E-invoicing (electronic invoicing) is an efficient way to process invoices, ensuring compliance with digital standards and enhancing machine readability. It simplifies invoicing, reduces errors, and aligns with modern regulations. Currently, E-invoicing is only available for spaces in Germany.
Enabling E-Invoicing in Cobot
1. Add the Required Details to Your Admin Account
To enable E-invoicing, fill out the following fields in your invoice settings under Setup » Invoice Settings » Invoice Sender Address:
Invoice Sender Address: Enter your complete sender address.
Tax ID: Ensure your Tax ID is correctly provided. It needs to start with "DE".
2. Ask Your Members to Complete Their Profile with Required Details
To ensure E-Invoices are generated, members need to update their profiles with the following information:
1. Tax ID
Since E-Invoices require both a "Seller Tax ID" and a "Recipient Tax ID," it's crucial for members to include their Tax ID in their profiles. Please note: Members need to add their USt - IdNr , a private Steuer ID won't work.
💡 Pro Tip: Activate the following two features under Customize » Features » Signup in order to automatically collect new members' Tax ID when they sign up.
2. Individual Address Fields
As a last step, each member's address details must be entered into the individual address fields. Previously, only a single address field was available. Now, for E-invoices to be generated correctly, separate address fields are required and have hence been activated in Cobot.
There are two ways to update your members' addresses:
You update your members' addresses by going to their profiles » edit add their address
Members update their address details on their end by logging in to their Member Portal » Membership » Billing Details.
💡 Pro Tip: Reduce your workload and easily inform your messages about the required changes by sending them a batch-message.
Generating E-Invoices
Generating E-Invoices Automatically
When it comes to your automatically generated invoices, there is nothing you will need to do! Once all required details are provided, invoices will automatically be generated in the correct E-invoice format from now on.
Generating E-Invoices Manually
Once the necessary information is in place, you’re ready to generate E-invoices! Just follow these steps:
Go to Manage » Invoices.
Look for the Generate E-Invoice button next to each invoice.
Please note: The Generate E-Invoice button will be greyed out if any required details are missing. Examples include:
Missing Space Tax ID
Missing Member UID
Missing Member Address Fields
If all details are complete, click the Generate E-Invoice button, refresh the page, and that’s it!
The invoice will display an E-Invoice label and indicate the format type (e.g., ZUGFeRD) on the right side of the invoice.
How Do E-Invoices Look Like For My Members?
From your members’ perspective, nothing changes—they will continue to receive invoices as usual. The only difference is that the attached file will now be machine-readable, but it will still look like a normal PDF-file to them.