submission.
4. Send to the guest by email or hand it over in person.

If you benefit from a VAT exemption under a special regime, that must appear on the document. Your accountant should confirm the correct framework for your specific situation.

ALerta and InvoiceXpress

ALerta integrates with InvoiceXpress — one of the most widely used AT-certified invoicing platforms in Portugal — specifically to close this gap. When a booking comes in, ALerta can trigger the corresponding fiscal document without you needing to open another tab, log into another platform, or remember to do it at all. The document gets recorded, reported to the AT via SAF-T, and is ready to send to the guest.

This isn't automation for its own sake — it's having the right process running in the background while you get on with everything else.

The scattered-records problem

If you take bookings through Airbnb, Booking, your own direct website, and maybe the occasional phone call, fiscal documents tend to end up all over the place. A PDF here, an email there, a printed receipt somewhere in a drawer.

That's not just inconvenient — it's real risk. In an audit, the AT can ask you to cross-reference your declared income against the documents you issued. If you can't present a coherent, complete record, the presumption works against you.

What actually works in practice:

• One folder per tax year, with subfolders by month, where you store every document you've issued.
• A simple log (a spreadsheet is fine) that matches each booking to its corresponding fiscal document.
• Periodic exports from your invoicing software, so you have a local copy beyond whatever lives in the cloud.

Not glamorous, but it's what separates a calm AL owner from one who spends nights hunting for paperwork.

Common mistakes worth avoiding

Mistake	Likely consequence
Using platform documents as invoices	Missing invoices; potential fine
Issuing invoices in non-certified software	Document invalid for tax purposes
Issuing nothing when the guest doesn't ask	Breach of invoicing obligation
Losing track of issued documents	Difficulty responding to inspections
Not submitting SAF-T to the AT on time	Breach of reporting obligations

A note on VAT in alojamento local

VAT treatment in AL isn't the same for everyone. It depends on your turnover, the type of services you provide, and any elections you may have made with the AT. This article is not a substitute for advice from your accountant — especially on this point, where a misclassification can have retroactive consequences.

What you can do right now: ask your accountant which VAT regime you're currently under and whether your invoicing software is properly certified and registered with the AT. Two simple questions that close most of the vulnerabilities.

---

Invoicing correctly isn't complicated — it's mostly a matter of having the right process in place from the start. Once it's set up, it runs itself. When it isn't, every booking is a potential headache waiting to happen.