Brandon Wilson, the chartered accountant in charge of Cloud Kicks' accounts, wants to make sure that Frisbii is complying with its legal obligations.
He asks Linda and Mary to respond to the various points.
Mandatory information on an invoice
Brandon first asks to see the invoices issued by Cloud Kicks, to see if they all display the obligatory information. In fact, when you issue an invoice from a company domiciled in France, it must include certain information.
See this article for details: Mandatory Information in France.
Maximum payment period
Brandon refers to the Commercial Code which states:
"The period agreed between the parties for payment of sums due may not exceed sixty days net from the date of issue of the invoice or, by way of derogation, 45 days end of month, provided that this derogation is written into the contract and does not constitute clear discrimination against the creditor.
The 45-day month-end deadline can be calculated in two ways:
Invoice date + 45 days + end of month or,
Invoice date + end of month + 45 days.
In addition, the payment period for periodic invoices (provided for in article 289, paragraph 3 of the General Tax Code) may not exceed forty-five days from the invoice issue date. In the absence of a time limit agreed between the parties, an additional time limit of thirty days from receipt of the goods or performance of the requested service shall apply. "
The 2016 Loi de Modernisation de l'Économie (LME) (Law on the Modernization of the Economy) strengthened penalties for offenders.
It also specifies that a certain number of food and beverage products are subject to specific payment terms.
30 days after the end of the delivery period: perishable food products, frozen or deep-frozen meat, deep-frozen fish, ready-made meals and preserves made from perishable food products (except seasonal products purchased under integration contracts).
20 days after the day of delivery: live cattle for consumption and fresh meat derived from them.
30 days after the end of the delivery month: alcoholic beverages subject to consumption tax.
45 days end of month or 60 days net from date of invoice: grapes and musts intended for the production of wines or alcoholic beverages subject to circulation duties (unless otherwise agreed).
Finally, he checks that the due date cannot be entered by an SD user, as it must be calculated by adding: invoice date + payment deadline.
He notes that this is the case in Frisbii.
Numbering invoices and credit notes
Next, Brandon wants to know how the invoices are referenced, and how the numbers are assigned.
To prevent fraud, tax authorities need to be able to examine invoices from French companies. The unique, continuous numbering makes your work easier and prevents false invoices.
Invoice reference therefore obeys several rules. Invoice numbering is represented by a unique number based on a continuous, unbroken chronological sequence. It must not be possible to issue invoices retrospectively. Two invoices cannot have the same number.
Continuous, unbroken: You must not have any missing numbers in your numbering.
Unique number: The reference field is unique to avoid duplication.*
Chronological sequence: Invoice 49 must have an invoice date prior to invoice 50.
* Your invoice reference includes a prefix and a chronology number. You can opt for a prefix by year or by year/month to facilitate invoice sorting.
However, the authorities may be more vigilant, because unlike infinite numbering, it is possible to hide invoices at the end of the month.
Note: you can set up numbering in separate series (using different prefixes), with a numbering system specific to each series, if justified by business conditions: several invoicing sites, different categories of customers for whom invoicing rules are not identical, invoicing subcontracting, for example. It must be possible to justify this choice to the tax authorities in the event of an audit.
You cannot delete an invoice even if you reuse its number for a new invoice. Even if the invoice didn't lead to anything, you don't have to delete it. cancel the invoice with a credit invoice.
Read this article to find out more: Cancellation of an invoice issued with a credit note.
The administration must have access to invoices for 10 years.
Proforma, invoice and duplicates
Brandon then explains how proforma and duplicate invoices work.
Proforma: A proforma invoice is similar to a sales estimate, in that it is used to formally define the value of a transaction before the sale is actually shipped or completed. It has no official value. If you need to send an invoice to your customer before issuing it (for example, to check that the information displayed is correct), use the proforma.
Duplicate: A duplicate is a copy of an original invoice, but must comply with certain rules to have legal value in the accounts of the customer requesting it. The duplicate must include additional information (such as the reprint number), and must be designated as a "duplicate invoice". Note that an original invoice must remain unique, and that it is strictly forbidden for your company to reissue the same invoice instead of producing a duplicate of the invoice in question.
In Frisbii, the duplicate is strictly identical to the issued invoice:
Invoices are automatically locked on issue. Even when unlocked (if authorized by your system administrator), Frisbii mandatory fields (see Mandatory Information in France) remain locked. Please note: if you display custom fields on your invoice, remember to make them non-modifiable after issue, to preserve the integrity of the duplicate.
Field data from other objects (Account, Contact, Corporate name), which appear on the Invoice PDF, are stored so that their modification does not alter the duplicate.
Brendon is happy to have obtained all this information. Now they're ready to bill with peace of mind with Frisbii.