Whether you are a small business, a shopkeeper, a craftsman or other … whatever your title or activity, mastering the accounting jargon is not always easy … BUT don’t panic, we have concocted a complete list of terms used in accounting. You will find in this article simplified definitions of terms used in invoicing and accounting.
Invoice quickly and efficiently from now on !
We present you, today, all the key elements that will allow you to invoice your customers more easily in order to support you in the management of your activity.
Credit note: Also known as a cancellation invoice, is a document issued by the seller to cancel an incorrect invoice or to refund a purchase.
Deposit : A deposit is a first payment in the purchase process. Following this, it is impossible to renounce the purchase of a product or service unless a new agreement is reached between the seller and the buyer.
Purchase order: A purchase order is a document that details the elements of an order. It is not necessarily established during a sale, it is, nevertheless, used to secure it.
Once accepted and signed by the customer (with the mention “read and approved” or “good for agreement”), it then becomes a commitment on the part of the buyer and the seller.
Claim – An amount of money that an individual or business must collect from a customer. It is due at a specified time.
Payment deadlines: The invoice payment deadline is established upon negotiation between the buyer and the seller and must appear in the general conditions of sale. .
Quote: A document indicating the price of goods and services that the customer wishes to acquire. It is not mandatory but is highly recommended
Stamp Duty: Stamp duty is the tax assessed on an amount including tax when payments are made in cash. It is a rate to be informed: 1%.
The rate of graduated stamp duty is calculated according to the degressive scale below:
Due date: The date on which the customer must make a payment according to the general terms and conditions of sale.
Outstanding amount: The total amount of credits in progress.
Invoicing: Action consisting of issuing, shipping and recording an invoice. The word “invoice” must appear on these documents.
Recurring invoice: An invoice that repeats over time and allows you to send your customers regular invoices at fixed or predefined amounts.
Unpaid: Payment not made on the due date indicated on the invoice.
False Invoice: An invoice issued without having made any delivery or service, with the purpose of:
– Minimize the bases of taxation for the various taxes and duties;
– conceal operations;
– moving and laundering money;
– embezzle funds from assets and finance illicit or licit operations;
– obtain certain advantages such as the right to deduct VAT, and loans from banking institutions for the purpose of financing investment projects.
Letter of Injunction: It allows the creditor to recover his debts by obtaining an order from the president of the court. It has the merit of being relatively quick and can be used regardless of the amount of the debt to be recovered.
Invoice template: It saves valuable time, while ensuring that the information required for the acceptance of the invoice is present in it.
NIF: Tax identification number, a 15-digit number. It has the particularity of being allocated by the tax administration services.
NIS: Statistical Identification Number, a 15-digit number issued by the National Statistics Center. This number is in principle assigned to all economic and social agents whether they are traders or not.
Invoice number: Invoice numbering is mandatory and regulated by law.
Rebates, reduction, discount : Companies can grant and obtain discounts. There are three types of discounts that a company may be eligible for:
Rebate: an exceptional price reductions , granted to compensate for a defect in a product or service sold.
Discount/ reduction : Price reductions commonly practiced, taking into account the particularities of the transaction and large volume especially.
Discounts: Price reductions calculated on a global amount of transactions carried out with one and the same partner during a given period.
Company name: (or business name) is the name by which a company is referred to. It is part of the elements to be indicated in the trade register and identifies the company as a legal entity.
RC: The RCS is the trade register identification number is assigned by the National Trade Register Center (NRC) to all traders and companies who enroll in this registry.
Reminders: Draw the customer’s attention to his contractual commitments. There are several types of reminders: simple, telephone, registered, pre-litigation or contentious.
Service done: The service done consists of verifying that the services or orders have actually been performed, and executed in accordance with the formulated requirements.
Value Added Tax (VAT): VAT is a general indirect tax included in the selling prices of services and goods.