A VAT invoice is the one kind of invoice with a genuinely prescriptive contents list. It is not a matter of looking professional: your client relies on your invoice to reclaim input VAT, and if a mandatory field is missing they may not be able to.
That is why VAT invoice queries tend to come from the client's accountant rather than the client, and why they arrive weeks after you thought the job was closed.
The list below is the full version. A simplified VAT invoice, permitted for smaller amounts, needs less, but there is no harm in always issuing the full version.
Gaps and duplicates are both problems on a VAT invoice specifically.
The VAT registration number is mandatory and is the field most often left off.
The registered entity, not a trading style.
Often the invoice date, but not always. It decides which VAT period the sale falls in.
Shown separately from the tax point where they differ.
Excluding VAT, per line.
Different lines can carry different rates, so the rate belongs on the line.
Even for a sale in another currency, the VAT amount must be shown in sterling.
The single most common reason an invoice comes back. Without it the document is not a valid VAT invoice.
A deposit taken before the work is done can create an earlier tax point, which moves the sale into a different VAT quarter.
Zero-rated and standard-rated items on the same invoice need their rates shown per line, not blended.
A unique sequential number, your name, address and VAT registration number, the customer's name and address, the time of supply, the date of issue, a description with quantity and unit price per item, the VAT rate and net amount per line, the total VAT in sterling and the gross total. Missing the VAT number is the usual reason an invoice is rejected.
A simplified VAT invoice is permitted for smaller retail-style supplies and needs fewer fields: your name, address and VAT number, the time of supply, a description, the VAT rate and the gross amount. It does not need the customer's details or a separate VAT total. Above the simplified threshold, or where the customer wants to reclaim, issue the full version.
The time of supply, which decides which VAT return the sale belongs in. It is usually the invoice date, but taking payment or completing the work earlier can create a basic tax point before that, and issuing an invoice more than fourteen days after the supply can move it too. Where it differs from the issue date, show both.
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