Advance invoices in Belgium: deposits, VAT timing and final invoice

When a customer pays a deposit before you deliver and no earlier invoice has already made VAT due, Belgian VAT becomes chargeable on the amount received, when you receive it. You then issue an advance invoice for that amount by the 15th of the following month. Since 1 January 2026, if you are established in Belgium and the customer is a VAT-registered business also established in Belgium, that invoice is a structured e-invoice, normally sent over Peppol. The final invoice names the advance invoice and charges VAT only on what has not been invoiced yet.

This guide is for Belgian VAT-registered businesses that ask for deposits: the rules, the content of the advance invoice, the final settlement and the steps in OrdoGrid. Milestone billing is covered in Quote to invoice, and fixing a sent invoice in Correct, cancel or credit an issued invoice.

When a deposit makes VAT due and must be invoiced

Advance invoice

An invoice for money requested or received before the goods are delivered or the service is completed (facture d'acompte, voorschotfactuur). It is a full VAT invoice in your normal invoice series, not a quote, pro forma or payment request.

What the law requires

• Deadline. The invoice is issued at the latest on the 15th day of the month after the month in which VAT became chargeable on all or part of the price (Royal Decree no. 1, art. 4 §1). Deposit received on 10 March: invoice by 15 April.
• Payment date. The invoice states the date the money was collected when it differs from the invoice date (art. 5 §1 5°).
• Earlier invoices. Each invoice for the same transaction refers to the earlier ones and must not charge VAT that has already been invoiced (art. 5 §1 11°).
• Same VAT treatment as the supply. The deposit takes the rate, reverse charge, exemption or franchise of the supply it pays for, under the rules in force when VAT becomes chargeable. There is no separate "deposit rate". Exception: a deposit on an exempt intra-EU supply of goods does not make the invoice due early; that invoice is due by the 15th of the month after the supply (Royal Decree no. 1, art. 4 §2).
• Format. Art. 53 §2bis of the VAT Code names advance payments explicitly: from a Belgian-established business to a taxable customer established in Belgium that gives its Belgian VAT number (or a VAT unit), the advance invoice is a structured e-invoice, by default Peppol BIS. If the customer technically cannot receive one, you still issue it in another form, such as a PDF.
• Exempt supplies. Supplies exempt under art. 44 of the VAT Code fall outside the invoicing and e-invoicing obligations.

What we recommend

• Write the deposit amount or percentage and the billing schedule in the quote or contract.
• Request the deposit with a payment request and invoice it once paid. The invoice then matches the amount actually received, and its date sits close to the date VAT became chargeable.

What the advance invoice must show

An advance invoice carries every mention of a full invoice; see Mandatory mentions on Belgian invoices: the 2026 checklist. These are the ones most often wrong:

Settling the advance on the final invoice

The final invoice must name the advance invoice and must not charge its VAT again. Two presentations are correct; OrdoGrid supports one.

On Peppol

• Type code. OrdoGrid sends an advance invoice as an ordinary invoice (380). Peppol BIS also allows 386 (prepayment invoice; PEPPOL-EN16931-P0100), but Belgium has no national Peppol rules requiring it, and a receiver without a separate process may handle any allowed invoice type as 380 (Peppol BIS Billing 3.0, section 12).
• Payment date and references. The standard has fields for the date VAT became chargeable when it differs from the issue date (BT-72, or the line period BT-134/BT-135; FPS FAQ Q17). OrdoGrid uses BT-72 only for the date of supply, entered in Delivery / service date (Date de livraison / prestation on French documents), never for a payment date. It fills no line period and has no field for the advance invoice number on the final invoice, so write the payment date and that number in Notes: they travel in the structured data as the document note (BT-22) and are printed on the PDF.
• Corrections. A credit note correcting a structured advance invoice uses the same format, so it also goes over Peppol (FAQ Q5).

Step by step in OrdoGrid

OrdoGrid has no separate advance-invoice type: an advance invoice is an ordinary invoice in the F- series. Creating documents and recording payments needs the owner or administrator role.

1. Request the deposit

1. Open Invoicing → Payments → Requests (page Demandes de paiement) and click Nouvelle demande (New request).
2. Select the client and add one line, for example "Acompte 30 % – boutique en ligne – devis D-2026-0031": quantity 1, the deposit excluding VAT in Prix Unitaire, the rate of the work in TVA.
3. Choose QR Code SEPA (uses the IBAN in Profil entreprise) or Lien de paiement (requires Business and your own Stripe account).
4. With Starter or Business, click Envoyer and send it by Email. A payment request is not an invoice and cannot go over Peppol.

2. When the money arrives, create the advance invoice

1. Check the date and amount on your bank statement and note the deadline: the 15th of next month.
2. In Demandes de paiement, click Facture in the request's row (not Reçu: a receipt is not a Peppol document). If the client requires a purchase order, Bon de commande requis asks for it. OrdoGrid creates a draft invoice with the request's client, lines, notes and dates.
3. Open the draft and check:
   • Date: the draft keeps the request's date; set it to the day you issue the invoice.
   • Notes: add "paiement reçu le …" with the date. On the line, make the amount match what you actually received.
   • TVA and Options de TVA: the same treatment as the work.
   • Documents et Références → Devis lié → Lier un devis (Link a quote), so the quote tracks what remains to invoice.
4. Click Enregistrer (Save). The draft and its number already exist from the moment you clicked Facture.

3. Send it and record the payment

1. Click Envoyer, keep Envoi électronique via Peppol ticked, then Sauvegarder & Envoyer (Save & Send). If you see Peppol — ignoré, follow Customer not on Peppol: how to send a valid invoice.
2. In Peppol → Outbox, Traité means delivered over the network, not accepted or paid.
3. In the invoice's Settlement panel, click Record payment: Amount, Method, Occurrence time (UTC), Reference, then tick I confirm this money has already been received or refunded. The invoice shows Payée.

