Drafts and issuing

Every invoice starts as a draft. Only when you finalise it does it become a real invoice: with a number, and locked.

A draft

• has no number yet (numbers are not reserved);
• can be changed and deleted as often as you like;
• always shows your current business and customer details;
• has a "DRAFT" watermark on the PDF;
• has no e-invoice (UBL) and no online link yet.

Finalising

Click Finalise. You'll see the number the invoice will get and the invoice date, which you can still change here.

When you finalise, this happens in this order:

1. Checks. We check that the invoice meets the Dutch requirements. If there are errors (red), you can't continue yet. You may ignore warnings (orange). See Invoice checks.
2. VIES. For reverse charge or an EU customer, we check your customer's VAT number in VIES. If it's invalid, it stops here. If VIES can't be reached, we continue with a warning. See VIES check.
3. Exchange rate. For a currency other than the euro we fetch the ECB rate if you hadn't entered one. See Currencies and exchange rates.
4. Number. The invoice gets the next number in your sequence. See Invoice numbering.
5. Lock. Your business details, the customer details and the layout are fixed on the invoice. If you later change your address or house style, this invoice stays the same.
6. Online link. The invoice gets an online link for your customer.

A different invoice date

If you choose a different invoice date when finalising, the due date moves along (same payment term). If the delivery date was the same as the old invoice date, it moves too.

A date in the past is allowed (you'll see a warning). If it's in an earlier year, the invoice gets a number from that year's sequence.

After finalising

A finalised invoice is locked. You can still:

• send it, download it and share the online link;
• mark it as paid (and undo that);
• send reminders;
• make a credit note;
• cancel it, as long as it hasn't been paid;
• duplicate it into a new draft.

You can't change its contents anymore. That's intentional: the tax authority wants an invoice that was sent not to change quietly. You fix a mistake with a credit note and, if needed, a new invoice.

Statuses

More about payments and overdue in Payments and status.