Purpose and content of the document
An invoice is a document containing payment details and is the basis for payment of a certain amount for goods or services provided by the seller. An individual entrepreneur can make a request for the transfer of funds to his account to persons with whom he has concluded purchase and sale agreements, provision of services, as well as to those persons with whom such agreements have not been concluded.
Required elements of the invoice for payment:
- Seller details (name of individual entrepreneur or legal entity, company address, INN and KPP)
- Buyer's details (name of LLC or individual entrepreneur, address, tax identification number and checkpoint)
- List of goods and services for payment, their quantity and cost
- Total amount due
- Payment details (seller's bank account number)
- Invoice date
A simple way to generate an invoice
The easiest way to open an account is to use one of the specialized services. This will help novice businessmen avoid confusion with what needs to be entered and where.
It’s easy to issue an invoice online—you just need to fill out all the fields in the form. You should carefully enter the details, names of goods and services, quantity, price and VAT rate. The user will be asked to fill in an empty field for additional conditions; if any, they should be entered there. In addition, you need to tick the appropriate boxes:
- availability of an accountant;
- issuing a VAT invoice;
- inclusion of tax in the price.
The service will automatically calculate the total amount of the invoice and generate a document. You can download it as a text file for Word or in PDF format.
So, we looked at how to issue an invoice for payment from an individual entrepreneur, a sample document and the easiest way to generate it. The completed invoice is sent to the buyer, who, based on it, fills out a payment order to the bank. Since the law does not require the preparation of invoices for payment, it does not establish any rules for their storage. However, in practice, many people store these documents along with the rest.
When is it necessary to exhibit
This is a document that serves as proof of a transaction for accounting, a company or another organization.
An invoice must be issued in the following cases:
- If the company operates in the market and is exempt from value added tax under Article 145 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation
- The counterparties did not have time to conclude an agreement, and the delivery of goods must be carried out in a short time. The supplier can generate an invoice for payment, and a little later the parties will seal their relationship with an agreement.
- Clause 1 of Article 169 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation - the trading process is documented in a personal name and using the special tax system
- Article 168 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation - the enterprise received a partial prepayment
- The buyer requires a one-time delivery, and it simply does not make sense to draw up a long-term contract.
An invoice can serve as an offer if it reflects all the terms of cooperation. The paid invoice will become legal confirmation of the transaction between the counterparties. And in this case there will be no need to conclude an agreement.
Who signs the invoice for payment? How to sign an invoice correctly
Is a stamp required on the document?
In accordance with the established business practice in our country, it is generally accepted that a document without a seal is a dubious category. There is also an opinion that only the seal on a document gives it valid legal force. The presence of a seal on a document is required by both the partner, the bank, and government officials, which any entrepreneur constantly has to deal with. Printing is one of the means of individualizing an organization. But when drawing up documents, do they always need to be sealed? Let's figure out which documents and in what cases need to be stamped. The entire document flow of an enterprise can be divided into two large sectors - business papers and accounting and tax documents. Each of these categories has its own rules for using seals.
In order for there to be autonomy to be invoked, it is necessary that the person claiming the right does so for someone with whom he or she does not stand in any causal relation. Or, in other words, the one bringing the charges is a third party with whom the debtor does not have the relationship that gave rise to the exchange bond.
The issue of good faith or bad faith of the third owner may cause difficulties in its application. The first thing to be said to clarify this issue is that the good or bad faith must relate to the legal matter that gave rise to the acquisition of the title. In this sense, the buyer is in good faith if, at the time of receiving the title of the subscriber or endorser, he acts honestly, with knowledge of what he is acquiring who can transfer it. It should always be assumed that the person is acting in good faith, as Colombian commercial law states so in the article.
Business papers Orders on personnel. A literal reading of the Labor Code allows us to conclude that it is not necessary to put a stamp on personnel orders (instructions) (for example, Article 152 of the Labor Code). Although “the insidious Article 52 of the Labor Code says that: “The rules for maintaining primary documents on labor are established in the manner determined by the Government of the Republic of Belarus or an authorized body.” The government did not adopt a special document on this issue, however, in the Sample Form of an Employment Contract, approved. By Decree of the Ministry of Labor of the Republic of Belarus dated December 27, 1999 No. 155, there are two unremarkable letters “M.P.” at the end, which means that a seal on the employment contract is probably NECESSARY.
