Invoice, credit note or quote: which document to issue in Belgium

In short: price with a quote, ask for a deposit with a payment request, invoice once you deliver or are paid, and correct with a credit note. Only the invoice and the credit note are VAT documents, so only they go on Peppol, and the invoice must be issued by the 15th of the month after the month in which VAT becomes chargeable.

This reference is for Belgian VAT-registered freelancers and SMEs who invoice from OrdoGrid, and for their accountants. It explains what each document means in law, which channel it needs since 1 January 2026, and how OrdoGrid links them. Step-by-step corrections are in Correct, cancel or credit an issued invoice, the quote lifecycle in Quote to invoice workflow, and deposits in Advance invoices.

Which document for which moment

What each document is under Belgian law

Quote: an offer with no VAT effect

A quote (devis / offerte) sets out the scope, the price and how long the offer stands. Accepting it does not make VAT chargeable; delivering or being paid does. The VAT shown on a quote is information for the customer, not tax you owe.

• A paid quote creates an invoice obligation. If the customer pays all or part of the price against the quote, VAT becomes chargeable on the amount collected and you must issue an invoice by the 15th of the following month. The quote never replaces it.
• Not on Peppol. The Belgian obligation covers invoices and the documents that modify them, not offers. OrdoGrid emails quotes with a link where the customer uploads the signed quote (PDF, PNG or JPG), which marks it Accepté. That is a file upload, not an electronic signature, and the customer cannot decline online.

Payment request or pro forma: asking for money first

A payment request, often called a pro forma, asks for money before the supply. It is allowed, but it is not your invoice: the payment itself triggers the VAT and the invoice deadline.

• Once paid, the invoice for that advance is due by the 15th of the following month (Royal Decree no. 1, art. 4). It shows the payment date when that differs from the issue date (art. 5 §1 5°) and, since 1 January 2026, falls under the structured e-invoice obligation in the same cases as any other invoice (art. 53 §2bis of the VAT Code).
• The final invoice refers to the advance invoice and does not charge its VAT a second time (art. 5 §1 11°).

In OrdoGrid, a payment request (DP- series) needs your IBAN in Profil entreprise, carries a SEPA QR code and can carry a Stripe payment link; it is never sent on Peppol. We recommend sending the request first and invoicing once paid, dating the invoice the day you issue it, so the invoice stays close to the date VAT became chargeable. OrdoGrid prints Notes on the PDF and sends them in the Peppol XML as the document note (BT-22), so write legal mentions such as the payment date in Notes.

Invoice: the VAT document

Chargeable event

The event that triggers VAT (fait générateur / belastbaar feit): delivery of the goods or completion of the service. VAT becomes chargeable (exigible / opeisbaar) at that moment, or earlier on any amount collected in advance, and the invoice must be issued by the 15th of the month after the month in which VAT became chargeable.

• When it is required. Every supply to a business or other taxable person, or to a non-taxable legal person such as a public body, must be invoiced, except supplies exempt under art. 44 of the VAT Code and certain financial and insurance supplies (art. 53 §2). For private individuals, only the operations listed in Royal Decree no. 1, art. 1 need one, such as new buildings, immovable works and vehicles.
• When to issue it. For domestic supplies, issuing an invoice has not made VAT chargeable since 1 January 2013 (see the amendments in Chamber document 53 2450/002): VAT follows the supply or an earlier payment, and the invoice must be issued by the 15th of the following month. For exempt intra-EU supplies of goods, VAT still becomes chargeable when the invoice is issued, at the latest on the 15th of the following month (art. 17 §2 VAT Code). For services billed per period, the deadline is the 15th of the month after the period (RD no. 1, art. 4).
• What it contains. The mentions of RD no. 1, art. 5, including the unit price excluding VAT and the customer's VAT number: see Belgian invoice legal mentions.
• How it travels. Since 1 January 2026, a business established in Belgium invoices a customer with a Belgian VAT number through a structured e-invoice, by default Peppol BIS over the Peppol network. A PDF copy is optional, and the customer cannot reject an invoice because no PDF is attached (FPS Finance FAQ, Q11 and Q12). See Belgian e-invoicing obligation 2026.

Credit note: the rectifying document for an issued invoice

A credit note (note de crédit / creditnota) is the rectifying document of Royal Decree no. 1, art. 12: it must refer to the invoice it corrects. It may be a simplified invoice with a specific, unambiguous reference to the original and the mentions that change (art. 13), except for intra-EU supplies and acquisitions, distance sales and reverse-charge operations, which need a full rectifying document. It goes in the same outgoing-invoice book as your invoices (art. 14 §2).

