Writing invoices·DE
The service period on the invoice
An optional field puts the service month visibly onto the invoice and into the e-invoice - instead of hiding it in the notes.
Why a dedicated field?
An invoice "for June 2026" should say so - visibly, not as an aside in the notes. Under German VAT law the time of supply belongs on the invoice anyway (section 14 UStG). Accountix has a dedicated, optional field for it when creating an invoice: service period.
How it works
- When creating the invoice, pick the service month (say, June 2026). If you are not billing a whole month, click "custom range" and set two dates.
- On the PDF the period appears in the invoice header on the right, directly under the invoice number: Leistungszeitraum: Juni 2026 - a full calendar month is written as the month's name, a single day as a date, anything else as a from-to range.
- In the e-invoice (ZUGFeRD/Factur-X) the same period travels along as the official billing period (fields BT-73/BT-74) - the recipient's accounting software reads it automatically.
The field is optional: without it, the invoice looks exactly as before.
Subscriptions set it automatically
For recurring invoices the service period is set per run to the billed calendar month (quarterly subscriptions span three months accordingly). The monthly invoice "June 2026" carries its month by itself - together with the {month} {year} placeholder in the subject, the period is documented twice over.
Difference to period-mode line items
In the "period" line-item mode, each line carries its own from-to (for example different project phases). The service period in the invoice header describes the whole invoice - the two combine freely.