Format a professional invoice as PDF

Required elements on an invoice

In most countries an invoice is legally required for VAT-registered businesses. Required elements: invoice number (unique, sequential), invoice and delivery date, your company name and address, company registration number, VAT number, recipient name and address, description of service/product, VAT percentage and amount, total amount (including and excluding VAT), and payment term/IBAN.

Page numbers and document identification

An invoice is always one page, but with a specification attachment an invoice number in the header is essential. Use the Header/Footer tool to repeat the invoice number on every page. This unambiguously links every attachment page to the invoice.

Signature on the invoice

A digital signature increases professional appearance and provides more legal certainty. Add your signature as a transparent PNG via the Sign tool. For business invoices over €10,000 or for international transactions consider an electronic signature with certificate (QES).

Metadata for archiving

When creating an invoice PDF set the metadata correctly: title = "Invoice [number]", author = your company name, description = client name and project description. This makes invoices findable via Windows Search or macOS Spotlight without opening them.

Archiving and retention obligations

Invoices must be retained for 7 years in most EU countries (fiscal retention obligation). Save each invoice with file name in format "YYYY-MM-DD_Invoice-[number]_[Client].pdf" in a structured folder per year. Make monthly backups of your invoice archive to an external drive or cloud storage.

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