Evidence of bad faith implies that in the transaction between the subscriber and the beneficiary, the latter acted dishonestly. But, given the autonomy of each exchange agreement, this unconscionability will only be relevant as between the debtor's subscriber and his beneficiary. No other previous borrower can claim to benefit from its consequences.
The second explanatory question relates to what is provided for in Article 784, figure. This figure allows causation exceptions to be offered against anyone who is not a good faith holder exonerated from fault. But, reasserted in autonomy, it would be necessary to say that he would not have any scope, which is indicated in the figure, since, although causal exceptions can be offered to a third party, if that third party is not a participant in the causal activity, debtor he could not claim exceptions that are purely personal or relative.
Minutes of general meetings of participants, decisions of owners of unitary enterprises. Neither the Law of the Republic of Belarus dated December 9, 1992 No. 2020-XII (as amended on July 30, 2004) “On joint stock companies, limited liability companies and additional liability companies”, nor the Law of the Republic of Belarus “On Business Companies” that has not yet entered into force (effective from 02.08.2006) do not contain a direct indication of the mandatory presence of a seal on these documents, with the exception of ballots for absentee voting.
The doctrine has long sought to give practical effect to the figure 12 rule of Article 784 and has stated that a third party proponent is unconscionable not for having prior knowledge of the existence of defects in any business cause, but for having participated in it, in collusion with one who at the time was the beneficiary and later the endorser of the title. Thus, bad faith is required, the holder of this exception may be offered a cause of action.
Finally, with regard to autonomy, it is investigated if the original beneficiary of a bill of exchange, who receives it from the box with which he has entered into a certain business, should be considered as a holder in good faith before the acceptor with whom he has never had any relationship, nevertheless, he knows , that this acceptor was put forward before him on the basis of a mistaken case between him and the box. To answer, it should be borne in mind that under Colombian law, the exchange relationship acquired by the acceptor with the beneficiary is not part of the complex of exchange relationships as such.
Work books. All entries about work, awards and incentives for success in work, entered into the work book during work, are certified by the signature of the employer or an authorized official and seal (Resolution of the Ministry of Labor of the Republic of Belarus dated 03/09/1998 No. 30 (as amended on 05/11/2000) “On approval of instructions on the procedure for maintaining work records of employees”).
The acceptor accepts the order provided by the box to pay the beneficiary, since he has an obligation with the latter from a previous relationship. As in these relationships, the beneficiary was unlikely to participate, he must treat the third party in good faith. The same argument can be made if the beneficiary is acting in bad faith in his dealings with the box. The acceptor cannot invoke exceptions that the box may have for that beneficiary.
A final note about autonomy. Recall that in causal values the cause that caused the safety is mentioned as part of the literal wording of the name. As a consequence, this reason is binding on any title holder. Therefore, the final holder of the accused can be said to do so without autonomy, to the extent that the receiving or prospective debtor of that title can propose causal exceptions that may exist. But this lack of autonomy is limited only to these relationships.
