Create invoices online for B2B orders: on account or with prepayment

When an order does not come through the shop

Rechnungskit normally creates invoices automatically from shop orders and payments. Some of your business skips both, though: the retailer who orders a pallet by email, the school that buys with a written purchase order, the workshop for a company agreed on the phone. You enter these orders yourself under Orders with “Create order”.

From there they run through the same pipeline as everything else. A sequential number used only once from your number range (§ 14(4) sentence 1 no. 4 UStG), an e-invoice in ZUGFeRD format, an audit-proof archive and the DATEV export. If the customer has a Leitweg-ID, an XRechnung is created automatically.

On account with payment terms

With the payment method invoice, the document is created right away, with your bank details and payment terms you choose per order: immediately, 7, 14 or 30 days, or a custom period. Your default from the document rules is preselected. For goods that have not shipped yet, the invoice waits for “mark as shipped”, so the date of supply that every invoice needs is correct (§ 14(4) sentence 1 no. 6 UStG). The receivable shows up under Open items, where you confirm the payment, also in installments. Rechnungskit does not reconcile your bank account; you still click to confirm the payment.

With prepayment: money first, then the invoice

With prepayment, the order waits. If you like, Rechnungskit sends your customer a payment request in your name, with the amount, IBAN and the order number as payment reference. It is deliberately not an invoice, so it has no invoice number and shows no VAT. Once the money is in, you click “Payment received” on the order, and the invoice is created with a paid note.

If the customer transfers less than agreed, no invoice is created. If you then switch the order to on account, the invoice goes out right away and the partial amount is booked as a down payment.

VAT without looking it up

You do not pick the VAT rate per invoice. It depends on the product's VAT category, which you set once, directly in the wizard if need be. If a business in another EU country has a VAT ID, Rechnungskit checks it live with the Bundeszentralamt für Steuern when you click Next. Once it is confirmed, you invoice without German VAT and with a reverse charge note (§ 14a UStG). Without confirmation, Rechnungskit holds the invoice until the result is in or you decide under Tasks.

Corrections without an eraser

Nobody changes an archived invoice anymore, not even you. Entries and records must not be altered in a way that makes the original content impossible to determine (§ 146(4) AO, the German Fiscal Code). Corrections are made by cancellation: in full or for individual lines, with a reason, as a separate invoice with its own number. The original stays as it was. This cancellation option applies to manual orders; orders from shops and payment providers you correct through their refunds as before.

If orders come in regularly from many buyers, a shop page is the better fit: the buyer enters their own details there, and you have nothing to type in.