My first invoices, charging correctly from the start - Part 3

Thu, 05.05.2022, 17:00

Bills are known to everyone. As an entrepreneur, however, you are forced to look at and understand invoice documents in more detail. The information on the invoice document is, among other things, important for VAT accounting or the dunning process.

Changes to the payment slips in autumn 2022

At the moment, most providers will still send you the orange or red payment slips which you then use to pay your bills. However, as of 30 September 2022, these will be abolished and replaced by QR bills. To ensure an uncomplicated change, entrepreneurs should apply for a QR IBAN from your bank in advance. This IBAN will be needed later to generate QR bills in a tool of your choice. 

How do payment reminders work?

There will always be times when customers are late in paying the bill and you will need to remind them accordingly. To make sure you do not lose control of outstanding debts, we recommend using a tool, such as Atlanto, where you define a payment deadline when creating the invoice, which will also be visible on the bill. Afterwards you will find all open claims in an overview, in which the payment deadline turns red as soon as it has been exceeded. You then have the option to start a dunning run directly via Atlanto.

Value-added Tax

VAT serves as a consumption tax, which is passed on directly to the end consumer when a product or service is acquired. VAT is a federal tax and is used to cover general federal expenditure. As an entrepreneur, you pay this tax to the federal government on a quarterly basis and may deduct the amount from your input tax.

The following VAT rates apply today:

• normally 7.7% of revenue;
• the hotel and supplementary accommodation industry is charged 3.7% (special rate for accommodations incl. breakfast);
• Food and non-alcoholic beverages, books, newspapers and magazines, medicines as well as admissions to sports and cultural events (if opted for) are taxed at a reduced rate of 2.5 % (goods for daily use).

Of course, this is only a small overview of the topic of VAT. To ensure that everything runs smoothly, we recommend that you contact a fiduciary via our website or directly via Atlanto and discuss the whole issue with them straight away.

You can also find more information on the topic on the federal website.

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Blog part 1
Blog part 2