Correcting invoice

Invoice mistakes happen, and most clients are understanding about the process of correcting these mistakes. In everyday business, it often happens that invoices are incorrectly and therefore need to be corrected later. This is not just in the interest of the customer, who wants a correct invoice but also the tax office or Internal Revenue System (IRS)

In order to be able to change the invoice in the right way, it is important first to determine where in the invoice process it is, and which information is incorrect.

Who can issue cancellation or correction invoices?

Only the service provider or the company providing the service may issue cancellation or correction invoices. A correction by the service recipient or customer is not permitted and will not be accepted by the tax office.

Changing invoices that have not yet been issued

If you manage to realise your invoice is incorrect before you have sent it to your customer, then the problem can easily be solved. You can simply edit the invoice and fix the error. An invoice is not considered “issued” if it has not yet been delivered to the addressee.

Changing invoices that have already been issued

If the customer has already received the bill, you should issue the corrected one as quickly as possible. It is also best practice to inform the customer that you are issuing them a correction invoice.

If you would like to change the original amount issued on the invoice to either higher or lower, you will need to issue a credit note. This occurs in cases where you forgot to include a discount, or you need to issue a refund to someone for damaged goods.

On the other hand, if you only need to correct some details on the invoice (such as customer’s information, your information), then you do not need to issue a credit note. Instead, you can simply create a new invoice with the corrected information, and send the new bill to your customer. It is very important however that you make sure you continue numbering your invoices with a unique invoice number, and that you do not skip numbers.

Is it legal to delete invoices?

By law it is required that you always keep a copy of all invoices you issue, for control purposes. Authorities should always be able to see the initial invoice upon their request, even if it is incorrect. However, many invoicing programs do allow you the option to delete the invoice, but not before warning you that it is not legally recommended.

The information in this article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute tax, business, accounting, or legal advice, nor does the information necessarily reflect the opinions of Appinvoice. This article provides general information, which may or may not be correct, complete, or current at the time of reading.