Mandatory details on a sole trader's invoice

The accounting obligations of a sole trader are kept to a minimum, but the invoice remains the central document and must be issued for every service or sale. It’s how you get paid in exchange for the products you sell or the services you offer. For this document to be legally valid, it’s important to comply with the mandatory invoice details. Here’s a detailed summary.

Mandatory details on a sole trader’s invoice

• The word “Invoice” must appear on your document.
• Your identity: name and contact details.
• Your SIREN number, followed by the mention: registered with the RCS or RM of the city of X. (If your sole trader business is still being registered, state “SIREN pending assignment”.)
• Your client’s identity.
• The invoice issue date and the delivery date.
• The invoice number. Note: two invoices cannot share the same number — you must either issue a corrective invoice or a credit note.
• A description of the service or product.
• Any discounts.
• Quote and purchase order numbers.
• The amount due.
• If you are liable for VAT, which is the case for sole traders above a certain threshold, state the applicable rate, the amount excluding VAT, and the amount including VAT.
• The VAT exemption notice for sole traders under it, with the mention “VAT not applicable, article 293B of the French General Tax Code”.
• The payment deadline: not mandatory, but strongly recommended. The default term is 30 days for France and 60 days abroad, counted from delivery or completion of the service.
• The payment method.
• Early-payment discount terms and late-payment penalty rate.
• Collection fees, applicable only to business clients.
• The intra-community VAT number.
• The approved management centre or approved association.
• Professional liability insurance, ten-year warranty, and other insurance policies.

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A detailed review of mandatory invoicing details

The word “Invoice” must appear on your document.

Your identity

Your full name and contact details must be complete. Add your trading name if you have one.

Next, add your SIREN number, followed by the required mention:

• registered with the RCS (Trade and Companies Register) of the city of X, if your activity is commercial;
• registered with the RM (Trades Register) of the city of X, if your activity is a craft/trade.

If you carry out a liberal (professional) activity, no mention is required. However, you may state “Exempt from registration with the Trade and Companies Register (RCS) and the Trades Register (RM)”.

While your sole trader business is being registered, state “SIREN pending assignment”.

If your sole trader business has several addresses, indicate your SIRET number.

Your client’s identity is a mandatory detail

Your invoice must include your client’s name if they are an individual, along with their home address, or the company name for a business client, along with the address of its head office (or its branch address, depending on the client’s request).

The invoice issue date and delivery date

Another mandatory invoice detail: an invoice is issued on the delivery date or on completion of the service. The delivery date must be stated if it differs from the date the service was performed or the goods were delivered.

For recurring services or subscriptions, you issue periodic invoices according to the agreed terms: monthly, quarterly, annually, etc.

The invoice number

It’s up to you to choose your invoice numbering system, provided your numbers follow a sequence. If you don’t use invoicing software, it’s advisable to set up a simple system. It could, for example, combine the current year with a chronological number. If you issue a very large number of invoices, you can add the month.

If your invoice spans several pages, its number must appear on each page. The standard format is n/N, with “n” being the page number and “N” the total number of pages.

Note: two invoices cannot share the same number

It is strictly forbidden to assign the same number to two invoices. If you correct an invoice by adding a last-minute service, want to apply a discount that wasn’t initially planned, or made an error, you cannot delete an invoice and replace it with another bearing the same number.

In that case, you’ll need to issue a corrective invoice or a credit note. The corrective invoice carries its own number and the mention “cancels and replaces” the erroneous invoice.

The credit note must carry the heading “credit note”, specifying which invoice it refers to. If you re-invoice the service, that invoice will carry a new number.

The description of the service

The more detailed an invoice is, the less open to dispute it is, which is why you’re encouraged to be as thorough as possible.

Use one line per service or product, with the amount excluding VAT at the end of the line. Include all the details: nature, unit price, quantity, references, raw materials, labour, travel costs, etc.

It’s advisable to mention a discount below the relevant line if it doesn’t apply to the entire service.

If you have already drawn up a very precise quote, signed by the client, you can issue the invoice without repeating the details, simply mentioning the quote number it corresponds to.

Discounts

If you offer any discount on the whole of your service, it is a mandatory invoice detail, and its amount must appear below the total amount excluding VAT.

Quote and purchase order numbers

If you went through a quote or purchase order step, mention their numbers on the invoice.

The amount due

The amount due appears in figures, but also in words for certain foreign countries. You’ll need to check the requirements case by case if you work with clients abroad.

If you are liable for VAT, which is the case for sole traders above a certain threshold, you must state the applicable rate, the amount excluding VAT, and the amount including VAT.

The payment deadline

The payment deadline is not mandatory, but strongly recommended. If you don’t specify one, the default term is 30 days for France and 60 days abroad, counted from delivery or completion of the service.

The payment method

It’s not mandatory to specify the payment method, but doing so is recommended to make it easier for the client to pay.

Early-payment discount terms and late-payment penalty rate

State the early-payment discount terms and late-payment penalty rate that apply on top of, or as a deduction from, the invoice.

Collection fees

When a business pays your invoice after the payment deadline, it is liable to pay you compensation covering collection costs, set at a flat rate of €40. This is in addition to any late-payment penalties provided for in your terms and conditions of sale.

