Invoicing – How It Works in Vendion

When your restaurant serves business customers, conference groups or regulars with credit terms, you don't have to demand payment at the table. Instead, Vendion creates an invoice base that can be sent to your accounting software, paid later, and reconciled against accounts receivable – just like any B2B company.

When is invoicing used?

Invoicing is used when at least one of the following applies:

• Customer is a company (registered org number)
• Customer has credit terms (e.g. "Net 30 days")
• Large group wants one consolidated invoice (conference, banquet, Christmas dinner)
• Internal transactions (e.g. the hotel restaurant invoicing the hotel reception for a breakfast guest's room)

Cash customers, tourists and normal à la carte guests should always pay directly at the till – invoicing is the exception, not the rule.

The flow in Vendion:

Why separate the base and the invoice?

An invoice base is not the same as a finished invoice. The base contains all data (lines, VAT, customer info, order ID) but it's your accounting software (Fortnox, Visma eEkonomi, Björn Lundén) that generates the numbered invoice, handles reminders, and chases payment.

Why? Three reasons:

1. Invoice numbers must be unbroken per legal entity – Fortnox is the source of invoice numbers (not Vendion), otherwise you get "gaps" if two systems create invoices in parallel.
2. Reminders and debt collection are handled by Fortnox/Visma – they have built-in support for the Swedish Enforcement Agency, interest billing and automatic reminders.
3. Your accountant wants control – they review the base, add any purchases, and release the invoice themselves.

What the invoice base contains:

Vendion stores everything for each invoice base:

• Invoice base number – serial 1, 2, 3... per restaurant
• Status – pending → sent to accounting → invoiced → paid
• Total – including VAT
• VAT breakdown per rate, e.g. 850 SEK on 12 % and 200 SEK on 25 %
• Snapshot of order lines
• Customer info (company name, org number, address at time of invoicing)
• External invoice link – filled when Fortnox/Visma has sent the invoice
• Due date (default 30 days ahead)

Mark customers as invoiceable:

On the customer card in Vendion there are three fields that control invoicing:

• Invoice customer (yes/no) – allowed to pay by invoice
• Payment terms (default 30 days) – days until due
• Credit limit (SEK) – max allowed unpaid invoices at once (empty = unlimited)

Set a credit limit of 20,000 SEK and the customer already has 19,000 SEK unpaid, and the till can block a new invoice order before the credit check – protecting you from bad payers.

VAT and accounting:

Invoicing does not change VAT handling. Same VAT rates apply:

• 12% on food
• 25% on alcohol
• 6% in exceptional cases (newspapers, certain events)

The only difference is the debit side in the voucher: instead of 1580 (Bank) or 1910 (Cash), account 1510 (Accounts Receivable) is debited.

Common mistakes to avoid:

• Sending invoice bases without complete customer info (VAT number, org number) – Fortnox will complain
• Double-booking revenue both in the Z-report and in the invoice journal (Vendion handles this automatically – revenue is booked when the base is created, not at payment)
• Leaving invoice orders open without monthly export – receivables grow but nothing reaches Fortnox

When should you NOT invoice?

• Cash customers without org number – invoicing requires a legal recipient
• Daily walk-ins – administratively expensive (one invoice costs ~50 SEK to handle)
• Customers behind on payment (set credit limit to 0)
• Amounts under 500 SEK – rarely worth it when admin is counted

Read more: Accounts Receivable (1510) – Booking Invoiced Orders, Paid Invoice – Cash Flow Handling, Customer Loss and Write-off (1511).