Invoicing

Invoices issued in legacy currencies after 31 December 2001 are invalid and could provide your customer with an opportunity to delay payment whilst you issue a valid invoice in euro. Key points to consider:

Invoices you issue

	What are your customers’ needs? Talk to your customers in the euro area to check payment terms and establish when they will switch to euro. The switch will be easiest if both you and your customers know what each other is doing.
	When are you going to start invoicing in euro? You do not need to wait until the end of 2001 to start invoicing in euro. To avoid the confusion of sending invoices in one currency and receiving payment in euro, you may decide to change your invoices to euro before the end of 2001.

Invoices you receive

	Are you aware of your suppliers’ plans and deadlines for euro payments? Ensure you are ready to handle invoices, and make payments, in euro. You might want your staff to have available a conversion table or software so that they can check that an amount is correct.
	Do you know what you will do with invoices in legacy currencies received after the end of 2001? You can ask for the invoice to be replaced with a new one denominated in euro if it is dated after 1 January 2002, as the legacy currencies will not be legal tender. However, you may choose to settle the invoice with the equivalent amount in euro.

Other issues to consider

	You may prefer to use EUR to signify euro amounts rather than the euro symbol (€) since it is not always recognised by some computers or printers.
	You might want to include invoice totals in the legacy currency if you start showing euro on invoices in 2001.
	Set out clearly in your payment terms when you expect your customers to start paying in euro. You may, as a minimum, want to state that any payment that you receive after 31 December 2001 must be in euro.

For further advice on these issues visit: www.euro.fee.be or www.icaew.co.uk