When creating your customer invoices, it is essential to understand and correctly add the required information to ensure their legal compliance. Whether you are a micro-entrepreneur, an SME, or a large company, here are some concepts to guide you on the mandatory and optional information to include in your invoices.
💡 If you want to add information to your invoices but there is no specific field for this purpose, you can use the text areas titled Header (optional) and Additional notes (optional) at the bottom of the page when adding your Products and services. The information entered can be saved and reused for your future invoices.
1. Common mandatory information
Any invoice, regardless of the recipient (professional or individual), must include the following mandatory information:
🪪 Seller or service provider identity :
- Company name (or first/last name for an individual entrepreneur)
- Address of the registered office or the issuing establishment (if different from the registered office)
- SIREN or SIRET number
- RCS number and city of the registration court (for commercial companies)
- Legal form and amount of share capital (for companies)
👤 Customer details
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First/last name (individual customer) or company name/business name of the customer (professional)
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Customer's complete address
ℹ️ Individual customers can object to having their address on the invoice for legitimate reasons
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Billing address (if different from the main address)
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Reference to the order (purchase order, quote, etc.) if it exists
🛍️ Description and details of products or services :
- Nature of products/services
- Quantity
- Unit price excluding taxes
- VAT rate applicable to each product/service
📄 Other information
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Invoice number: The numbering must be chronological, unique and continuous. Incorrect numbering can be grounds for rejection during a tax audit and lead to penalties.
💡 If using multiple tools, make sure each tool uses a distinct series of numbers (for example, different prefixes) or implement a centralized numbering system.
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Date of issue of the invoice, and the sale or service provision date (if different from the issue date)
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Payment date or deadline
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Total amount to pay excluding VAT, including VAT, and VAT rate
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Seller's intra-community VAT number (if subject to VAT)
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Price reductions (discounts, rebates, refunds) acquired on the date of the sale/service and directly related to this operation
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Discount conditions in case of early payment
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General terms and conditions (or reference to them)
- Discount conditions: you can inform your customer whether or not you wish to grant a discount for early payment.
- Penalties for late payment: you can choose between applying the ECB rate + 10%, three times the legal interest rate, or agree on a different rate with your customer.
- Legal fixed compensation: This €40 penalty applies to each invoice paid after its due date and cannot be modified.
2. Specific mandatory information
Depending on your company type, you may need to add certain information to your customer invoices, in addition to the fields mentioned above. This additional information may be related to the legal form of your company, the product(s) or service(s) you offer, the customer, and/or the payment terms.
Here are some examples of common specific cases, not exhaustive:
Micro-entrepreneurs or self-employed
- Mention "Individual Entrepreneur" or "EI" (if applicable)
- Mention "VAT not applicable, art. 293 B of the CGI" if you benefit from the VAT franchise
- Mention "VAT not applicable, art. 262 ter 1 of the CGI" if you are exempt from VAT for intra-community supplies of goods
Other exemption regimes may apply and require a specific mention.
Invoices in foreign currencies
- Amount in the foreign currency and corresponding amount in euros (excluding VAT / including VAT)
- VAT amount in the foreign currency and in euros (as it is paid to the French tax administration)
- Exchange rate used for the conversion and date of the applied exchange rate
Companies
- Legal form (SARL, SAS, SA, etc.)
- Amount of share capital
- Mention "company in liquidation" (if applicable)
Merchants
- RCS registration number (Trade and Companies Register)
- City of the court where the company is registered
Artisans
- Registration number in the Trade Directory (RM)
- Chamber of trades they depend on
3. Optional, complementary information
These mentions are not mandatory but may be useful:
- Seller or service provider :
- NAF/APE code (French activity nomenclature)
- Bank details (IBAN, BIC)
- Customer:
- Customer service contact details
- Customer's SIREN or SIRET number (recommended but not strictly mandatory)
- Customer's intra-community VAT number
- Delivery address : optional on the invoice (but useful for traceability)
- Products and services:
- Other information:
- Mention of the operation category: sale, service provision or both a distinct sale and service (will become mandatory as part of electronic invoicing)
- Delivery terms
- Warranty period
🎉 All set? Take a final look at the completed fields, click on Create an invoice to issue it, and send it to your customer by email or using a dedicated public link.
This help article is provided for informational purposes only and does not engage Qonto's liability in case of non-compliant invoices. Please make sure to check official government websites or consult an accountant / or lawyer to verify the specific requirements for your company.