Invoice Generation

Overview

CADENSA can generate documents directly from your tracked time entries. Depending on your configured provider, you can create:

Document Type	Description	Output
Proforma	Non-legally binding estimate	PDF (internal)
Work Summary	Hours report without financial data	PDF (internal)
Invoice	Legally valid tax invoice	External provider (e.g. Billingo) or PDF

info

Proforma and Work Summary documents are always generated as internal PDFs, regardless of your provider setting. Only Invoice type documents are sent to external providers like Billingo.

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Generating a Document

From the Reports Page

1. Open Reports in the sidebar
2. Apply your date range and project filters
3. Click Generate Invoice button (top right)
4. The Generate Invoice dialog opens with your current filter pre-filled

From anywhere

The Generate Invoice dialog can also be opened from the Billing section.

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Step 1 — Options

Date Range

Select the time period to include in the document. Three date pickers are available:

• From — start of the period
• To — end of the period
• Due Date — payment due date (required for Invoice type)

All pickers follow your date format preference from Settings → Preferences.

Document Type

Option	When to use
Proforma	Send a non-binding estimate to the client before issuing an official invoice
Work Summary	Share a report of hours worked (no financial data, no invoice number)
Invoice	Issue a legally valid tax invoice (requires external provider configured)

The dialog shows which output channel will be used for each type:

• (PDF) — internal PDF generation
• (Billingo) — sent to Billingo API

Currency

Supported currencies: EUR, HUF, USD, GBP, PLN, RON, CZK

Group By

Controls how line items are grouped:

Value	Description
Project	One line per project
Task	One line per task
Day	One line per calendar day
User	One line per team member

VAT %

The VAT (tax) rate applied to the subtotal. Common values:

• 0 — zero-rated / exempt
• 27 — standard Hungarian VAT
• 20 — standard UK/AT VAT
• 19 — standard German VAT

You can override the suggested rate at any time by typing a value directly.

Automatic VAT Suggestion

When a Country is filled in for the client and your Issuer Country is configured in Settings → Invoice, CADENSA automatically suggests the correct VAT rate and shows a contextual hint:

Situation	Suggested rate	Hint
Same country as issuer	Buyer's domestic rate	Domestic transaction
EU issuer + EU buyer + tax number	0%	EU B2B: reverse charge applies
EU issuer + non-EU buyer	0%	Non-EU export: 0% VAT
No issuer country set	Buyer's domestic rate	(no hint)

Issuer Country is required for smart VAT suggestion

Set your Issuer Country (ISO code, e.g. HU, DE) in Settings → Invoice to enable reverse charge and export detection.

Reverse Charge — Copy to Notes

When the hint shows EU B2B: reverse charge applies (0%), a 📋 copy icon button appears in the hint banner.

Clicking it inserts the following text into the Notes field:

Fordított adózás / Reverse charge

If the Notes field already contains text, the phrase is appended on a new line.

This text is required on legally valid EU B2B invoices to state that the VAT liability is transferred to the buyer.

Client (Bill To)

Fill in the client's details. Required fields:

• Company Name (required)
• Country (required — also drives VAT suggestion)
• Street (required)
• Postal Code (required)
• City (required)
• VAT / Tax Number (optional — but required to trigger reverse charge suggestion)

Country field

The Country field is a searchable select (not a free-text input). You can search by:

• ISO code — e.g. HU, DE, RO
• Local name — e.g. Magyarország, Románia, Lengyelország
• English name — e.g. Hungary, Romania, Poland

Each option shows both the primary name and the translation in parentheses:

HU — Magyarország (Hungary)
DE — Németország (Germany)
RO — Románia (Romania)

Selecting a country sets the ISO code internally — this is what CADENSA uses for VAT suggestion and what is sent to external providers.

Saved partners (Billingo / Lexoffice / Holded / Pennylane): If you have an external provider configured that supports partner listing, a partner picker appears at the top — select a saved partner to auto-fill all client fields including Country. The VAT rate is also suggested immediately based on the partner's country and tax number.

SmartBill

SmartBill does not have a partner list API. When SmartBill is your active provider, the partner picker is not shown — fill in all client fields manually.

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Step 2 — Preview

Before generating the document, you see a full preview:

• Header: Document type label, invoice/reference number, dates
• Line items: All grouped entries with hours, unit price, amount
• Totals: Subtotal, VAT amount, total
• Notes / Payment Terms (if provided)

Review the preview carefully. If anything is incorrect, click Back to adjust options.

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Downloading / Issuing

Click the action button (label depends on type and provider):

Document Type	Provider	Button label	Result
Proforma	any	Download PDF	PDF file downloaded
Work Summary	any	Download PDF	PDF file downloaded
Invoice	internal_pdf	Download PDF	PDF file downloaded
Invoice	Billingo	Issue via Billingo	Sent to Billingo, PDF returned

After issuing via Billingo, a success screen shows:

• The Billingo invoice number
• A direct link to view the invoice in Billingo
• Download button for the PDF (stamped with the Billingo invoice number)

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PDF Document Layout

All generated PDFs share a consistent branded layout:

┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ [Logo / Company Name] PRO FORMA                      │
│ #REF-2026-0001                                       │
│ Issue: Feb 1, 2026                                   │
│ Due: Mar 3, 2026                                     │
├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ FROM (Issuer) BILL TO (Client)                       │
│ Your Company Client Ltd.                             │
│ Street, City Street, City                            │
│ VAT: HU12345678 VAT: HU87654321                      │
├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Description Qty Unit Price Amount                    │
│ Project Alpha 10h €100.00/h €1,000.00                │
│ Project Beta 5h €120.00/h €600.00                    │
├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Subtotal: €1,600.00                                  │
│ VAT (27%): €432.00                                   │
│ TOTAL: €2,032.00                                     │
├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Payment Terms: Payment due within 30 days            │
│                                                      │
│ ───────────────────────────────────────────────────  │
│ Generated by Cadensa · Feb 1, 2026 · cadensa.io      │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Work Summary variant shows TOTAL HOURS instead of financial totals, and hides Due Date and Payment Terms.

Proforma variant shows a NOT A TAX INVOICE badge.

Multi-page documents automatically include the footer on every page.

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Invoice History

All generated documents are saved in the Reports → Invoices tab.

From there you can:

• View the document list with status, date, amount, provider
• Re-download any past PDF
• See the external invoice number (Billingo etc.)

See Invoice History for the full reference.

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Requirements & Limitations

• You must have at least one time entry in the selected date range
• Zero-rate line items (no rate configured) are excluded from external provider submissions
• Invoice type via Billingo requires a valid Billingo API key (see Invoice Provider Settings)
• The issuer details (company name, address, VAT) are pulled from your Unit Settings → Billing
• VAT / Tax Number is optional — but without it, the reverse charge rule cannot be applied (EU B2B)
• Issuer Country must be configured in Settings → Invoice for accurate VAT suggestion