• Same format as the original. A document that modifies a structured e-invoice is itself a structured e-invoice in the same format (art. 53 §2bis), so a Peppol invoice is corrected on Peppol (FPS Finance FAQ, Q5). A 2026 credit note for a 2025 PDF invoice has no format requirement: a PDF is fine if the customer accepts it (Q23).
• VAT refund mention. When the credit note gives you back VAT you charged, Royal Decree no. 4, art. 4 §1, requires the customer's copy to bear "T.V.A. à reverser à l'Etat dans la mesure où elle a été initialement déduite" in the situations of art. 79 of the VAT Code. Confirm the cases with your accountant. OrdoGrid adds it automatically, in the document language, to a credit note that refunds Belgian VAT to a customer with a VAT number: it prints on the PDF and travels in the Peppol XML. Check it in Aperçu du PDF (PDF preview).
• Full or partial. Credit only what is removed when the amount goes down; when the VAT rate, regime or customer is wrong, we recommend crediting in full and issuing a new invoice. If the credit exceeds what the customer still owes, the invoice's Settlement panel shows Refund due.

In OrdoGrid's screens a credit note always starts from an existing invoice (the public API also accepts an external invoice number); it cannot exceed what remains creditable on the invoice, and once saved its amounts are fixed and it cannot be deleted. A fully credited invoice shows Annulée.

Receipts in OrdoGrid

Reçus records a payment already received (date, method, reference). A receipt is created as Payé, numbered R-, and never sent on Peppol. It does not replace the invoice owed to a business: even when a cash-register receipt is given to a taxable customer or a non-taxable legal person, an invoice must still be issued (FPS Finance FAQ, Q16). Facturer turns one receipt into an invoice. To group several, select them and use Facture: receipts of customers without a VAT number become one invoice on the "Divers" client, while VAT-registered customers each need their own.

Format and channel since 1 January 2026

OrdoGrid offers Peppol only for invoices and credit notes, only when your company has a Belgian VAT number, and sends only to a customer whose VAT number it finds on the network at the time of sending. Belgian Peppol service providers recommended on 8 September 2026 not to email a second copy to a customer that receives on Peppol, as it can be booked twice. If the customer is not found, see Send an invoice to a client not on Peppol.

Numbering: the law and OrdoGrid's defaults

Royal Decree no. 1 requires each invoice and credit note to carry a sequential number, "based on one or several series", that identifies it uniquely (art. 5 §1 1°). Credit notes are entered in the same outgoing-invoice book as invoices (art. 14 §2), but nothing requires them to share the invoice series or to leave it: a separate credit-note series is a lawful choice. Quotes and payment requests have no VAT numbering rule.

OrdoGrid keeps a separate series per type: F-2026-0031 for invoices, NC-2026-0005 for credit notes, D-2026-0014 for quotes, DP-2026-0006 for payment requests and R-2026-0102 for receipts. It proposes the next number, commits it at the first save (including a draft) and refuses a duplicate, but it does not enforce a gap-free series: that stays your responsibility. An owner or administrator changes formats under Profil entreprise → Formats de numérotation after clicking Modifier; the DP- format of payment requests cannot be changed there. See Invoice numbering in Belgium.

Link the documents in OrdoGrid

From quote to invoice

1. In Quotes (page Devis), click Nouveau devis (New quote), add the lines and check the validity date (Validité, 30 days by default). A sent quote becomes Expiré (Expired) automatically after that date.
2. Click Envoyer: quotes go by Email only, with the response link. If the customer accepts by email or on paper instead, set Accepté (Accepted) with Statut and keep the evidence; if they decline, set Refusé (Declined).
3. When it is time to invoice, the row button Facturer (to invoice) opens a new invoice with the import window (Articles à importer): tick the quote's lines, click Importer n article(s) and adjust them for the advance or partial invoice. The quote is linked under Devis lié (Linked quote). Later partial invoices start from the + icon, Créer une facture partielle (Create a partial invoice), in the same row. Use Convertir en facture (Convert to invoice) only when nothing has been invoiced from the quote yet: tick one Accepté quote and click the button, and OrdoGrid creates a draft invoice for the whole quote, dated today; the quote becomes Converti (Converted). It does not deduct advance or partial invoices already issued.
4. If the customer requires a purchase order, Bon de commande requis (Purchase order required) asks for it first.
5. Check the invoice, click Envoyer, keep Envoi électronique via Peppol (Electronic sending via Peppol) ticked for an in-scope customer, untick Email unless the customer asked for a copy, then click Sauvegarder & Envoyer (Save & Send).

From payment request or invoice to the next document

• Payment request. In Payments → Requests (page Demandes de paiement), click Nouvelle demande (New request) and email it. When the money arrives, click Facture (invoice) in its row: OrdoGrid immediately creates a draft invoice with the next number, copying the request's lines, notes, issue date and due date. Open it, change the date to the day you issue the invoice, write the payment date in Notes, record the payment with Record payment, and send it.
• Credit note. In Invoices (page Factures), tick one invoice and click Note de crédit (Credit note), or use Credit Notes → Nouvelle note de crédit → Sélectionner une facture. Keep or reduce the prefilled lines, add the reason in Notes (OrdoGrid adds any VAT refund mention itself), save and send it the way the original went. The full procedure, with refunds, is in Correct, cancel or credit an issued invoice.

Worked example: from quote to credit note

Pixelwerk SRL, a web studio in Namur, redesigns the website of Brouwerij Van Damme BV, a brewery in Ghent. Both are Belgian VAT-registered and Van Damme receives on Peppol under its enterprise number. Pixelwerk's documents are in French. The quote asks for 30% on acceptance and the balance on delivery.

