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What an invoice must include, country by country

The basics of an invoice are the same almost everywhere, but each country adds its own required details, its own limit for simplified invoices and, increasingly, a rule that business invoices must be electronic. This guide puts the rules for six countries side by side, from the official sources linked at the end.

Last reviewed: 2026-10-25

The details every invoice needs

Across all six countries below, a valid invoice identifies who is selling and who is buying, says what was supplied and when, and shows the amounts and any tax. In practice that means:

• a unique, sequential invoice number: never reused, never skipped without a reason you can explain;
• the issue date, and the date of supply (when the goods were delivered or the service was done) if it is different;
• your name and address, and the customer's name and address;
• your tax or VAT number where you are registered (and in some cases the customer's);
• a description of each item or service, with quantity and price;
• the amount before tax, the tax rate and tax amount, and the total;
• if no tax is charged, the reason (for example a small-business exemption or reverse charge).

The invoice generator has a field for each of these: tax ID for you and your client, issue date, due date, service date, line items, one tax rate and free notes for exemption wording and payment terms.

Side-by-side comparison

Where a country requires structured e-invoices, a PDF (from this site or anywhere else) is not the legal invoice. It can still serve as a proforma, a quote or a readable courtesy copy next to the e-invoice.

United Kingdom

GOV.UK lists what every invoice must include, VAT-registered or not: a unique identification number, your business name, address and contact details, the customer's name and address, a clear description of what you are charging for, the date the goods or service were provided, the invoice date, each amount, any VAT and the total owed. Sole traders using a business name add their own name and an address where legal documents can be delivered; limited companies show the full company name as it appears on the certificate of incorporation.

A full VAT invoice (VAT Notice 700/21, section 4.1) adds your VAT registration number, the time of supply, and for each line the quantity, the VAT rate and the amount excluding VAT, plus the total VAT. HMRC lets you issue a simplified invoice when the supply is £250 or less, and you normally have to issue a VAT invoice within 30 days of the supply. Keep VAT records for at least six years.

Germany

Under § 14 Abs. 4 UStG an invoice must show the full name and address of supplier and customer, your Steuernummer or USt-IdNr., the invoice date, a sequential invoice number used only once, the quantity and description of the goods or the type and scope of the service, the date of supply, the net amount broken down by tax rate, the tax rate and tax amount, and a note if the supply is exempt.

• Kleinunternehmer (§ 19 UStG): set the tax rate to 0% and add a note such as "Gemäß § 19 UStG wird keine Umsatzsteuer berechnet."
• Kleinbetragsrechnung (§ 33 UStDV): up to €250 gross, the supplier's name and address, the date, the quantity and type of supply, and the gross amount with the tax rate are enough.
• E-Rechnung: invoices between businesses in Germany must in principle be e-invoices (for example XRechnung or ZUGFeRD). Under the transition in § 27 Abs. 38 UStG, paper and PDF invoices are still allowed for supplies until 31 December 2026 (PDF with the recipient's consent), and for supplies in 2027 only if your previous year's turnover was at most €800,000. Invoices to consumers and small-amount invoices can still be sent as PDF.

The German invoice generator page shows these rules in German next to the form.

France

Service-Public lists the mentions obligatoires for invoices between professionals: the issue date and a unique, chronological, continuous number; the date of the sale or service; your identity with address and SIREN (companies add legal form and share capital); the customer's identity and their purchase-order number if they issued one; your intra-EU VAT number unless the total excluding tax is €150 or less; for each line the description, quantity, unit price excluding tax and VAT rate; totals excluding and including tax; the due date and early-payment discount terms (or "Escompte pour paiement anticipé : néant"); and the late-payment penalty rate plus the fixed €40 recovery fee for business customers.

Micro-entrepreneurs under the VAT franchise put 0% VAT and the wording "TVA non applicable, art. 293 B du CGI". E-invoicing between companies becomes mandatory on 1 September 2026 for large and mid-size companies and on 1 September 2027 for SMEs and micro-businesses; until then a PDF invoice remains possible for SMEs. The French invoice page has the same list in French.

Spain

Article 6 of the invoicing regulation (Real Decreto 1619/2012) requires: the number and, where used, the series, correlative within each series; the issue date; the full name or company name of issuer and recipient; the issuer's NIF and, where required, the recipient's; both addresses; the description of the operations with their amount before tax; the VAT rate or rates; and the VAT amount shown separately. A factura simplificada is allowed up to €400 including VAT.

Under Real Decreto-ley 15/2025, invoices must be issued with a compliant invoicing system (Verifactu) from 1 January 2027 for corporate-tax payers and from 1 July 2027 for the self-employed and other taxpayers. QuickPaperwork is not a Verifactu system.

Italy

In Italy, VAT-registered businesses issue invoices as electronic XML files (FatturaPA) through the Sistema di Interscambio (SdI) of the Agenzia delle Entrate, to businesses and to private customers alike, and since 2024 that includes flat-rate taxpayers (forfettari). A PDF does not replace the e-invoice. Use a PDF for a proforma or quote before payment, a courtesy copy for the client, or a draft to copy into the Agenzia's free "Fatture e Corrispettivi" service or your software.

Greece

From 2026, e-invoicing is mandatory for business-to-business transactions in Greece, phased in for all businesses under AADE decision A.1128/2025. These invoices are issued through a certified provider or AADE's free applications (timologio, myDATAapp); a PDF does not replace them. A PDF is still useful as an offer, a proforma before payment, or a readable copy for the client.

A checklist before you send

1. Is the number the next one in your sequence?
2. Are both tax numbers there if your country requires them?
3. Is the supply date filled in if it differs from the invoice date?
4. Does the tax rate match the goods or service, or is the exemption reason in the notes?
5. Are the payment terms and bank details in the notes?
6. Does your country or customer require an e-invoice instead of a PDF?

For a complete, filled-in example, see the freelancer invoice example. For the difference between invoices and receipts, see receipt vs invoice.

Create an invoice

Frequently asked questions

Sources: GOV.UK — Invoices: what they must include · GOV.UK — VAT Notice 700/21 · § 14 UStG · § 27 UStG · § 33 UStDV · Service-Public.fr — Mentions obligatoires sur une facture · BOE — Real Decreto 1619/2012 · AEAT — VERI*FACTU · Agenzia delle Entrate — Fatturazione elettronica · Agenzia delle Entrate — Circolare 32/E, 5 Dec 2023 (flat-rate regime) · AADE — myDATA