From quote to invoice: the step-by-step checklist for SMEs

The customer has signed your quote. Now the work, the deposit, any extra work and finally the invoice and the payment have to follow without a gap. Here is the checklist, step by step, with what changes between the quote and the invoice and a worked example.

Most invoicing mistakes happen between the quote and the invoice: a price changed by phone, extra work never put in writing, a deposit forgotten on the final invoice, an invoice that is just the quote with a new title. In France a signed quote (“devis”) is a contract, and the invoice (“facture”) is an accounting and tax document with its own rules. This checklist takes you from one to the other.

1. Send a complete quote

• Every detail the quote must show: your company, the customer, the work or goods, prices excluding and including VAT, the validity date and the payment terms. See our checklist of mandatory quote details.
• If you want a deposit, write it on the quote: the percentage or amount and when it is due.
• Give the quote its own number. It is not an invoice number: quotes and invoices are numbered separately.

2. Get the signature

• The customer signs and dates the quote, usually with the handwritten words “bon pour accord”. An electronic signature or a clear written acceptance by e-mail also works as proof.
• Check that it is signed before the validity date. After it, you are free to confirm or update your prices.
• Keep the signed copy: it is your proof of the price and of what was agreed.
• Once it is signed, neither side can change the price or the work alone.

3. Invoice the deposit, if there is one

If the quote provides for a deposit (“acompte”), issue a deposit invoice when you ask for it: it refers to the quote, takes the next invoice number, and its VAT is due when you are paid. The details, and the difference between an “acompte” and “arrhes”, are in our guide to deposit invoices.

4. Put any extra work in writing first

• Work not in the quote needs the customer’s written agreement before you do it: an amendment (“avenant”) or an additional quote, signed.
• Without it, the customer can refuse to pay for the extra work.
• The same goes for work you remove or change: write down the new price.

5. Issue the invoice at the right time

• Between businesses, the invoice is issued when the goods are delivered or the service is completed. For several deliveries to the same customer in a month, one summary invoice at the end of the month is allowed.
• For a long job, invoice at each stage agreed on the quote, or ask for deposits.
• Do not wait: the payment term only starts with the invoice.

6. What changes between the quote and the invoice

• Title: “Facture” instead of “Devis”.
• Number: the next number in your gap-free invoice sequence, never the quote number.
• Dates: the invoice date and the date of delivery or completion if different, instead of the validity date.
• Amounts: the prices of the signed quote, plus or minus the signed amendments. Nothing else.
• Deposits: deducted, each with its invoice number and date.
• Payment: a due date, the late-payment penalty rate and, between businesses, the fixed €40 recovery fee.
• Reference: the quote number, so the customer can match it quickly.
• The other mandatory details are in our checklist of mandatory invoice details.

7. Payment terms

• Between businesses in France, with nothing agreed: 30 days after delivery or completion.
• The maximum you can agree: 60 days from the invoice date, or 45 days end of month.
• Penalties for late payment are due from the day after the due date, without a reminder. The rate must be at least three times the legal interest rate.

8. Follow the payment

Send the invoice the same day, in a format the customer can pay from, and note the due date. If it is not paid, remind the customer politely, then formally: our guide to chasing unpaid invoices has the steps and the wording. If the invoice has an error, do not change it: issue a credit note and, if needed, a new invoice.

A worked example

• Quote D2026-041: €10,000 excluding VAT, VAT 20 %, 30 % deposit on acceptance. The customer signs on 5 October.
• Deposit invoice F2026-118: €3,000 + €600 VAT = €3,600.
• Extra work: €800 excluding VAT, signed amendment on 15 October.
• Final invoice F2026-131 on 30 October: €10,800 excluding VAT + €2,160 VAT = €12,960, less the deposit of €3,600 (invoice F2026-118). Balance due: €9,360, of which €1,560 VAT.

Common mistakes

• Turning the quote into the invoice by changing the title, and keeping the quote number.
• Invoicing a price different from the signed quote without a signed amendment.
• Forgetting to deduct the deposit, or deducting it without its VAT.
• Doing extra work on a verbal agreement.
• Invoicing weeks after the job: the customer pays later, and the date is wrong.
• Leaving out the due date, the penalty rate or the €40 fee.

Outside France

The path is the same everywhere: a signed quote, an invoice at delivery with its own number, deposits deducted. The invoice rules come from the EU VAT directive and are close in every EU country, but payment terms differ: the EU late payment directive sets 30 days by default between businesses and allows more than 60 days only if expressly agreed and not grossly unfair. France is also moving to mandatory e-invoicing in stages from September 2026: see our guide to e-invoicing in France.

And Tavalle?

In Tavalle the whole path is one flow, with no retyping. The quote takes your company details and the customer’s data, with the right VAT rate for their country and type, and you send the PDF in the customer’s language. You follow it in the pipeline, and when you mark it “Accepted” it becomes an order. A deposit or staged payments are agreed on the quote as a payment schedule, and each payment gets its own invoice when it falls due. The invoice is created from the order with the next number in your sequence, the right VAT wording and a SEPA payment QR code, overdue invoices appear in your alerts, and mistakes are corrected with credit notes. See customers and sales and invoicing and VAT.

This guide is general information, not tax or legal advice. Check service-public.fr, economie.gouv.fr and with your accountant.