What does an e-invoice need?

An e-invoice carries the same details as the invoice you write today – only machine-readable. Most of it is already in GrandTotal, and the invoice number, date, totals and tax amounts are generated for you. So little can go wrong. Now and then, though, a recipient asks for a value with no obviously named field – usually quoted as a BT number. That is what this overview is for.

Invoice format

Which fields exist and where they sit depends on the format. Pick the one your recipient expects.

Writing e-invoices: edition L and up

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Your company 10

Entered once – valid for every invoice from then on.

Detail	Where you enter it in GrandTotal	Needed?
Company name and address BT-27, BT-35–40 BT-27, BT-35, BT-36, BT-37, BT-38, BT-39, BT-40	Preferences → Organization → Organization, Address, ZIP, City, Country Leave the company field empty and your personal name is used instead. Post code and town carry no label of their own.
Contact person: name, phone, email BT-41–43 BT-41, BT-42, BT-43	Preferences → Organization → First name, Last name, Phone, Mail The phone number should contain at least three digits.
VAT ID BT-31	Preferences → Identification → VAT/Sales Tax-ID In most formats this doubles as your electronic address (BT-34).
Tax number BT-32	Preferences → Identification → Tax Identification No. In France the tax number (SIREN/SIRET) also fills the registration number BT-30, unless something is entered there.
Registration number BT-30	Preferences → Identification → Legal registration ID Written as “scheme:number”, for example 0106:12345678. Left empty, the VAT ID is used.
Electronic address BT-34	No field of its own – GrandTotal derives it from your VAT ID, or failing that your email address The field sits with the customer, not in the settings – so you can store a different sender address per recipient.
IBAN BT-84	Preferences → Identification → Bank → IBAN A different bank account can be stored per payment type: Settings → Payments → icon at the right edge of the row.
Account holder BT-85	Preferences → Payments → Payment types → icon at the right edge of the row → Account Holder There is no such field in the identification settings. Without an entry on the payment type, BT-85 stays empty in the invoice.
BIC BT-86	Preferences → Identification → Bank → BIC Dispensable inside the SEPA area, where the IBAN suffices. Can also be overridden per payment type.
SEPA creditor identifier BT-90	Preferences → Identification → SEPA → SEPA Creditor ID

With the customer 7

Once per customer – carried over to every invoice for them.

Detail	Where you enter it in GrandTotal	Needed?
Customer name and address BT-44, BT-50–55 BT-44, BT-50, BT-51, BT-52, BT-53, BT-54, BT-55	Clients → select a client → Edit → Info → Organization, Address, ZIP, City – the country sits further down, in the section with client group and currency With the company field empty, the contact’s name is sent as the buyer name.
Electronic address of the customer BT-49	No field of its own – GrandTotal derives it from the customer’s VAT ID, or failing that their email address Via the recommand.eu and e-invoice.be routes the field is called “Peppol ID” and offers a button to look it up in the PEPPOL directory.
VAT ID of the customer BT-48	Clients → select a client → Edit → Info → VAT/Sales Tax-ID In most formats this doubles as the customer’s electronic address (BT-49).
Email address of the customer BT-58	Clients → select a client → Edit → Info → Contacts → Mail If the field holds several addresses, the first one is used.
Contact at the customer: name and phone BT-56, BT-57	Clients → select a client → Edit → Info → Contacts → First name, Last name, Phone
Buyer reference (Leitweg-ID) BT-10	No field of its own – GrandTotal uses the reference on the invoice Between businesses GrandTotal fills it with “N/A” itself, so there is nothing to do. Authorities give you the real Leitweg-ID, usually in the order or tender documents; stored with the customer it applies to every further invoice.
Seller identifier BT-29	Clients → Client → Electronic Invoice → Seller ID It sits with the customer because every client may give you a different number.

On the invoice 9

Per invoice, usually one or two fields at most.

