Question 1

What has to be on an invoice?

Accepted Answer

An invoice carries your name and address, your VAT number, your customer's details, an invoice number, the date, what you supplied, the amount before VAT and the VAT amount. The full list is on our Invoice requirements page.

Question 2

When do I have to send an invoice?

Accepted Answer

For business customers you send the invoice by the 15th day of the month after the month in which you supplied. For private individuals you are usually not obliged to issue one at all.

Question 3

How long do I have to keep an invoice?

Accepted Answer

Every EU country sets its own retention period, and six to ten years covers almost all of them. The Netherlands is seven years. It applies to the invoices you send and the ones you receive.

Question 4

I made a mistake on an invoice I already sent. What now?

Accepted Answer

An invoice you have already sent is not edited. Make a credit note that reverses the old invoice, and then send a new and correct one.

Question 5

What is the difference between a quote, an invoice and a credit note?

Accepted Answer

A quote prices the work in advance and is not yet a request for payment. An invoice is the request to be paid for what you supplied. A credit note reverses an earlier invoice in full or in part, for instance after a return or a mistake.

Question 6

What is a credit note?

Accepted Answer

A credit note reverses an earlier invoice in full or in part. You use it for a mistake, a return or a discount given afterwards. It refers back to the original invoice and takes its own next number.

Question 7

What does reverse charge mean?

Accepted Answer

Under the reverse charge your customer pays the VAT to the tax authority, not you. You charge no VAT and put the words Reverse charge on the invoice with your customer's VAT number. It applies to supplies to a business in another EU country, and in certain sectors such as construction.

Question 8

What is a pro forma invoice?

Accepted Answer

A pro forma invoice is a provisional one, used for instance to show in advance what something will cost. It is not a real VAT invoice and your customer cannot reclaim VAT with it.

Question 9

Do invoice numbers have to be sequential?

Accepted Answer

Yes. An invoice needs a sequential number that identifies it uniquely, and each number is used only once, so there is no gap and no duplicate in your records.

Question 10

What is an e-invoice or Factur-X?

Accepted Answer

An e-invoice can be read straight into your customer's accounting. Factur-X is a pdf with the invoice data attached: a person reads the pdf, the accounting package reads the attachment. Nobody has to retype the amounts.

Question 11

How do I work out the VAT?

Accepted Answer

You multiply the amount before VAT by the rate. At 21% on 100 euro that is 21 euro of VAT. If there are several rates on one invoice, you work each rate out separately.

Question 12

What goes on an invoice in the United States?

Accepted Answer

There is no VAT and no federal law setting out what a US invoice must contain. It is a commercial document shaped by state sales tax rules, your contract, and what your customer's accounts payable department needs: your details and theirs, an invoice number and date, any purchase order number, what you supplied, sales tax on its own line, the total, and the payment terms with a due date.

Question 13

Do I charge sales tax on my invoice?

Accepted Answer

Only if you have nexus in your customer's state, what you sold is taxable there, and the customer has given you no exemption certificate. Since South Dakota v. Wayfair, sales alone can create nexus, commonly at 100,000 dollars into a state in a year. Register for a permit before you collect, and show the tax as a separate line.

Invoice questions