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Agreements and foreign economic contracts. The Civil Code nowhere contains a clause on the mandatory presence of seals of the parties in the contract. An agreement in writing can be concluded by drawing up one document signed by the parties, as well as by exchanging documents through postal, telegraphic, teletype, electronic or other communications that make it possible to reliably establish that the document comes from a party to the agreement (Part 2 of Article 404 GK). So, sealing the signatures of the parties is NOT MENTIONED as a mandatory element of compliance with the written form of the agreement. In accordance with paragraph. 3 parts 1 tbsp. 161 of the Civil Code, legislation and agreement of the parties may establish additional requirements that the form of the transaction must comply with (execution on a certain form, sealed, etc.) and provide for the consequences of non-compliance with these requirements. Thus, affixing the signatures of the parties to the agreement or authorized representatives of the parties is mandatory only in cases IF THIS IS DIRECTLY PROVIDED BY LEGISLATION OR THE AGREEMENT OF THE PARTIES. For example, the text of the agreement says: “the agreement is signed in two copies, one for each of the parties, the signatures of the representatives are sealed.” Be careful, the same treacherous letters “M.P.” - this can already be regarded by the court as an “agreement of the parties.” By the way, the lack of printing is not such a big problem. If there is no seal on the agreement, then the parties will NOT be able to refer to witness testimony to confirm the transaction (clause 1 of Article 163). As written evidence of the fact of concluding a transaction, when the simple written form is violated by the parties, the following may be presented: correspondence of the parties, from the content of which it is clear that the parties are in a legal relationship based on the transaction, or it concerns the terms of such a transaction; documents for the execution of the transaction, etc. The list of written evidence that can be presented for confirmation is given in the Civil Procedure Code (Article 178). An exception to this rule is if the transaction is foreign economic. This approach is confirmed by judicial practice. DECISION OF THE INTERNATIONAL ARBITRATION COURT AT THE BELARUSIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY January 31, 2001 No. 238/03-00 ... The representative of the plaintiff at the court hearing questioned the fact of concluding the contract dated November 10, 1995, also on the basis of the absence of the association’s seal on the contract. Based on the above, the plaintiff considered the defendant’s demands for damages in the form of a difference in price to be unfounded and asked to dismiss the counterclaim. ... A copy of the contract dated November 10, 1995 was presented to the court by the defendant, the contract was signed by the parties. The plaintiff’s argument that the contract does not have the seal of production association “A” has no legal significance, since the signatures of the parties are sufficient to comply with the written form of the transaction; the legislation of the Republic of Belarus does not contain the absence of a seal of a legal entity on the contract as a condition for the invalidity of the transaction. At the court hearing, the plaintiff also verbally expressed doubts about the validity of the signature of the general director of the association. However, the plaintiff, in accordance with the established procedure, did not challenge this signature, as well as the transaction, and the court finds no reason to question the validity of the said contract on the grounds specified by the plaintiff. ... The court came to the conclusion
Other exchange relationships that could be created through endorsements are completely autonomous. Consideration of the attribute of autonomy by Colombian courts. Commercial law protects the rights of the holder in good faith without fault, but one of the tricks was precisely what in this case was called a triangular action, which meant using the fraud committed by Alonso Lozano to move to the process of executive power with a legitimacy that in bad faith is only apparent , but it has the efficiency of producing procedural deception.
5. The absence of a party’s seal in the agreement does not affect the validity of the agreement, since it is considered concluded when the parties reach an agreement in the proper form regarding the subject matter and other essential conditions, which is confirmed by the signatures of authorized officials of the parties.
Powers of attorney. By virtue of the direct instructions of Part 5 of Art. 186 of the Civil Code, a power of attorney on behalf of a legal entity must be certified by the seal of this organization. This article does not specify which powers of attorney its requirement applies to; we believe that it is valid for ANY power of attorney issued on behalf of a legal entity. Please note that a power of attorney on behalf of a legal entity based on the property of the Republic of Belarus or the property of an administrative-territorial unit to receive or issue money and other property assets must also be signed by the CHIEF (SENIOR) ACCOUNTANT OF THIS ORGANIZATION. These are RUPs, KUPs, etc.
The law protects the legitimacy of an owner who does not know or has not engaged in fraud in the creation, delivery or distribution of securities not only because it is required to maintain the literalness and autonomy characteristics of negotiable instruments, but because it is basic fairness to protect the fork in good faith. But when there is awareness of illegality or knowing profit from its fruits, which makes it also a procedural fraud, the law suspends its protective actions and sanctiones judicial sanction.
Primary accounting documents, tax accounting documents.