Detail	Where you enter it in GrandTotal	Needed?
Purchase order number BT-13	Invoice → Number → Subject Where there is no field of its own, GrandTotal falls back to the invoice subject.
Contract number BT-12	Invoice → section of the e-invoice format → Contract Reference German authorities also use it as a funding reference.
Sales order number (your own) BT-14	Invoice → section of the e-invoice format → Sales Order Reference Your own order reference, not the customer’s.
Project number and project name BT-11	Invoice → section of the e-invoice format → Project Reference, Project Name German authorities also use it as a cash reference. Both fields must be filled, otherwise the project details are left out.
Tender reference BT-17	Invoice → section of the e-invoice format → Tender Reference Number Transmitted with scheme AAG.
Object identifier BT-18	Invoice → section of the e-invoice format → Object Reference Number Common in construction and property management, to tie the invoice to an object. Transmitted with scheme AAJ.
Payment terms BT-20	Invoice → Payment conditions – text template under Settings → Invoices → “Conditions” Early-payment discounts must follow a set notation in the terms text, otherwise the recipient will not recognise them.
Note / introductory text BT-22	Invoice window → introductory text above the items Outside the German context only one note per invoice is allowed.
Delivery period BT-73, BT-74	Invoice → Date range – tick the box and enter start and end yourself Without the tick GrandTotal derives the period from the dates of the items. Either way the end doubles as the delivery date (BT-72).

Per item 7

Detail	Where you enter it in GrandTotal	Needed?
Description BT-153	item row in the invoice window GrandTotal insists on it before sending – empty items are flagged.
Quantity and unit BT-129	item row in the invoice window GrandTotal sets the unit code (BT-130) itself: time units become HUR, everything else C62 (piece).
Unit price (net) BT-146	item row in the invoice window If you work with gross prices, GrandTotal calculates the net price for the e-invoice itself.
Tax rate and tax category BT-118, BT-119	item row in the invoice window – choose a tax rule; the rules themselves under Settings → Taxes At 0 % the exemption reason comes from the tax rule: Settings → Taxes → Reason for tax exemption.
Long description BT-154	item row in the invoice window → Note Formatting is lost – the e-invoice carries plain text.
Item number BT-155	Catalog → Item number The item itself has no field for it. The number comes from the catalog entry and is carried over when you insert it.
GTIN / EAN BT-157	Catalog → EAN/GTIN Like the item number, only maintainable in the catalog. The identifier includes which numbering system it comes from.

For direct debit 2

Only if you collect by SEPA direct debit.

Detail	Where you enter it in GrandTotal	Needed?
Mandate reference BT-89 edition XL only	Clients → Client → SEPA Mandate ID GrandTotal switches the payment means code from 58 (credit transfer) to 59 (direct debit) automatically.
IBAN of the customer BT-91 edition XL only	Clients → Client → IBAN

Attachments 1

Detail	Where you enter it in GrandTotal	Needed?
Attachment, a timesheet for instance BT-122, BT-125	Invoice → add a document → Include as attachment, Document ID The file hangs on the invoice, not on the customer. It is copied into the e-invoice rather than linked; the document identifier is required and every attachment needs a unique file name.

Checking a finished file? E-invoice validator – XRechnung, ZUGFeRD, PEPPOL & EN 16931. Verifying a Leitweg-ID: Leitweg-ID validator.

About the “Needed?” column

required – without it the recipient’s validation rejects the invoice.
An outlined note names the condition under which the detail becomes necessary – “public authorities only”, say, or “direct debit only”.
recommended and optional – the invoice is valid without them.

The classification comes from the formats’ validation rules. BR there stands for Business Rule: BR-… are the rules of the EN 16931 standard, BR-DE-… the German additions of XRechnung, plus the PEPPOL rules. If a validation portal quotes such a rule number, the search above will find the matching row.

What the BT numbers mean

BT stands for Business Term. Every detail in an e-invoice carries such a number from the EN 16931 standard – BT-49, for instance, is the buyer’s electronic address. You do not need the numbers day to day. They only become useful when an authority or a validation portal reports that “BT-XX is missing”: then the search above takes you to the right row, and you know where to enter the value.

What you do not have to enter

The invoice number, invoice and due dates, invoice type, item numbers, all totals and tax amounts, the format identifiers and the reference to a corrected invoice are generated by GrandTotal. The unit code per item and the delivery period are derived from your entries too.

E-invoices without the form filling

GrandTotal fills almost all of these fields itself – from your master data and the invoice you were writing anyway. You pick the format, GrandTotal turns it into XRechnung, ZUGFeRD, Factur-X or PEPPOL.

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