Even frame

Quite common situations. Who hasn't experienced it as an entrepreneur... You provide goods or services or do certain works for a customer and then send them your invoice. A few days later, you get a phone call from the same customer asking you to credit the invoice and draw up a new one in the name of his company. Or the invoice you sent to your customer is paid, but not by the customer himself.

No dirt in the air? However, it is best to take a number of things into account. Which one then?

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Someone else pays the invoice

This is perfect. In itself, it is no problem that someone other than your actual customer pays your invoices. So just because your customer's father — and not your customer himself — pays the invoice, for example, does not mean that payment would not be valid.

So you should not refund the amount that was deposited into your account and ask that the payment still be made by your actual customer.

Good to know. If the payer subsequently claims that there was an undue payment (and asks for a refund), he will have to prove it. If the amount paid matches the invoice amount and the entries refer to your invoice (invoice number), he may not succeed.

Need an invoice for the payer? No, you do not need to issue a new invoice in the payer's name. Nor do you have to send a credit note to your actual customer. The person who paid your invoice will only have to record in their accounts that they have a claim against your actual customer. So that's not your business. It is a purely internal matter between the ultimate payer of your invoice and your customer.

Want to do it for commercial reasons anyway? It is possible that your (good) customer asks for it. After payment of the invoice by that third party, you can then send that third party an invoice “for paid” and a credit note to your actual customer. However, you'd better be careful with that. Indeed, if you issue an invoice that does not correspond to reality, you risk being guilty of forgery and you even risk being criminally convicted. This could be the case, for example, if you mention products or services on the new invoice other than the ones you actually supplied to your customer.

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Credit note plus new invoice...

Not a problem either? No, not in principle. After all, you simply change the name on the invoice (Mr. X becomes company X, for example) and possibly the address and VAT number. As long as you do not change the content of the invoice, there is nothing wrong.

Let me pay first! Be sure to keep an eye on that, otherwise you run the risk of never seeing your money. Just imagine your customer's company protesting the invoice afterwards. “Our company has never ordered anything from you, sir, this must be a mistake.” Well, there you are. You can no longer contact the individual (private customer) himself either, after all, they have received a credit note. So ask the company to pay your invoice first and wait to deliver a new invoice and credit note until you actually received the payment in your account.

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