Simplified invoice or full invoice: which to use
Use a simplified invoice for a direct sale where the buyer can stay anonymous, and an invoice for an identified client. Filmo doesn't check tax rules.
Whoever issues sales documents, with the «Sales» permission in edit mode.
Most rental businesses issue both kinds of document. The Landmark Venues wedding is billed with invoices: the venue is a company, it needs your tax details and its own on every bill, and its accountant files them. The camera operator who buys 4 rolls of gaffer tape at the counter only needs proof of the sale.
A covers that second case: a , where the buyer can stay anonymous. An covers the first: a sale to an identified client.
Note: Filmo doesn't decide which one you need. That depends on the tax rules that apply to your business, and Filmo doesn't check them: it sets no maximum amount for a simplified invoice and shows no warning when a sale goes over a legal limit.
Side by side
| Simplified invoice | Invoice | |
|---|---|---|
| Client | Optional, and it may have no tax ID or address | Required to approve it |
| Numbering | Its own series, «Simplified invoices» | Its own series, «Invoices» |
| How you correct it | A simplified rectifying invoice | A credit note |
| To approve it | At least one line, a total above zero, and your business's tax ID and tax address | The invoice's own checks |
| Facturae e-invoice | No | Yes |
| Xero | Not synced | Synced, depending on your integration |
| Client portal | Not shown | Shown |
| Lines, taxes and discounts | The same line editor | The same line editor |
Each document is corrected with its own kind of correcting document. A simplified invoice is corrected with a , and an invoice with a . See Credit note or simplified rectifying invoice.
If the buyer asks for an invoice afterwards
You don't have to start again. «Convert to» → «Invoice» prepares a full invoice with the same data, and you add the client's tax details. The simplified invoice isn't voided on its own, so decide what to do with it. See Turn a simplified invoice into a full invoice.
What simplified invoices don't do today
- No e-invoice. There's no Facturae download for simplified invoices or their rectifying invoices. See Download an invoice as a Facturae e-invoice for the documents that have one.
- No reporting. Approving a simplified invoice doesn't report it to the tax authorities.
- No accounting sync. They aren't sent to Xero: creating, voiding and collecting them doesn't reach your accounting.
- Not in the . Your clients don't see them there.
- Not in the . Find them from the «Invoices» list.
- Not from a repair ticket, and not through the public API.
Good to know
- A simplified invoice isn't a , even though both are sometimes called a receipt. The SEPA receipt belongs to Treasury and comes before the money moves.
- You can mix both documents in your account. The «Invoices» list shows each row's type.
Up next
Issue your first one: Create and approve a simplified invoice.