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Introduction

The objective of this guide is to walk you through the process of generating a simple PDF invoice you can send to your customers. This is valid for tax regimes that don’t require any electronic reporting or invoicing, and serves as a useful example from which to create your own workflows. Once completed, the workflow will work with any GOBL invoice produced for any country in the world.

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Prerequisites

You’ll need the following data to issue basic PDF invoices:
  • Supplier details: fiscal details of the issuer.
  • Customer details: fiscal details of who is receiving for B2B invoices.
  • Items: list of products or services being sold, including quantities and prices.
  • Taxes & Rates: knowing how these apply to each item.
  • Series: a series is a counter with number formatting details to be able to generate a code.

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Setup

Issuing PDF invoices with Invopop requires very little preparation. We assume that you already have access to the Invopop Console and know how to create a workflow.

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Running

Use the following example GOBL Invoices inside the Invopop Console or via the API to create new silo entries. Once a silo entry has been stored, you can create a new job to run the “PDF Invoice” workflow you just created.
The following example demonstrates a simple invoice for a VAT registered supplier in the United Kingdom.
{
  "$schema": "https://gobl.org/draft-0/bill/invoice",
  "currency": "GBP",
  "series": "TEST",
  "supplier": {
    "tax_id": {
      "country": "GB",
      "code": "844281425"
    },
    "name": "BrightTech Solutions Ltd.",
    "emails": [
      {
        "addr": "billing@brighttech.co.uk"
      }
    ],
    "addresses": [
      {
        "num": "123",
        "street": "Innovation Park",
        "locality": "Cambridge",
        "code": "CB1 2AB",
        "country": "GB"
      }
    ]
  },
  "customer": {
    "tax_id": {
      "country": "GB",
      "code": "350983637"
    },
    "name": "GreenWave Energy Ltd.",
    "emails": [
      {
        "addr": "info@greenwave.co.uk"
      }
    ],
    "addresses": [
      {
        "num": "45",
        "street": "Riverside Business Park",
        "locality": "London",
        "code": "SW1A 1AA",
        "country": "GB"
      }
    ]
  },
  "lines": [
    {
      "quantity": 50,
      "item": {
        "name": "Thermal efficient mugs",
        "price": "16.00"
      },
      "taxes": [
        {
          "cat": "VAT",
          "rate": "standard"
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}
The following example demonstrates a simple invoice for a VAT registered supplier in the United States.
{
  "$schema": "https://gobl.org/draft-0/bill/invoice",
  "series": "SAMPLE",
  "currency": "USD",
  "tax": {
    "prices_include": "ST"
  },
  "supplier": {
    "name": "Provide One Inc.",
    "tax_id": {
      "country": "US"
    },
    "addresses": [
      {
        "num": "16",
        "street": "Jessie Street",
        "locality": "San Francisco",
        "region": "CA",
        "code": "94105",
        "country": "US"
      }
    ],
    "emails": [
      {
        "addr": "billing@provideone.com"
      }
    ]
  },
  "customer": {
    "name": "Sample Consumer",
    "emails": [
      {
        "addr": "email@sample.com"
      }
    ]
  },
  "lines": [
    {
      "i": 1,
      "quantity": "20",
      "item": {
        "name": "Development services",
        "price": "90.00",
        "unit": "h"
      },
      "discounts": [
        {
          "percent": "10%",
          "reason": "Special discount"
        }
      ],
      "taxes": [
        {
          "cat": "ST",
          "percent": "8.5%"
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}

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FAQ

Generate PDF configuration
You can view all available customizations for the PDF in the configuration of the Generate PDF step.To add a logo to the invoice, you can either upload it directly in the Generate PDF step or include a URL for the logo in the invoice payload by adding the “logos” field to the supplier.