Contents
How to write an invoice
- 1
Set-up
You enter your tax number or VAT ID, bank details, payment terms and the pattern for the invoice number once, for example “RE-2026-0001”. FleetCred applies the logo and colour from your own look.
- 2
Enter the invoice
Choose the customer, enter the date or period of supply, add the line items. FleetCred calculates the net amount, VAT per rate and the gross amount. As long as it is a draft, you can change the invoice at any time and view it as a PDF.
- 3
Finalise
When you finalise the invoice, FleetCred assigns the next invoice number and generates the PDF with the e-invoice and a GiroCode for the bank transfer. After that, the invoice cannot be changed and is stored with a checksum.
- 4
Send and track payment
The invoice goes to your customer by email. You enter payments and part payments, see overdue invoices at a glance and send a payment reminder.
What an e-invoice is
An e-invoice is an invoice in a structured electronic format to the European standard EN 16931. A PDF alone is not enough. The BMF (German Federal Ministry of Finance) recognises XRechnung and ZUGFeRD from version 2.0.1, except for the MINIMUM and BASIC-WL profiles. FleetCred creates ZUGFeRD in the EN 16931 profile: the PDF is readable by people, the embedded XML file by software.
| From | Obligation |
|---|---|
| 1 January 2025 | All companies must be able to receive e-invoices from companies based in Germany. |
| 1 January 2027 | Companies with a turnover of more than €800,000 in the previous year must issue e-invoices. |
| 1 January 2028 | All companies must issue e-invoices to companies based in Germany. |
Small businesses under § 19 of the German VAT Act (UStG) may continue to issue other invoices as well (§ 34a UStDV). FleetCred also writes their invoices as e-invoices, without VAT and with a note on the tax exemption. This overview does not replace tax advice.
Mandatory details and special cases
Before finalising, FleetCred checks the mandatory details under § 14 UStG: name and address of you and your customer, tax number or VAT ID, invoice date, sequential number, date or period of supply, quantity and type of service, amount and tax per rate. If anything is missing, FleetCred tells you what. For customers in other EU countries with a VAT ID, you invoice without VAT, with a note on the reverse charge. As a small business, you invoice without VAT.
Cancellation instead of changes
A finalised invoice can no longer be changed or deleted. If something is wrong, you create a cancellation invoice: it gets its own number, contains all line items and names the original invoice. Then you write the correct invoice, as a copy of the old one if you wish. This keeps the number sequence complete and traceable.
Export for accounting
You export all invoices for a period as CSV or Excel: number, date, customer, net amount, VAT per rate, gross amount, payment and cancellation. Every invoice is available as a PDF with e-invoice and as an XML file. You must keep invoices for ten years (§ 257 HGB). FleetCred stores every finalised invoice unchanged with a checksum.
Who may do what
Company admins set the tax data, bank details and number ranges. Inspectors write, send and cancel invoices and record payments. Users with read-only access do not see outgoing invoices.
Set-up and price
The platform admin activates the add-on, after which “Outgoing invoices” appears in the administration area. A fixed amount is charged per month. Request a quote
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