Businesses

Information on the invoice must be clear and unambiguous. The invoice must include, for instance:

• amount to be paid
• date of payment, i.e. due date
• the outstanding balance sufficiently itemised. The invoice must indicate clearly what is being paid
• contact details so that the consumer can be contacted
• a reference to the consequences of a delayed payment, such as covering the cost of a payment reminder.

The invoice and its appendices must be so clear that the consumer will at once understand that it is an invoice he/she must pay. In contrast, an offer must not be presented in a way which might cause the consumer to believe mistakenly that it is a binding invoice. An invoice must not be confused with a direct promotional broadcast.

Invoice must be sent on time

The invoice must be sent to the consumer sufficiently early before the due date. The consumer must have enough time to check the validity of the invoice and make any complains to the company.

• Invoices must be sent to the consumer so that there will be a period of at least two weeks between sending the invoice and the due date.
• This period can be exceptionally shorter for a justifiable reason. For instance, having to pay a bill for so called Last Minute travel deals at a short notice is a justifiable reason.

A company must not delay when sending invoices, so that a consumer can at once recognise the invoice received and what is included in it. This concerns also terminations of contracts, such as cancelling a telephone subscription and the consequent final invoice. Consumer's outstanding accounts will generally expire in three years. Any older outstanding balances cannot usually be demanded from consumers.

A company must take care when managing and delivering invoices. If the company sends the invoice a long time after the transaction, it may become problematic to demonstrate that the obligation of debtor to creditor really existed and that the invoice still hasn't been paid. In this case the company needs to be prepared to show a clarification for this, for instance by showing their accounts material.