You have just set up a business and now you will have to invest hours in tasks you never thought you would have to do and you are not even prepared – yet. Do you know which one you will have to do the most? Filling out invoices —hopefully, a lot of them.
They will be boring and difficult at first, but you will see how the process will turn out easier each time you fill them out. It is a very easy procedure and we will tell you exactly how to do it. There are ten concepts that must be included on the invoice:
-The company information: full name, address, ID or tax identification code, telephone number, and e-mail address.
-Number: you must number all your invoices from number 1 (the first invoice of the year) and continue using correlative numbers.
-Date: remember to include the date of when the invoice is issued since dates must also follow a correlative order.
-Recipients’ information: it should, at least, contain their full name, address, and ID or tax identification code.
-Tax base: you should include the subtotal of the invoice before taxes.
-Tax withholding: this concept is optional. The withholding for freelances and self-employed people vary depending on the type of withholding you have (7% or 15%).
-VAT: this is also optional. You will include a 21% of VAT tax in most of your invoices.
-Grand total: this number is a result of adding the tax base, subtracting the tax withholding and adding the VAT (if included on the invoice).
-Payment method: you should specify how you will receive the payment of the invoice.
As a freelance or a self-employed person, you must issue and hand in an invoice of all your activities. You must also keep a copy of each document and keep all the invoices you get from other professionals.
Remember that you must issue an invoice when you have done the job. However, when the recipient is a company or a professional that acts as such, invoices must be issued within a month, counting from the moment you do the job. Invoices must be issued before the 16th of the following period of tax liquidation that affects the time when the job has been done.
You can contact a Gestor Administrativo to help you with any rental or tax procedure.