The details required for the primary accounting document are listed in the Law of the Republic of Belarus “On Accounting and Reporting” dated October 18, 1994 No. 3321 – XII (as amended on May 17, 2004). By the way, this Law defines primary accounting documents as a document that confirms the fact of any business transaction (Part 1, Article 9). A business transaction is interpreted broadly by law and is defined as “an action or event that entails changes in the volume and (or) composition of the property and (or) obligations of the organization” (Part 13 of Article 2 of the Law). The law does not include a seal imprint among the required details. HOWEVER, there is no need to rush. Regarding the preparation of certain types of primary accounting documents, special regulations of direct effect have been adopted. Almost every one there states that the primary document is certified by a seal. Please note - If errors or inaccuracies are found in the completed invoice, it is allowed to make corrections in a way that does not interfere with the reading of the previous entry, with the obligatory affixing of the date and signature of the person who made the corrections, and certification of the corrections made with a seal (CLARIFICATION of the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Belarus dated July 15, 2004 No. 15-9/338 “On the procedure for using goods, transport and delivery notes”).
Alonso Lozano was not a legitimate holder and could not transfer this character to someone whose malevolence remained in the hands of titles, given the elementary aphorism that illegality does not give legitimacy when it is known and exploited. The good faith or bad faith of the third-party holder is assessed in relation to his endorser; so if the third fork knows he doesn't have good will, he wouldn't have it either. Now, if the check is delivered without the intention of making it negotiable, as is the case, then any endorsement will be made in bad faith, what must be assessed is the knowledge of this condition by the owner.
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In this regard, it can be added that the norms of the mentioned regulatory acts imply not only the usual round seal of a legal entity, but also the possibility of affixing a STAMP.
And we will also describe one situation that can happen in real life.
The director's briefcase, which contained the company's seal, was stolen. And this happened on the eve of reporting. The situation is real, so we will describe it from the first person – the accountant of the enterprise. The first thing I did was call the bank that serves us and asked what I should do with the payments. I was connected to the head of the bank's legal department. He said: “The bank will accept payments and other documents from you even without a stamp. To do this, you need to write a letter with approximately the following text: “We ask, due to the fact that the company’s seal has been stolen (lost), from such and such a date to such and such a date to accept documents for payment without an imprint of the company’s seal, with the signatures of the chief accountant and director.” . Author's note: More precisely, with the signatures of those indicated on the bank card, since these persons do not always match. I was happy about this message. The lack of printing on payment cards did not disrupt the systematic work of our company. On the same day I contacted the police. There I was asked to file a report of theft. This statement will be the basis for initiating a criminal case. A criminal case will be opened under the article “Theft”. And a corresponding decision will be made regarding its initiation. “Most likely, the seal will not be found,” the police officer noted. - But you will have a certificate issued by the police, which will confirm the fact of theft. In addition, such a certificate can temporarily replace a seal impression, for example, when submitting reports. If it later turns out that someone used your seal, the police will open a case under the article “Fraud.” Or under other articles of the Criminal Code, for example those relating to forgery of documents.” We decided to notify all our counterparties about the theft of the seal by sending them letters. Then I contacted the tax office. Calling the reporting data entry department, I asked a simple question: “The company’s seal was stolen. What do you need to submit your reports? There they answered me: “If you have a certificate from the police, then you can submit reports without a stamp. If you did not contact the police, then we will not accept the report...” Author's note: the inspector is, of course, wrong. The company submitted its reports without a seal, presenting a certificate from the police.
The third party holder in good faith acquires title autonomously, regardless of the relationship between the recipient or the box. The problem of bad faith precludes autonomy. The facts are as follows. The titles were approved by the meeting by the beneficiary's treasurer in favor of the Banco de Bogota, and the endorser requested that the money collected in the collection be sent to his checking account.
These facts prompted the National War Fund to initiate an action for extra-contractual civil liability against the issuer of the securities for payment of the amount of such interest, interest prior to the actual date of payment and indexation that may occur.