The mandatory mention to include on the invoice is therefore: “In the event of late payment, the statutory flat-rate compensation for collection costs will apply: €40.00”.

This fee does not apply to individual clients, only to business clients.

VAT exemption

Sole traders operate under VAT exemption up to a certain threshold. If this applies to you, it’s essential to state on your invoice “VAT not applicable, article 293B of the French General Tax Code”. This invoice detail is mandatory.

The intra-community VAT number

If you invoice a foreign client based in the European Union who is liable for VAT, you must add the intra-community VAT number. It is issued by the SIE (Business Tax Office). The structure of the intra-community number is specific to each country. In France, it consists of the code FR, a two-digit or two-letter check key, and the business’s 9-digit SIREN number.

The intra-community VAT number is a mandatory invoice detail if your business is liable for VAT. If you are not liable for VAT, you can nevertheless request an intra-community VAT number for your sole trader business.

This number becomes mandatory once the amount of purchases made exceeds €10,000 per year, or if the business sells or buys services to/from companies established in the EU. See our article on choosing a VAT or VAT-exempt scheme for sole traders.

The approved management centre or approved association

Sole traders carrying out a liberal (professional) activity can use an Approved Management Centre (CGA) or an Approved Management Association (AGA). If this applies to you, you must include the mandatory mention “Member of an approved association” on your invoice.

Professional liability insurance, ten-year warranty, and other insurance

If you have taken out professional liability insurance, a ten-year warranty, or any other professional insurance, you must mention it, along with the insurer’s contact details.

Issuing invoices in foreign currencies

If you work with countries outside the eurozone, you can invoice in their currency, provided that currency is internationally recognised and convertible. In that case, the exchange rate against the euro must be specified. The conversion rate used corresponds to that of the second-to-last Wednesday of the month. These invoices must always appear in euros in your accounts.

If you draw up your invoice in a foreign language, the tax authorities may require a certified translation in case of doubt or inconsistency.

Stay up to date with the latest regulations on mandatory invoicing details by visiting the official French public service website.

Rules for sending an invoice to a client

Complying with mandatory invoicing details is essential, but you also need to know the rules for sending the document.

Self-billing, or how to delegate your invoicing

Did you know you can delegate invoicing to your client? This is called self-billing. Indeed, in the vast majority of cases, the supplier invoices the client, but it’s possible to hand this task over to your client instead.

You can thus authorise your client to issue their own invoices on your behalf, following the rules below.

— The agreement between you and your client must be in writing, starting from ten invoices per year. If the number of invoices is below 10, a tacit self-billing agreement is enough, but in that case you must approve each invoice with a signature. This validation is not necessary if there is a written agreement.

— You are required to notify the tax authorities in writing of the details of the client you have authorised.

— The mention “self-billing” must appear in the heading of the invoice.

— All the mandatory invoice details described above must be included.

— The invoice must state the nature of the transactions and the period concerned, as it may only cover part of the transactions carried out by the principal.

— It must be stated that the seller remains responsible for declaring and collecting VAT (if you have exceeded the VAT exemption threshold as a sole trader).

— You must be granted a dispute period, which must be stated on the invoice, so that you can challenge its content if needed.

— Your client keeps the original invoice and must send you a copy.

Outsourcing invoicing

If you want to offload your accounting tasks, you can also outsource your invoicing, but this expense will significantly eat into your margin. You’re better off using sole trader invoicing software. Its cost is low, it lets you manage your accounts simply, without risk of error, and it also offers useful additional services for running your business, including your sales strategy.

Invoice sending deadlines

Your invoice must be sent as soon as the service is complete. If the service runs over a long period, you’ll need to set up a schedule allowing you to issue one or more interim invoices, in the form of instalments.

For the sale of goods, you can issue the invoice as soon as you’ve agreed the deal with the client, i.e. at the time of the order. This doesn’t prevent you from specifying a different payment deadline, for example on delivery.

If you offer a recurring delivery or service (subscription, restocking, etc.), you then issue periodic invoices.

Legally, your invoice must be sent within 15 days of delivery, but this deadline can be extended to one month. Indeed, you can wait until the end of each month to invoice for all your services, as many businesses do.

Sending a sole trader’s invoice on paper

The invoice can be issued on paper or electronically (see an example of a sole trader invoice). It’s increasingly common to send invoices by email. However, some clients still ask for them to be sent by post.

Client or supplier invoices on paper must be kept for 10 years.

Sending and mandatory details of a digital invoice

The authenticity and origin of an electronic invoice must be guaranteed. The integrity of its content and its readability must also be ensured. You can use an electronic signature or an EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) protocol for this. This is a computer-to-computer exchange of business documents in a standard electronic format between trading partners.

The retention of electronic invoices is governed by the tax authorities:

• the invoice must be kept on a digital medium for 3 years, then on any other medium for the following years;
• an invoice secured with an electronic signature must be kept in its original format for 6 years;
• information sent and received relating to invoices transmitted via EDI must be kept in its original format for 6 years.

You will, however, need to comply with the overall 10-year period during which you must be able to produce invoices in the event of a tax audit, whether in paper or electronic format. This means keeping your invoices in their original format or converting them to the format of your choice.