Sender, rhythm and automation
3 min read
What appears on every document, and when documents come into being. Without a complete sender the billing run issues nothing and says what is missing: an invoice without an address and a tax number is not one.
No sender, no document
Address, tax number and bank details appear on every invoice. If any of them is missing, the invoice run issues nothing and says what is missing. An invoice without an address and a tax number is not one.
Invoice day and period
The invoice day is the cut-off at which an elapsed period becomes an invoice. Until then it sits there as a preview and grows with every delivery.
Two switches, not one
One issues, the other sends. Separate, because many want to issue first and look for themselves before anything goes out. Switch on both and the run needs no hand at all.
The number pattern
A prefix, the year and a running number, so something like INV-2026-0001. The running number may not have gaps; it is therefore assigned on issue and not before.
How the tax comes about
From your own country, the partner's country and their VAT number. Same country: your rate. Elsewhere in the EU with a valid number: nought per cent with a note about the reverse charge. Outside the EU: no tax. See Partner record.
What does the billing day mean?
The day of the month on which the previous period becomes an invoice. With 15, August is billed on 15 September. In shorter months it moves to the last day: that is the difference between "later" and "never".
Why two switches for automation?
Because issuing and sending are two different risks. The first lets the run issue invoices on its own; you can look at them before they go out. The second sends them unseen: the most expensive mistake in this module if it comes too early. That is why it is switched on deliberately.
What happens to old, never-sent invoices when I switch sending on?
Nothing. The switch remembers the moment and only sends what comes into being from then on. Conversely nothing is left lying around: whatever is unsent since that moment is picked up by every run: including a send that failed last time because a mailbox was missing.
What is the accounting blind copy for?
Every invoice that goes out also goes to this address: a shared mailbox, a tax adviser, an accounting system. Blind, so the partner never sees the internal address. Separate several addresses with commas.
What goes into the number pattern?
The shape of your invoice numbers. The default is a prefix, the year and a sequence number. RE-2026-0001, RE-2026-0002 and so on. The sequence number must appear in the pattern, otherwise there would be no gapless sequence; year, month and day are optional. The counter starts again each year.
How is tax calculated?
From your country, the partner's country and their VAT ID. Same country: your rate. Elsewhere in the EU with a VAT ID: 0 % with the reverse-charge note. Elsewhere in the EU without one: your rate. Outside the EU: 0 % as an export. The case is recorded on the invoice, not just the rate.