What is an e-invoice, and why do I need one?

An e-invoice is a structured, machine-readable invoice (the EU standard is called EN 16931) that tax authorities and business buyers can process automatically. EU countries are making them mandatory for B2B sales - a PDF alone no longer counts. Invocourier creates and delivers them for you, automatically, from your normal Shopify orders.

Which countries does Invocourier support today?

Belgium: B2B invoices are delivered over the Peppol network, as the Belgian mandate requires. Germany: invoices are delivered by email as XRechnung XML together with a Factur-X hybrid PDF, the formats German business buyers expect. Support for France is planned ahead of the French mandate, with more countries on the roadmap.

Do I need a Peppol account or a separate provider?

No. Peppol access is built into Invocourier. You fill in your company details in Settings, complete a one-time identity check, and the app registers your company on the network for you. You never deal with the network directly.

Do my buyers need to install or set up anything?

No. German buyers receive the invoice by email. Belgian business buyers receive it through the Peppol setup their business already has - receiving requires nothing new on their side.

How does the app know my buyer's VAT number?

Three sources, in this order: the tax ID of a Shopify Plus B2B company profile; Shopify's own "Company VAT number" checkout field (Shopify Tax stores switch it on under Settings > Checkout > Customer information, no theme changes); or a VAT attribute in your cart, whose common names in every EU language are recognized automatically. Every number is validated against VIES and the check is stored as audit evidence. Step-by-step instructions: Letting business buyers give their VAT number.

What happens with consumer (B2C) orders?

Your choice, in Settings: record them without issuing an e-invoice (the default - consumer sales are outside the B2B mandates), or email the consumer a regular PDF invoice with the structured XML attached.

What about refunds?

Refunds automatically become credit notes that reference the original invoice, in the same delivery format, with the same gapless numbering. Partial refunds are supported, and the amounts always reconcile with the original invoice.

Can I invoice orders from before I installed the app?

Yes. The "Import past orders" page finds orders that never received an invoice - up to 60 days back, which is how far Shopify lets apps read - and issues their documents through the normal pipeline. Imported documents are issued with today's date; invoices are never backdated.

Where are my invoices stored, and can I get them out?

Every document is archived unchanged, with its exact XML - that archive is your legal audit trail. You can export the complete archive (XML, PDFs and a CSV index) as a ZIP at any time, and you can have every issued document automatically emailed to your bookkeeping address as it is created.

What happens if I uninstall?

You immediately receive an email with a download link for your complete archive, valid for 30 days - no login needed. Reinstalling within those 30 days restores your archive and numbering exactly as they were. After 30 days the archive is permanently deleted.

How much does it cost?

Four plans, every feature and every country in each: Lite $7/month, Starter $19/month, Growth $39/month, Scale $79/month, all with a 14-day free trial. What differs is the number of documents included per 30 days, and it depends on how your store delivers. Stores delivering over an e-invoicing network - Peppol in Belgium, the SdI in Italy - get 25, 100, 300 or 2,000 documents; Lite, Starter and Growth include every network send, Scale includes 300 sends and bills $0.15 per further send. Stores delivering by email (Germany and other countries) get 100, 500, 2,000 or 10,000 documents. Beyond the quota a document costs $0.20 on Lite, Starter and Growth with network delivery, $0.05 otherwise - delivery is never blocked. Larger volumes: contact us.

Is my data safe?

The service runs on EU infrastructure, customer data is encrypted at rest and in transit, and a data processing agreement applies automatically when you install. The details - what we process, why, and for how long - are in the privacy policy.