Oops! Mistake on your invoice? No stress, let me introduce the credit invoice.
Over the past 20 years I've been working with entrepreneurs in all fields. Which means that I have seen a lot of mistakes ánd know a lot of solutions. Being the owner of The Bookie and not being an accountant myself (I'm a lawyer), I love to brag about all the bookkeeping hacks I do know: so, here we go.
A wrong invoice
We’ve all been there: you’re working on the books, everything seems to be running smoothly… and then suddenly: oops. You get an email from a client saying that last week you sent an invoice with the wrong amount, the wrong VAT percentage, or – even worse – sent it twice by mistake. Panic? Nope, it’s really not the end of the world.
Important to know: you should never delete an invoice. Why? Because the tax authorities always need to be able to see what happened. Luckily, there’s a super handy solution: the credit invoice.
What is a credit invoice?
A credit invoice is basically a “counter-invoice.” You create it to correct a mistake on the original invoice. It fixes the amount you billed earlier, without ever having to throw anything away.
How does it work?
- Create a new invoice: Call it a credit invoice so it’s clear it’s a correction. (In the Bookie Webapp, you can copy a previously sent invoice with just one click.)
- Reference the original invoice: This way, everyone immediately knows which invoice is being corrected.
- Now you have two options:
a) Adjust the amount: Correct the amount that was too high or too low. Don’t forget to calculate the correct VAT. In this case, you fix everything with just one credit invoice. b) Leave everything the same and put a minus sign in front of the amounts: This basically brings everything back to zero (because 1 - 1 = 0). 4. Send it to the client: The client now clearly sees that the mistake has been corrected. a) With the single credit invoice option, everything is corrected in one go. b) With the zeroing-out option, you actually send two invoices to the client. The first one says “what I sent before wasn’t correct, so this brings us back to zero,” and the second one is completely correct, with no adjustments.
What does it solve?
- Your administration stays accurate and complete.
- You avoid fines or questions from the tax authorities.
- Your client understands what changed and pays correctly.
In short: a credit invoice is your lifesaver for accounting oopsies. Making a mistake might feel like a big deal, but if you handle it properly, it’s far less serious than you think.
So next time you send an invoice twice or get a number wrong, take a deep breath, create that credit invoice, and carry on. And if you really don’t understand my well-meaning explanation, just give your own Bookie a call.