Invoicing for your repair shop: invoices, VAT and receipts made simple

You're good at fixing phones. Invoicing, on the other hand, is usually the part nobody taught you. Do I hand over a receipt or an invoice? What VAT goes on a screen replacement? And what if the customer is a business that needs to reclaim the cost? Clearing up the doubts isn't hard once you know the basic rules, and much of the work can be automated.

This guide gets straight to what matters at the counter. One warning first: invoicing and VAT rules differ from country to country. We use Spain as an example here, but the general principles are similar almost everywhere; always confirm the detail with your local rules or your accountant.

1. Receipt or invoice: when to give each

The practical difference is simple. The receipt (or simplified invoice) is the proof you hand a private customer by default on a small sale. The full invoice is a document with all of the customer's tax details, needed when that customer has to justify the expense or reclaim the VAT.

As a rule of thumb, you should issue a full invoice when:

• The customer is a business or self-employed and asks for one for their accounts.
• A private customer specifically requests it, even for a small repair.
• The amount exceeds the threshold your country sets for using a simplified invoice.

2. What an invoice must show

A full invoice isn't just any slip of paper: to be valid for tax it needs a set of minimum details. Miss one and it stops working for reclaiming VAT. These are the usual ones:

• Invoice number and, where applicable, series
• Date of issue (and date of the operation if different)
• Your details: name or business name, address and tax ID
• The customer's details, including their tax ID if they are a business or self-employed
• Description of the repair: labour and parts
• Taxable base, VAT rate applied and tax amount
• Total to pay

The description is where many shops fall short. "Repair" on its own isn't enough. Spell out the service ("screen replacement, model X" or "battery change") and, where relevant, separate parts from labour. The clearer it is, the fewer questions later.

3. VAT on repairs

For tax purposes, a phone repair is a supply of services. In most countries that means applying the current standard VAT rate to the full repair, including both labour and parts when they are invoiced together as a single service.

A few points worth being clear about:

• Parts and labour together: if you deliver a complete repair, the norm is a single VAT rate for the whole thing, not one rate for the part and another for the work.
• Selling accessories: if you also sell cases, chargers or phones, that's a sale of goods and follows its own VAT rules, which may or may not match those of the service.
• Price with or without VAT: decide whether your counter prices already include the tax (usual for private customers) or you add it on top, and be consistent on the receipt.

4. Simplified vs full invoice

The simplified invoice (the "valid receipt") is faster because it doesn't require all of the customer's details. It's perfect for day-to-day counter work with private customers. The full invoice carries the customer's tax ID and lets them reclaim the VAT.

A comfortable flow for the shop is this: always issue proof on every payment (the receipt) and, if the customer asks, turn it into a full invoice by adding their tax details. That way you don't slow the queue and nobody leaves without a record.

When you'll be asked for the full one

Businesses repairing a work phone, the self-employed, and private customers who want to justify an expensive repair (for insurance, a third-party warranty, etc.). Having it ready in two clicks stops the customer coming back another day "for the invoice".

5. Numbering and record-keeping

Two requirements that tend to go unnoticed until an audit turns up:

• Sequential numbering: invoices must be numbered in order, with no gaps or duplicates within each series. You can keep separate series (for example, one for shop sales and one for repairs), but each must be continuous.
• Record-keeping: almost every country requires you to keep issued and received invoices for several years (often between 4 and 10). Storing them digitally, with a backup, is the most convenient and safest option.

Doing this by hand, with a paper book or a spreadsheet, is where the classic errors creep in: repeated numbers, gaps in the series or invoices that go astray. It's exactly the kind of task to hand off to software.

6. How TekPair automates it

The advantage of running the shop with software is that the invoice comes almost straight out of the repair itself. In TekPair the flow is direct:

• From repair to invoice: with the device details, parts and labour already recorded, the invoice is generated without typing anything again.
• Automatic numbering: each invoice gets its sequential number, with no gaps or duplicates.
• VAT calculated: the tax is applied and broken out automatically on the base, at the rate you configure.
• Business details: if the customer is a business or self-employed, the invoice captures their tax ID so they can reclaim the VAT.
• Everything stored in the cloud: your invoices are kept and backed up, ready to look up or export whenever you need.