From work order to invoice, without retyping hours and parts

Where hours and parts get lost

Between the intervention and the invoice, hours and parts get lost at the moments when someone has to retype or remember something. A work order filled in from memory in the evening, a paper work order that arrives at the office illegible, or an invoice that is only drawn up when someone has time.

The classic leaks:

• Hours that are not noted: the short trip, the ten extra minutes because access to the plant room was locked.
• Parts that leave the van but never appear on an invoice.
• Travel costs that each technician charges differently.
• Invoices left lying because the work order has not come in yet or is incomplete.
• Double work: the same data in a planning tool, a work order, a spreadsheet and the accounting package.

From intervention to invoice in six steps

1. Record hours and parts during the work, not afterwards. Each step of the intervention gets its time; a part is recorded at the moment it is used.
2. Complete the intervention fully: report, photos and the customer’s signature. See what goes on a work order.
3. Create the invoice from the intervention, with the hours and parts already on it, instead of copying them over.
4. Check the lines: a discount, a free line for travel, a different hourly rate.
5. Post and send: the invoice gets its final number and goes to the customer, by email or via Peppol.
6. Follow up the payment: what has been paid, what is outstanding and what is overdue.

The shorter the time between step 2 and step 5, the less disappears along the way. An intervention completed today can be invoiced today.

Peppol: what has changed since 2026?

Since 1 January 2026, all Belgian VAT-registered businesses must send each other structured electronic invoices, via the Peppol network. An invoice as a PDF by email is then no longer enough between businesses. That obligation does not apply to invoices to private customers, but you must be able to receive electronic invoices from your suppliers. That is what the government’s official site says: efactuur.belgium.be (in Dutch).

For a service company, this means two kinds of customers in practice: VAT-registered customers, such as companies, whom you invoice via Peppol, and private customers and other customers without a VAT number, whom you can still invoice by email with a PDF. Your invoicing must handle both, without the office having to think about it for every invoice.

How it works in Digitalnatie Service Suite

In Service Suite, invoicing starts from the intervention itself.

• Interventions to invoice: a list of the completed interventions that do not have an invoice yet.
• The invoice from the intervention: from a completed intervention, Service Suite creates a draft invoice with the billable hours (according to the hourly rate and the minimum billed time in your settings) and the parts used. If the intervention belongs to a confirmed sales order, the invoice takes over the lines and prices of that order.
• Editing the lines: change the description, quantity, unit price and discount, add a product or a free line, for example for travel. The VAT and the totals are recalculated.
• Posting: the invoice gets its final number and a structured payment reference (gestructureerde mededeling / communication structurée). A posted invoice no longer changes; you correct an error with a credit note.
• Sending: by email with the PDF, from your company’s email address. If your organisation is connected to Peppol and the customer is on Peppol, you choose sending as a Peppol e-invoice. Your company’s Peppol registration takes place at the start, together with Digitalnatie.
• Recording the payment: you note the payment received on the invoice, so you can see what is still outstanding.

Visits under a maintenance contract follow their own rules: for each contract, you decide whether the visit, the extra hours and the parts are billable or included in the contract. If there is nothing to invoice, the visit is shown as covered by the contract.

Frequently asked questions

Can I send invoices via Peppol from Service Suite?

Yes, if your organisation is connected to Peppol and your customer is too. When sending, you then choose Peppol as the channel; if the customer is not on Peppol, the invoice goes out by email with the PDF. Your company’s Peppol registration takes place at the start, together with Digitalnatie.

Do I also have to invoice private customers via Peppol?

No. According to the government’s official information, the obligation applies to invoices between Belgian VAT-registered businesses, not to outgoing invoices to private customers. You must, however, be able to receive electronic invoices from your suppliers.

What if there is an error on a posted invoice?

A posted invoice can no longer be changed. You create a credit note, in full or as a draft, and then a new invoice.

Can a technician invoice on site?

Yes, if they have been given the explicit permission to do so: the technician role alone does not grant it. The invoice is posted immediately and the technician can record the payment, for example in cash or with Bancontact. This requires a network connection.

How do I invoice maintenance under a contract?

For each contract, you decide for the visit, the hours above the minimum and the parts used whether they are billable or included. Read more in tracking maintenance contracts.