How to fill it out correctly: examples
The table provides examples of correctly filling out all the details:
Requisites | Filling example |
Invoice number and issue date | Invoice for payment No. 1204 dated October 25, 2018. |
Seller's name and details | IP Aleksandrov Dmitry Aleksandrovich, TIN 65663666377, 390939, Moscow region, Moscow, st. Lenina, house 13, office 5, tel. +7 (900) 111-11-11 |
Recipient's name and details | Vasilevs LLC, TIN 658564743579957, checkpoint 5244771559, 390939, Moscow region, Moscow, st. Lenina, house 14 |
Products or services | Legal consultation |
Quantity | 1 |
Total amount in words | Total items 1, amounting to one thousand five hundred rubles 00 kopecks |
Bank details | Recipient bank: Sberbank of Russia OJSC Moscow, BIC 6785463, account No. 748632148, account No. 57845216931 |
Signature | The individual entrepreneur signs the invoice personally |
If, instead of an individual entrepreneur, his authorized representative signs the account, then the details of the power of attorney are indicated next to him, which confirms his powers, as well as the position of the individual, full name and decoding.
How to register correctly
As mentioned above, this document does not have an approved unified form and it is not stated anywhere how to compile it, but it is still better to reflect some details in it. Which ones are indicated in the table.
Company name | The name of the selling company is indicated, including the legal form. For example, Alpha LLC; if the seller is an individual entrepreneur, then his name in full. For example, “Individual entrepreneur Alexander Viktorovich Smirnov” |
Address | Legal and (or) actual address of the seller |
TIN | For organizations and individual entrepreneurs |
checkpoint | For organizations only |
Number | As a rule, in payment orders reference is made to these details |
Issue date | |
Nomenclature | It is advisable, according to the basis documents (agreement or other form of obligations), to reflect a list of goods, works or services, so that subsequently there will be no difficulties when generating invoices |
Price | The price per unit and (or) the total transaction price is indicated |
Buyer's name | Often there is a line “Payer”, which indicates the person paying for the document. This person may not be the customer. |
If an organization or individual entrepreneur applies a general taxation system in its activities, in accordance with Art. 168 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, the taxpayer is obliged to add VAT to the cost of goods, work or services and present it to the buyer. Based on this, the amount of VAT and the tax rate to be transferred are indicated in a separate line.
For example, the cost of goods is 240,000 rubles.
The tax amount will be 240,000 × 20/120 = 40,000 rubles.
The final cost will be 240,000 rubles, since tax is included in it, but VAT will be highlighted as a separate line.
Companies and entrepreneurs that are in special tax regimes and are exempt from paying VAT should not pay tax. In this case, the entry is made: “Without VAT.”
After the basic details have been completed, the document is signed by the head of the organization and the chief accountant, but those who are authorized to do so can sign instead of them. In this case, details are indicated, for example, an order or power of attorney, giving the right to sign, as well as full name. and the position of authorized employee.
An individual entrepreneur puts his signature instead of the manager and chief accountant, provided that he performs the duties of these persons.
Design rules
There are no strict rules for opening an account, but according to established standards, the information in it is arranged in a certain order:
- In the header - personal data of the seller and buyer
- Bank details
- Next, indicate the document number and the date of its preparation.
- Then they repeat the data of the seller and buyer again
- List of goods or services provided
- If the product is sold with VAT, this must be indicated
- Finally, the seller’s signature and details are added.
Nuances
Inaccuracies in document execution may result in material losses. Therefore, when filling out, you must ensure that there are no following errors:
- incorrect design of the form header;
- the invoice was not submitted on time, which is why the individual entrepreneur may not meet the tax period;
- The seller's and buyer's invoices have different dates, which may be the case if amendments to the document were made after they were sent to the buyer.
Timely elimination of inaccuracies will allow you to receive payment for the completed transaction on time.
The purpose of drawing up an invoice is to notify the counterparty of the work or service performed and the need to transfer funds. Despite the fact that there is no approved form of the document, it should be filled out correctly and carefully.
How to issue a VAT invoice?
Value added tax is often indicated on the invoice.
Its allocation is not a mandatory requirement, but this step will help to avoid errors in further calculations of the total cost.
The filling out form is the same as for payment without VAT. The only difference is that at the end of the form you must indicate the amount of VAT, which will affect the final amount of payment for the products.
To avoid any missteps, an invoice is issued. This is a document that is filled out according to a template, and on the basis of which the recipient of the goods draws conclusions about the refund or deduction of VAT.
