Issuing invoices: how to create an invoice faster

Incoming invoice entry gets most of the attention, but daily work has another side: issuing invoices to your own customers. Manual issuing looks simple until you need correct numbering, a proper PDF with the amount spelled out, and a sequence that survives an audit. This post covers how issuing works in Ezura and where automation saves time.

Incoming and outgoing invoices in one place

Ezura is known first for incoming invoices: email → OCR → VAT and dimension checks → export to accounting. But the same system also lets you issue invoices to customers, so outgoing and incoming documents live in one place rather than in two separate tools.

The benefit is simple: the same customer and product lists, the same accounting system at the far end, and one habit for the team. There is no need for a separate invoicing tool alongside the one that handles your incoming invoices.

The invoice path: from draft to paid

Every outgoing invoice has a clear status. Draft — still being edited, no number assigned. Issued — a number is assigned and the PDF is generated. Sent — emailed to the buyer. Paid — payment received. And if an invoice has to be voided, it is marked cancelled, but its number is preserved so the audit trail stays unbroken.

One detail matters: the number is assigned only on issuing, not while editing a draft. So abandoning a draft never leaves gaps or skipped numbers in the sequence.

Numbering that never collides

Numbering is automatic and separate per series — one for sales invoices, another for credit notes. The number pattern (year, month, sequence and zero padding) is set once, and the system reserves the next number atomically. That means two people issuing invoices at the same time can never get the same number, and a cancelled invoice's number stays reserved rather than being reused.

In practice the number shows the year and month, and the sequence is padded with zeros to a chosen length — 001, 002 and so on. Set the scheme once and it needs no maintenance: a new month or year rolls over on its own, and the counter never jumps.

Standard, pro forma or credit note

The system knows three document types: a standard VAT invoice, a pro forma, and a credit note. The type drives both the document title on the PDF and the numbering series, so a credit note is never confused with an ordinary sales invoice.

A PDF you can send straight away

Once issued, the PDF is generated automatically. The total appears both as figures and spelled out in words in Lithuanian, as a proper invoice requires. If the company is not a VAT payer, the document title switches automatically from „VAT invoice“ to „Invoice“ — with no manual editing.

When an invoice becomes overdue

For issued and sent invoices the system tracks the payment due date. Once the date has passed and the invoice is still unpaid, it is treated as overdue — so you see who owes you without a separate calculation.

From issuing to the ledger

An issued sales invoice does not stay isolated — it can be handed to your accounting software as a sales document with the correct series and number. The principle is the same as for incoming invoices: less retyping by hand, fewer mistakes.

Common mistakes automation removes

Manual issuing usually goes wrong not on the hard things but on repetitive small ones. A skipped or duplicated number when several invoices go out the same day. The wrong header, when a non-VAT company's document still reads „VAT invoice“. An amount spelled out in words and mistyped by hand. A pro forma series mixed up with the final invoice one. Automation closes each of these with a scheme rather than with vigilance: numbering is atomic, the header switches on VAT status, and the amount in words is generated for you.

Just as important is what the system will not do for you: it will not invent a customer or a product that is not in your lists, and it will not decide whether a document should be a pro forma or a credit note. You choose the type and the content — automation handles the numbering, the PDF and the sequence. That split is the point: the human decides, the system executes precisely.

Frequently asked questions

Can you issue an invoice without VAT? Yes. If the company is not a VAT payer, the document title automatically becomes „Invoice“ instead of „VAT invoice“ — no manual editing needed.

What happens to a cancelled invoice's number? It stays reserved and is never reused for another invoice, so the audit trail stays unbroken and no gaps appear in the sequence.

Can you keep separate series for sales invoices and credit notes? Yes — each series has its own counter and pattern, so a credit note is never mixed up with an ordinary sales invoice.

Issuing invoices often looks like a small thing — until errors pile up in the numbering or the PDFs. Automated, it becomes a few clicks, and the documents stay clean for both the customer and the auditor.