What is a credit invoice and how to make it
Posted: Sat Dec 21, 2024 5:10 am
We break down the main keys to the credit invoice, a document that every SME or self-employed person must know and manage within their company's billing.
With the credit invoice we can correct errors in the amounts of the original invoice.
Thanks to the credit invoice we can apply rebates on invoices already issued
An incorrect VAT number , a misapplied discount, a returned product, a miscalculated tax… Who hasn’t sent an invoice to a client with errors? Errors in invoices are very common and in all cases we can always do something to fix them. The solution is in credit invoices.
This is a type of invoice that we will use to correct an ordinary invoice in which we have made an error in the data. In addition, when there are several invoices with errors greece email list throughout the year to the same client, all these invoices can be summarized in a single corrective invoice, recording the numbers of the corrected invoices.
Credit invoice or corrective invoice?
But… are credit invoices the same as corrective invoices? This topic is quite ambiguous even for those who are used to issuing this type of document on a daily basis. Let’s try to clarify it.
Credit invoices are older than corrective invoices. The latter have only existed since 2013, when the General Invoicing Regulations were updated and established the basis for including credit invoices as a type of corrective invoice. Therefore, in practice there is almost no difference between the two and they refer to the same issue.
For the more curious, before that date, every time an error was made on the invoice, a credit note had to be issued. This credit note was nothing more than a new invoice, which could follow the usual numerical series. The difference is that its amounts were negative and corresponded exactly to the positive amounts of the invoice they cancelled. In this way, errors were adjusted before the corrective invoices appeared.
It is something similar to what has happened with simplified invoices and receipts. With the change in legislation, what was previously a receipt (document proving a purchase) is now called a simplified invoice.
Contents of a credit invoice
When we issue a credit invoice, it must include at least the following:
The data that allows the identification of the original invoice that you want to modify ( number and date).
It will have a different number than the main one.
It will be clearly stated that this is a credit invoice.
The reason for its issuance and the details of the correction being made.
In addition, the rest of the requirements that are established as mandatory in all billing: tax rate, tax data both ours and the client's...
When to issue a credit invoice?
Since Royal Decree 1619/2012 of 30 November came into effect, we cannot cancel any invoice to reissue another one for the same transaction. Therefore, in which case should a credit invoice be issued?
It may happen that the original invoice does not comply with any of the requirements contemplated in the current regulations . It is then when we can issue a credit invoice to correct it.
When a total or partial return of a product or service occurs , this fact will be reflected in a credit invoice issued to the same customer, indicating what is being returned, the negative amount to be returned, etc.
When there are errors in the calculations of the amount.
We apply the wrong tax rate , either in VAT or in personal income tax.
When there is a rebate on the bill (a discount applied for reaching a certain level of consumption). We would indicate what discount is applied, the negative tax base, the period to which said discount corresponds, etc.
Recover VAT from unpaid invoices if a series of requirements are met, which can be found in the following link .
With the credit invoice we can correct errors in the amounts of the original invoice.
Thanks to the credit invoice we can apply rebates on invoices already issued
An incorrect VAT number , a misapplied discount, a returned product, a miscalculated tax… Who hasn’t sent an invoice to a client with errors? Errors in invoices are very common and in all cases we can always do something to fix them. The solution is in credit invoices.
This is a type of invoice that we will use to correct an ordinary invoice in which we have made an error in the data. In addition, when there are several invoices with errors greece email list throughout the year to the same client, all these invoices can be summarized in a single corrective invoice, recording the numbers of the corrected invoices.
Credit invoice or corrective invoice?
But… are credit invoices the same as corrective invoices? This topic is quite ambiguous even for those who are used to issuing this type of document on a daily basis. Let’s try to clarify it.
Credit invoices are older than corrective invoices. The latter have only existed since 2013, when the General Invoicing Regulations were updated and established the basis for including credit invoices as a type of corrective invoice. Therefore, in practice there is almost no difference between the two and they refer to the same issue.
For the more curious, before that date, every time an error was made on the invoice, a credit note had to be issued. This credit note was nothing more than a new invoice, which could follow the usual numerical series. The difference is that its amounts were negative and corresponded exactly to the positive amounts of the invoice they cancelled. In this way, errors were adjusted before the corrective invoices appeared.
It is something similar to what has happened with simplified invoices and receipts. With the change in legislation, what was previously a receipt (document proving a purchase) is now called a simplified invoice.
Contents of a credit invoice
When we issue a credit invoice, it must include at least the following:
The data that allows the identification of the original invoice that you want to modify ( number and date).
It will have a different number than the main one.
It will be clearly stated that this is a credit invoice.
The reason for its issuance and the details of the correction being made.
In addition, the rest of the requirements that are established as mandatory in all billing: tax rate, tax data both ours and the client's...
When to issue a credit invoice?
Since Royal Decree 1619/2012 of 30 November came into effect, we cannot cancel any invoice to reissue another one for the same transaction. Therefore, in which case should a credit invoice be issued?
It may happen that the original invoice does not comply with any of the requirements contemplated in the current regulations . It is then when we can issue a credit invoice to correct it.
When a total or partial return of a product or service occurs , this fact will be reflected in a credit invoice issued to the same customer, indicating what is being returned, the negative amount to be returned, etc.
When there are errors in the calculations of the amount.
We apply the wrong tax rate , either in VAT or in personal income tax.
When there is a rebate on the bill (a discount applied for reaching a certain level of consumption). We would indicate what discount is applied, the negative tax base, the period to which said discount corresponds, etc.
Recover VAT from unpaid invoices if a series of requirements are met, which can be found in the following link .