Credit note procedure
If you book times and expenses on a project that belongs to an organization, then there recorded items need to be checked and approved in an approval process. ZEIT.IO ensures that only approved times and expenses can be invoiced. A very popular alternative to invoices is the credit note procedure.
Info
The credit note procedure is a special way of billing for deliveries and services between a customer and his supplier, where the billing burden does not lie with the supplier, but with the customer himself. Simply put, a credit note is a reverse invoice and is issued for approved services.
How does the credit note process work?
After you have booked your time and/or expenses for a project, you request approval for it. If your submitted timesheet (or expense) is approved, a credit note will be issued automatically. The credit note is issued by the organization running the project. The credit note contains the same information as an invoice, except that the billing burden is borne by the organization rather than you.
You can then record the credit note in your accounting, just as you would with an invoice. Or you can pass the credit note directly on to your tax advisor. You then no longer have to write and send an invoice yourself.
Advantages of the credit note procedure
The credit note procedure has several advantages:
- You do not have to write and send an invoice yourself.
- You will receive the credit note immediately after the timesheet was approved. This usually takes just a few minutes.
- Low risk of errors as the credit note is issued automatically and the data is taken from the approved Timesheet and your ZEIT.IO contract.
Configure credit note procedures
You can configure the crediting process for each ZEIT.IO contract. This also means that you can have a different configuration for the credit note process in each contractual relationship. To do this, simply navigate to your contract.
If you are logged in, click on "Contracts" in the top left of the main menu and then click on the contract for which you want to configure the crediting process. In the detailed view of the contract, click on the “Credit procedure” tab. Here you can then make the settings for the credit note process. The following points can be configured:
- Legal form & name: You can enter your legal form and the official name of your company.
- Address: The official address of your company.
- Tax: Information on tax aspects, such as the tax number, VAT ID number, sales tax rate and small business regulations.
- Language: The preferred language, time zone and date format for the credit note.
- Payment modalities: Details of bank details, payment terms and discount.
- Credit strategy: You can activate or deactivate the credit note procedure with a checkbox.
All of this information is then used to create the next credit note.
FAQs
How can I configure the invoice number for credit notes?
As a supplier (freelancer/self-employed person), you cannot configure the invoice number (number range) for credit notes. Since the billing burden is not at the supplier but by the customer themselves, the customer also has control over the invoice number. The invoice number for credit notes is determined by the organization issuing the credit note.
Where can I configure "Reverse Charge" for credit notes?
The “reverse charge” regulation is a special tax regulation that applies to cross-border services in the EU. The “reverse charge” rule means that the recipient of the service owes the sales tax instead of the person providing the service.
The “reverse charge” procedure does not need to be specifically configured for credit notes. ZEIT.IO automatically recognizes whether the “reverse charge” regulation must be applied for a credit note, and sets the sales tax and the reference to “reverse charge” accordingly.
The detection of “reverse charge” is based on the information in your master data. That is why it is very important that you have stored your master data correctly and completely.