Example of an invoice with VAT:
It is worth considering that VAT can be reflected in two ways:
- Include tax in the final price. For example, if the cost of an operation including VAT is 30,000 rubles, we designate it as follows: Transaction amount = 30,000 rubles, including 18% VAT = 5,400 rubles, total payable = 30,000 rubles.
- Indicate the cost without VAT and add it on top. We denote it as follows: Cost of the operation = 30,000 rubles, including VAT 18% = 5,400 rubles, total payable = 35,400 rubles.
Filling out basic fields
At the top of the invoice, the bank details of the payment recipient are placed: bank name, correspondent account, as well as the supplier’s current account number. Its name and tax identification number are also indicated here, and for the organization also a checkpoint.
Then follows the name - “Invoice for payment”, its number and date. Accounts can be numbered using any system, since no requirements are established. The main condition is that this is clear to the seller himself and does not cause confusion. The numbering may be continuous from the beginning of the year or month; the number may include a letter designation identifying the counterparty, the object of payment, or anything else.
Next comes a block with information about the supplier and buyer. For each, the name, full address and contact telephone number are indicated.
The next block is usually formed in the form of a table. It lists the goods and services to be paid for. For each item, the serial number, quantity, unit of measurement, price and cost are indicated.
Below the table is a summary - the total amount of the invoice is calculated. You must immediately indicate whether VAT is included or not:
- if the supplier pays it, then most often it is included in the price. An entry is made “Including VAT” and its amount is indicated;
- if the supplier does not pay this tax, he makes the entry “Without VAT” and puts a dash instead of the amount.
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Below, it is advisable to indicate the amount to be paid in words - this will help to avoid mistakes.
Various conditions can be specified in the invoice, for example, the deadline for payment, the buyer’s obligation to notify about the transfer of money, and others. Often in this block it is stated that payment of the invoice means agreement with the terms of delivery. It is important to indicate this if the agreement is not drawn up in writing. The transaction scheme is as follows: the supplier publishes the terms of cooperation or sends them to the buyer along with the invoice, who reads them and, upon agreement, makes payment. This will mean that the contract has been concluded.
On the invoice from the entrepreneur, his signature with a transcript is placed below. The invoice from the organization is signed by the director, as well as the accountant, if there is one. It is not necessary to transfer the original with signatures to the counterparty, because the invoice for payment is not a primary document. It is enough to send a scanned copy by email - this will speed up the payment process.
The absence of a signature (seal) on the account should not affect the fulfillment of obligations. If payment is due, the buyer cannot refuse it on the grounds that the invoice has not been signed. But it is still safer to sign and scan it, otherwise it may raise doubts among the payer.
List of useful services for preparing accounting documents
Kontur.Accounting
- Fast invoicing with step-by-step instructions
- Sending a document by email to the buyer
- A large number of services for accountants (automatic reporting, calculation of vacation pay and much more)
kub-24.ru
Convenient online invoicing software.
It is possible to configure automatic uploading of a logo, organization seal and electronic signature to the manager. The document is sent to the buyer by email.
issue-invoice.rf
Online service for invoicing and maintaining accounting documents (primary documentation). Using the service, you can create an Invoice, Act, Consignment Note TORG-12, Invoice, UPD and Sberbank Receipt (PD-4). Created documents can be saved, printed, or sent by email.
Issuing an invoice without a contract
For some entrepreneurs, the question may be relevant: is it possible to issue an invoice without a contract? An invoice agreement is a type of sales contract; if the parties have determined the name of the supplied goods and its quantity, the condition on the subject of the contract can be considered agreed upon. An invoice without an agreement has legal force if it contains all the essential terms of the agreement. Issuing a demand for payment confirms the fact that a transaction has been completed between the parties; this point must be specified in the contract.
The buyer who pays the invoice without concluding an agreement confirms his agreement with the terms of the transaction. In the courts, such actions of the parties are qualified as a one-time transaction.
Can an invoice be issued before the contract? This depends on the terms of the agreement concluded. But even if the seller made a demand for payment a day earlier than the contract was signed, this will not constitute a violation. The agreement must indicate that its validity also applies to the invoice issued earlier. It is recommended to draw up a reconciliation report.