Questions to Ask Before Choosing an E-Invoicing Tool | Topic: Invoice Types

Not every tool can handle every invoice type: these are the questions you should clarify before switching to a new tool for creating e-invoices.

Being e-invoicing-capable isn’t automatically enough. Many tools can generate a standard invoice in the right format (e.g. ZUGFeRD or XRechnung). But with the first cancellation invoice, partial invoice, or self-billing invoice, it often turns out that these cases aren’t covered. If you’re evaluating a tool for creating e-invoices, you should ask the following questions before making a decision.

What types of e-invoices do you actually need day to day?

Every company doing B2B business needs the standard invoice as an e-invoice. But depending on your business model, additional cases almost always come up, often within just a few months. Before choosing a tool, it’s worth looking at your own practice: which of the following invoice types will you probably need?

So: any company can end up needing a cancellation invoice. Whichever tool you choose, make sure your e-invoicing tool can handle cancellation invoices. Partial invoices, down payment invoices, and self-billing invoices, on the other hand, are dependent on your business model or industry, but if you need them, test them specifically before deciding, rather than relying on a feature list.

Finblick, our accounting app for Salesforce, covers all four cases directly in Salesforce. Learn more about Finblick’s e-invoicing feature →

Does e-invoicing run natively in your existing system, or do you need exports?

Many solutions only generate e-invoices after an export to an external system. That means additional system breaks, more room for error, and often manual extra steps, especially for special cases like cancellations.

For companies already using Salesforce, the advantage of Finblick is that it creates e-invoices entirely within the Salesforce org, including the cancellation invoice, which is then automatically linked to the original invoice.

How important is a DATEV export to you when choosing a tool?

If your accounting is subsequently processed in DATEV, it’s worth asking whether invoice data is handed over cleanly and without manual rework, including all special cases like cancellations and self-billing invoices. A tool that creates e-invoices but doesn’t offer a structured DATEV export just shifts the effort from invoicing to accounting.

Finblick offers a direct DATEV integration for this.

Is ZUGFeRD or XRechnung enough, and what should you watch for with the standard?

Both formats meet the legal requirements because they comply with the European standard for electronic invoices (EN 16931).* What matters isn’t just whether a tool offers e-invoices in these formats, but also whether it a) also supports other invoice types and b) regularly updates the formats to current versions. Both standards keep evolving.

For more on the differences between the two formats and when to use which, see our blog post on e-invoicing with Salesforce →.

* As explained in the linked post, for ZUGFeRD this technically only applies from version 2.0.1 onward.

Conclusion

The decisive question when choosing a tool is rarely whether a provider can create e-invoices at all, but whether the tool can handle all the invoice types that actually come up in everyday business. Testing that before you decide, rather than relying on a feature list, saves you unpleasant surprises later.

Already a Salesforce user? Get your personal look at Finblick and get in touch with any questions about e-invoicing from Salesforce! 📆 (Click the link to book an appointment directly!)

Marco Zander

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