Preparing an international invoice
Start with the essentials
A useful invoice explains who is billing, who should pay and which products or services were supplied. In quick mode, enter both names, describe the delivery, choose the date and fill in quantity and unit price. Use descriptions your customer can match to the agreement or purchase order. Avoid vague descriptions when the work covers several stages. A maintenance service can identify the period covered and the activity performed. A product can include its commercial name and your internal reference. Before saving, check the currency displayed beside the total and compare the amount with what the customer agreed to pay.
Separate country, language and currency
The country helps identify business fields, but it does not determine the billing currency or translate names entered by the user. Document language controls labels in the preview and PDF. Regional format controls how dates and numbers appear. A German business can choose English labels while retaining German number formatting. Changing currency does not convert previously entered prices. If you change BRL to USD, review unit prices yourself. To display an equivalent amount, provide a reference currency, manual exchange rate, rate date and source. The converted amount is informational and does not change the balance in the invoicing currency. No market exchange rate is invented or fetched automatically.
Choose the right document
An invoice requests payment for a commercial transaction. A proforma presents preliminary terms and should be clearly identified so the recipient does not mistake it for a final payment request. A commercial invoice supports the description of traded goods, including origin, destination and commodity classification supplied by the user. A service invoice focuses on work performed. A credit note records a commercial adjustment and displays negative amounts calculated from positive inputs. A recurring template provides a starting point for periodic billing. A quote presents an offer, a work order organizes execution and a receipt records payment received. These documents serve different purposes and should reflect what actually happened.
Understand the calculation policy
The calculation starts with quantity multiplied by unit price. Each line can have a fixed or percentage discount. A global discount is allocated proportionally across lines, preserving the exact sum in currency minor units. Configured taxes are then calculated, shipping and additional fees are added, and manual withholding reduces the total. Recorded payments reduce the balance due. The engine uses decimal arithmetic and half up rounding at the currency precision. Choose tax rounding per line or per subtotal. For small amounts this can change the final cents, so keep the policy consistent with the transaction requirements and the agreement with your customer.
Included and added taxes
With added tax, the configured rate increases the net item amount. With included tax, the tax component is extracted from the price already entered. Multiple rates are parallel charges on the same base; they do not compound. An item tax rate replaces the first configured tax for that line. No tax rate is applied automatically based on country. Leaving tax unconfigured does not declare a transaction exempt. Check tax bases, withholding, reporting and legal requirements with someone who understands the business jurisdiction and regime. The generator does not replace Brazilian NF-e or NFS-e, Mexican CFDI or official tax submission systems. Requirements can also differ between European countries and transaction types.
Record payments and review status
Record each payment with its date, amount, method and reference. For a 1,200 invoice, payments of 400 and 300 leave 500 due in the same currency. The tool derives partial or full payment from recorded amounts. Mark sent status only when you have actually sent or confirmed the document. A document may become overdue when its due date passes while a balance remains. Cancellation is an explicit user decision. Search history by customer or number and filter currency, country, status and dates. Do not add balances in different currencies without explicit conversion. Export a calendar event to keep track of a due date in your own calendar application.
Review spreadsheet imports
CSV and XLSX files are read locally. Select a bounded file, inspect headers and adjust column mapping before confirming. The preview shows valid records and the row numbers of rejected records. Choose whether to import invoice lines, product catalogue entries or customer entries. Use a name column and separate quantity and price columns. CSV decimal separators follow the selected regional format, while XLSX numeric values are read as spreadsheet data. Formulas and active content are rejected; macros are never executed. Confirmation adds valid records and avoids duplicate keys while preserving existing entries. Keep the source file until you have checked the imported prices and quantities against the original agreement.
Back up and prepare recurring bills
My Invoices stores documents in this browser’s IndexedDB. This does not synchronize documents between computers or phones. Private browsing, storage limits and clearing browser data can prevent saving or remove history. Export JSON backups regularly and protect them because they may contain customer and bank information. Restoring a backup preserves existing identifiers instead of overwriting them. For recurring billing, open a template and click to prepare the next invoice; nothing runs with the browser closed. Review the new draft’s number, dates and prices. Choose A4 or US Letter, inspect every preview page and adjust margins and visible columns before printing or sharing the PDF with the customer.
| Country | Currency | Business identifier |
|---|---|---|
| BR | BRL | CPF/CNPJ |
| US | USD | EIN |
| CA | CAD | BN / GST-HST |
| GB | GBP | Company Number / VAT Number |
| PT | EUR | NIF |
| ES | EUR | NIF/NIE |
| DE | EUR | Steuernummer / USt-IdNr. |
| FR | EUR | SIREN/SIRET / VAT |
| IT | EUR | Partita IVA |
| MX | MXN | RFC |
| AR | ARS | CUIT |
| CL | CLP | RUT |
| CO | COP | NIT |
| PE | PEN | RUC |
| AU | AUD | ABN |
| NZ | NZD | NZBN / GST Number |
Frequently asked questions
Is the PDF an official tax invoice?
It is a commercial document. Check transaction requirements with a local professional before using it for tax purposes.
Can I choose language and currency separately?
Yes. Country, document language, regional format and currency are independent. There is no automatic conversion.
Where are my invoices stored?
In this browser's IndexedDB. There is no sync. Export a JSON backup and keep it somewhere safe.
Does recurrence run with the browser closed?
No. Open the template and use Prepare next invoice to create a new draft. Previous payments are not copied.
Related tools
Quote and estimate generator · Work order generator · Receipt maker