# Invoice > An invoice is the request for payment you send to your customer. In CIRO NOISE it gets a gapless number when issued, is checked for missing mandatory details and goes out as a PDF or as an e-invoice in ZUGFeRD or XRechnung format. - Page: https://www.ciro-noise.de/glossar/rechnung - Deutsche Fassung: https://www.ciro-noise.de/glossar/rechnung.md An invoice is how you ask to be paid for your work. In Germany it must contain certain mandatory details, such as the name and address of both parties and your tax number or VAT ID. If something is missing, your customer can't reclaim the input VAT. In CIRO NOISE you write invoices under Finance › Invoices. An invoice is created from a quote, an order confirmation or from scratch. Customer details come from the customer record and stay on the invoice exactly as they were when it was issued. Billable time from tasks becomes line items with an hourly rate. ## How an invoice works in CIRO NOISE While an invoice is a draft, it has no number. CIRO NOISE assigns the number only when you issue it, sequentially and without gaps, such as RE-0012. A deleted draft therefore never leaves a gap. Credit notes and cancellation invoices take their numbers from the same sequence. Before issuing, CIRO NOISE checks the mandatory details under Section 14(4) of the German VAT Act: your company's name and address, your tax number or VAT ID, the customer's address and the date of service. If something is missing, CIRO NOISE shows the gap and asks you to confirm deliberately. For a small invoice up to €250 gross, your company's name and address are enough. ## E-invoicing, tax treatment and payment The invoice goes out as a ZUGFeRD PDF or as XRechnung XML, both following the European standard EN 16931. For public-sector customers you enter the Leitweg-ID. You set the tax treatment per document: standard VAT, small business under Section 19, reverse charge under Section 13b, intra-EU supply or export. The customer's VAT ID is validated. The invoice carries a payment QR code (GiroCode) that the customer scans with her banking app, and optionally a payment link. Payment terms default to 14 days, and early-payment discounts and partial payments are supported. Recurring services are billed as subscription invoices. ## Incoming payments and dunning You upload your bank statement as a CAMT, MT940 or CSV file, and CIRO NOISE suggests which payment matches which invoice. If an invoice stays unpaid, there are four levels: a payment reminder plus first, second and third dunning notice, with fees, interest and a PDF letter. You trigger each level yourself or let a daily run send them automatically. You can lock bookings up to a cut-off date. After that nothing can be changed, and corrections go through cancellations and new documents. Your tax advisor receives all invoices through the DATEV export. ## An everyday example Pascal logged 1.5 billable hours on a task for Brandt & Söhne. Lena bills the hours under Finance › Time, which creates a draft invoice with the hours as a line item. She issues it, the invoice gets the number RE-0012 and goes out as an e-invoice with a payment QR code. Three weeks later the bank statement import matches the payment, and Lena confirms. ## Frequently asked questions about Invoice ### Which mandatory details does CIRO NOISE check on an invoice? Before an invoice is issued, CIRO NOISE checks your company's name and address, your tax number or VAT ID, the customer's address and the date of service under Section 14(4) of the German VAT Act. If something is missing, CIRO NOISE shows the gap first. ### Can I send e-invoices with CIRO NOISE? Yes. Invoices from CIRO NOISE go out as a ZUGFeRD PDF or as XRechnung XML following EN 16931. For public-sector customers you enter the Leitweg-ID. ### When does an invoice get its number? An invoice in CIRO NOISE gets its number only when it is issued, sequentially and without gaps. A deleted draft therefore never leaves a gap in the invoice number sequence. ### How do I chase an unpaid invoice? For an unpaid invoice, CIRO NOISE offers four levels: a reminder and three dunning notices, with fees, interest and a PDF letter. You trigger each level yourself or switch on automatic sending. ### Does CIRO NOISE replace my tax advisor? No. CIRO NOISE writes invoices and captures receipts, while your tax advisor still handles the balance sheet and VAT returns. They receive all bookings through the DATEV export. ## Related terms - [Quote](https://www.ciro-noise.de/en/glossary/quote.md) - [Receipt](https://www.ciro-noise.de/en/glossary/receipt.md) - [Report](https://www.ciro-noise.de/en/glossary/report.md) See the feature: https://www.ciro-noise.de/en/features/accounting.md ## CIRO NOISE at a glance - CIRO NOISE is a workspace for small businesses and teams of up to about 50 people: wiki, tasks, customer requests, finance with quotes and invoices, customers (CRM), meetings, knowledge with AI, social media, password vault, and time tracking behind one login. - Price: the first 2 seats are free, with every feature. Each additional seat costs €25 per month plus VAT. No credit card to start. - Privacy: servers and AI run in EU data centers, content never trains AI models, and permissions apply per person and feature. - AI connection: Claude and other AI assistants connect through MCP, the open standard for AI tools, with exactly the permissions of the person. - Provider: CIRO GmbH, Eching, Germany. Contact: hello@ciro.gmbh, phone +49 89 24 88 31 22.