FAQ
Which format should I send?
Section titled “Which format should I send?”It depends on your buyer. German public sector buyers (Leitweg-ID) expect XRechnung, usually through their portal or Peppol. Businesses in Belgium and many other countries receive Peppol BIS 3.0 through their access point. In France and Germany, Factur-X / ZUGFeRD is widely accepted because it is a readable PDF and an e-invoice at the same time. The add-on gives you all four from the same document; your tax advisor can tell you what applies to you.
Is a Factur-X PDF a valid e-invoice?
Section titled “Is a Factur-X PDF a valid e-invoice?”Factur-X (called ZUGFeRD 2 in Germany) is a PDF/A-3 file with the structured invoice data (factur-x.xml, EN 16931 profile) inside. Software reads the XML, people read the PDF. Our test suite checks the PDF part with veraPDF and the XML with the official rules.
Does the add-on send e-invoices through Peppol?
Section titled “Does the add-on send e-invoices through Peppol?”Not on its own: sending needs an account with a Peppol access point, and providers differ by country and price. You can download the Peppol UBL file and upload it to your provider, or install a driver for your provider (see Developer notes) and send with one click or automatically.
What does the validation log check?
Section titled “What does the validation log check?”The rules your store data can break: seller and buyer IDs and addresses, electronic addresses, VAT categories and their required IDs, payment details (IBAN for credit transfer), totals, and the extra rules of XRechnung (contact phone and e-mail, buyer reference) and Peppol (electronic addresses, Belgian enterprise number and GLN check digits). The file structure is generated to the specifications and tested with the official validators.
A Peppol card says “Needs attention” for a consumer order. Is that a problem?
Section titled “A Peppol card says “Needs attention” for a consumer order. Is that a problem?”No. Consumers have no Peppol address, so a Peppol file cannot be sent to them. Use Factur-X or XRechnung for such orders; the Peppol card matters only for business buyers that receive through Peppol.
The buyer reference is the order number. Is that right?
Section titled “The buyer reference is the order number. Is that right?”XRechnung and Peppol require a buyer reference. Public buyers in Germany must give their Leitweg-ID, which they enter in the Buyer reference / Leitweg-ID field at checkout. For other buyers the add-on uses the order number (setting Buyer reference when the buyer gave none).
Prices in my store include VAT. Are the amounts right?
Section titled “Prices in my store include VAT. Are the amounts right?”Yes. e-Invoices use net amounts per line; the add-on removes the tax of each line (the stored tax, or by the rate), splits order discounts over the VAT rates, adds shipping and the payment surcharge with their own tax, and recalculates the VAT per rate. If CS-Cart rounded the order total differently, the difference is written as rounding so the amount due matches what the customer paid.
How are reverse charge and exports handled?
Section titled “How are reverse charge and exports handled?”When a buyer with a VAT ID from another EU country orders without tax being charged, the lines get the category Intra-community supply (K, goods) or Reverse charge (AE, services; setting). With EU VAT Number Validation, its decision for the order is used. Sales without tax to buyers outside the EU are exports (G). The required exemption reasons and codes are added automatically.
Can I change an e-invoice after it was created?
Section titled “Can I change an e-invoice after it was created?”Fix the data and use Rebuild from order on the document page; the number and date stay the same. Once your buyer has received the document, correct it with a credit note and a new invoice instead.
Does it work with Invoices & Credit Notes?
Section titled “Does it work with Invoices & Credit Notes?”Yes, and they are made for each other: the e-invoice uses the same number and date as the PDF invoice, and every credit note there (full, partial, return, wallet refund) becomes an e-credit note with the credited lines. Without it, this add-on numbers its own e-invoices and creates full credit notes on cancellation.
Does it work with EU VAT Number Validation and Sell by Weight & Length?
Section titled “Does it work with EU VAT Number Validation and Sell by Weight & Length?”Yes. Checked VAT IDs and the reverse-charge decision come from EU VAT Number Validation; measured quantities and units (kg, m, l …) from Sell by Weight & Length.
Does it work with the full page cache of CS-Cart 4.21?
Section titled “Does it work with the full page cache of CS-Cart 4.21?”Yes. The add-on adds nothing to cached pages; customer download links are on the account order page only.
Does it slow down checkout?
Section titled “Does it slow down checkout?”No. The e-invoice is created when the order reaches the configured status, in a few milliseconds; files are generated only when someone downloads them or an e-mail attachment is due.
What happens if the license lapses?
Section titled “What happens if the license lapses?”Without a valid license (no key after the 14-day start period, an invalid or revoked key, a domain the license does not cover, or no successful check for 14 days), no new e-invoices or e-credit notes are created, nothing is attached to e-mails and nothing is sent over Peppol; e-invoices created so far stay downloadable for you, your vendors and your customers. Once the license is valid again, everything works again.
The admin panel shows a license notice.
Section titled “The admin panel shows a license notice.”Open Add-ons → Manage add-ons → EU e-Invoicing → Settings → License. The status line says what is wrong: no key, a key for another add-on, a revoked license, or a domain that the license does not cover. Fix it and click Check now. See License.
Does the add-on work on my staging copy?
Section titled “Does the add-on work on my staging copy?”Yes. Subdomains of your licensed domain (for example staging.yourstore.com) and local development hosts (localhost, private IP addresses, *.local, *.test) are covered by the same license.
Does the license check slow down my storefront or checkout?
Section titled “Does the license check slow down my storefront or checkout?”No. The check runs in the admin panel or from cron, once a day. The storefront never runs it.
Still stuck?
Section titled “Still stuck?”Work through the troubleshooting guide, then contact support with your CS-Cart version, edition, PHP version and the add-on version (1.0.0).