The quote never enters the VAT figures. The credit note itself shows positive amounts; the minus sign shows its effect.

1. 2 March. Pixelwerk emails quote D-2026-0014: one line, "Refonte du site web", €8,000.00 at 21%. Nothing is supplied or paid, so no VAT is due.
2. 9 March. Van Damme uploads the signed quote, which shows Accepté. Still no invoice is due.
3. 16 March. Van Damme transfers €2,904.00, 30% of €9,680.00. VAT on €2,400.00 becomes chargeable in March: the invoice is due by 15 April.
4. 18 March. Pixelwerk clicks Facturer on the quote, imports its line, renames it "Acompte 30 % – refonte du site web (devis D-2026-0014)", writes "Paiement reçu le 16/03/2026" in Notes and sets €2,400.00. Before the first save, it ticks I confirm the full invoice amount has already been received (bank transfer, 16/03/2026), so the invoice shows Montant à payer €0.00 and Peppol carries the €2,904.00 as already paid. It then sends F-2026-0031 on Peppol.
5. 30 April. The site goes live: VAT on the balance becomes chargeable, and the final invoice is due by 15 May.
6. 4 May. With Créer une facture partielle, Pixelwerk creates F-2026-0047 for €5,600.00 net with the line "Refonte du site web – solde du devis D-2026-0014" and, in Notes, "Acompte facturé : F-2026-0031 du 18/03/2026, 2 400,00 € + TVA 504,00 €", so the €504.00 already invoiced is not charged again. As the site went live before the invoice date, Pixelwerk enters 30 April 2026 in Date de livraison / prestation (delivery / service date). Sent on Peppol.
7. 12 May. Both parties agree to drop the online booking module, worth €500.00 net. From F-2026-0047, Pixelwerk creates credit note NC-2026-0005 for €500.00 + €105.00 VAT. Its line reads "Réduction – module de réservation en ligne", and the reason goes in Notes. OrdoGrid adds "T.V.A. à reverser à l'Etat dans la mesure où elle a été initialement déduite" itself, because the credit note refunds Belgian VAT to a customer with a VAT number. The original went on Peppol, so the credit note does too.
8. Payment. Settlement on F-2026-0047 shows Credits €605.00 and Outstanding €6,171.00. Van Damme pays it: €2,904.00 + €6,171.00 = €9,075.00, the total invoiced.

Edge cases and common mistakes

Evidence to keep

• Invoices and credit notes, as PDF and, for Peppol, the XML from Peppol → Outbox: 7 years from 1 January of the year after issue (VAT Code art. 60, as amended by the Law of 18 December 2025), longer for documents tied to the revision of VAT deductions on immovable property. Keeping the original XML is strongly recommended.
• The quote and its acceptance (uploaded signed quote or the customer's email): not VAT documents, but proof of the agreed price and of the advance terms.
• The bank statement line for each advance, which shows when VAT on the advance became chargeable.
• The reason for each credit note: the customer's email, a Peppol response or your written agreement.

For your accountant, select rows in Factures or Notes de Crédit and click Download (tooltip: Download as ZIP); on the Peppol page, a selection downloads as a ZIP with xml/ and pdf/ folders. OrdoGrid is not a legal archiving service and gives no retention guarantee: see Invoice archiving in Belgium.

FAQ

Does a quote have any VAT effect?

No. VAT becomes chargeable when you deliver or complete the work, or when you collect a payment in advance. If the customer pays against the quote, VAT is chargeable on that payment and you must invoice it by the 15th of the following month.

Can a quote or a pro forma be sent on Peppol?

No. The Belgian 2026 obligation covers invoices and the credit or debit notes that modify them. OrdoGrid sends quotes and payment requests by email; the Peppol option appears only for invoices and credit notes.

Is a pro forma invoice a real invoice?

No. A pro forma or payment request only asks for payment; it does not replace the invoice. Once it is paid, issue the invoice for that amount by the 15th of the following month; in OrdoGrid, click Facture on the payment request.

When exactly must I issue the invoice?

By the 15th day of the month after the month in which VAT became chargeable: on delivery of the goods, on completion of the service or, earlier, when an advance is collected. For services billed per period, by the 15th of the month after the period ends.

Do credit notes need their own number series?

No. The law allows one or several series and enters credit notes in the same outgoing-invoice book as invoices. OrdoGrid uses a separate NC- series by default, which an owner or administrator can change under Profil entreprise → Formats de numérotation.

Must every credit note go on Peppol in 2026?

Only when it corrects an invoice sent as a structured e-invoice. A credit note for a 2025 PDF invoice has no format requirement and can be a PDF if the customer accepts it.

Can I send a negative invoice instead of a credit note?

Peppol BIS Billing accepts a negative invoice as an alternative to a credit note, and receiving systems must handle both (BIS Billing 3.0, section 5.6). OrdoGrid issues corrections as credit notes, sent on Peppol as a UBL CreditNote carrying the original invoice number.