Once an invoice is sent over Peppol or has a recorded payment, its amounts are locked; changes go through a credit note.

4. Invoice the balance

1. When the work is completed, invoice the rest by the 15th of the following month.
2. In the Devis list, click + (Créer une facture partielle) next to the advance invoice number in the quote's Facture column.
3. In Articles à importer, tick the lines, click Importer n article(s) and change them to the balance, and name the advance invoice in Notes. If the work was completed before the invoice date, enter that date in Delivery / service date.
4. After you save the invoice, Devis lié shows (entièrement facturé) (fully invoiced) next to the quote. The remaining amount includes VAT, counts every saved linked invoice, drafts included, and ignores credit notes.
5. Send it as in step 3 and record the final payment on this invoice.

Never use Convertir en facture on a quote that already has an advance invoice: it bills the whole quote again.

Worked example: a €10,000 web shop with a 30% deposit

Studio Meuse SRL, a web agency in Namur, builds an online shop for Brasserie Lambrecht SA in Wavre. Both are Belgian VAT-registered, Brasserie Lambrecht receives on Peppol, and the work is taxed at 21%.

The two lines and Notes, in the document language (French):

€630.00 plus €1,470.00 is the €2,100.00 of VAT on the whole job: nothing is charged twice.

Billed by milestones instead (30/40/30), the same project gives the €3,630.00 advance invoice, a stage invoice of €4,000.00 + €840.00 when the test version is approved, and a final invoice of €3,000.00 + €630.00 that names both earlier invoices. The full walkthrough is in Quote to invoice.

Variant: construction works under reverse charge

Rénovations Hainaut SRL in Mons renovates offices for Immo Delvaux SA, which files periodic VAT returns, so the art. 20 reverse charge applies. Contract €40,000.00 excluding VAT, 10% deposit; €4,000.00 arrives on 3 September 2026, without VAT.

• Advance invoice F-2026-0101 on 7 September: €4,000.00, no VAT charged. Choose Régime cocontractant in Options de TVA: OrdoGrid sets the lines to 0%, shows VAT €0.00 and sends category AE on Peppol.
• On French and Dutch documents, OrdoGrid prints the full art. 20 §3 mention itself and sends it on Peppol as the exemption reason (BT-120) and in the document note (BT-22); see Reverse charge in construction. English and German documents carry a translation, so use French or Dutch documents for these invoices.
• Immo Delvaux declares the VAT in its return for the period that includes September, when it became chargeable. The final invoice bills €36,000.00 under the same regime and names F-2026-0101.

Variant: the project is cancelled after the deposit

On 2 April Brasserie Lambrecht cancels and the parties agree to a full refund.

1. In Factures, select F-2026-0042 and click Note de crédit. Credit note NC-2026-0009 is prefilled and linked: €3,000.00 + €630.00 = €3,630.00.
2. Send it over Peppol. F-2026-0042 displays Annulée and its Settlement panel shows Refund due €3,630.00.
3. After the transfer on 7 April, click Record refund on F-2026-0042.
4. You recover the €630.00 in the VAT return for the period of the cancellation. OrdoGrid adds the restitution mention itself, because the credit note refunds Belgian VAT to a customer with a VAT number; ask your accountant whether the law requires it here (see the correction guide).

Edge cases and common mistakes

Evidence to keep

• The quote or contract with the deposit terms, the acceptance and the payment request.
• The bank statement line for each deposit: it shows when VAT became chargeable.
• Every advance invoice, final invoice and credit note, as PDF and, for Peppol, the XML from Peppol → Outbox. Original document in the Settlement panel opens the PDF as issued.
• Proof of any refund.
• Keep invoices 7 years from 1 January of the year after issue (art. 60 of the VAT Code, as amended by the Law of 18 December 2025). OrdoGrid archives what it sends on Peppol but is not a legal archiving service, so keep your own copies.

FAQ

Do I have to issue an invoice when I receive a deposit?

Yes, for a business customer: VAT becomes chargeable on the amount received, and the advance invoice is due by the 15th of the following month. For a private customer, only the operations listed in Royal Decree no. 1, art. 1, such as work on immovable property, require one.

Can I send the advance invoice before the customer pays?

Yes. An earlier mandatory domestic B2B invoice can make VAT due before payment (VAT Code, arts. 17 and 22bis). Confirm the declaration period and any special rules with your accountant.

Does an advance invoice include VAT?

It follows the supply the deposit pays for: 21% if the work is at 21%, no VAT with the prescribed mention under reverse charge, exemption or franchise. The rate is the one in force when VAT becomes chargeable, including on an earlier mandatory invoice where applicable.

Must an advance invoice go over Peppol?

It must be a structured e-invoice when you and the customer are both established in Belgium and the customer gives its Belgian VAT number: the law names advance payments explicitly. Peppol BIS over Peppol is the default; another format needs the customer's agreement, and if the customer technically cannot receive one, you still issue the invoice in another form, such as a PDF. The payment request before it is not an invoice and goes by email.

How do I deduct the deposit from the final invoice in OrdoGrid?

Bill only the balance and name the advance invoice, its date and amounts in Notes. OrdoGrid refuses negative lines, and Acomptes must not be used because it lowers the amount due, not the VAT.

Is a payment request or a pro forma enough?

No. Neither is an invoice, so neither lets the customer deduct VAT. If the customer pays against one, you still issue the advance invoice by the 15th of the following month.

What if the project is cancelled after the deposit?

Credit the advance invoice with a credit note, over Peppol if the invoice went there, refund the money and record it with Record refund. Ask your accountant whether the restitution mention is needed.