E-invoicing: issuing invoices without accounting software
How electronic invoicing works for a freelancer in Italy, what you need to get started, and how to make the invoice come out of the payment instead of Sunday-night spreadsheets.
What an electronic invoice is, in two lines
In Italy an invoice between VAT-registered parties is no longer a PDF: it is an XML file that goes through the Exchange System of the Revenue Agency, the SdI. You issue it, the SdI validates it, delivers it to your customer and returns an outcome to you.
The format rules are not negotiable: a missing tax code, a wrong postcode, a gap in the numbering, and the invoice is rejected. That is why nearly everyone pays for accounting software — not to issue, but to avoid mistakes.
Why the invoice should come out of the payment
The classic way of working runs backwards: you collect money with one tool, then at month end you reconstruct invoices from a bank statement. That is where sales get lost, amounts get typed wrong, and payments turn up with no document.
In Bink the payment and the document are the same thing. When a client books, buys a product or pays one of your links, the payment is already tied to the customer and their details: the invoice fills itself in and your job is to check it.
What you need to switch it on
Four things. A paid plan (e-invoicing is included in Pro and Business); your tax profile with VAT number and regime; the "I issue invoices to customers" flag turned on; and the signed mandate, meaning the authorisation to transmit to the SdI on your behalf.
If any of these is missing, Bink tells you up front with the reason in plain words — it does not let you discover the problem from an SdI rejection three days later.
From draft to transmission
Every invoice starts as a draft: series number, transaction date, taxable amount, VAT, stamp duty where due. You read it over, fix what needs fixing, and send. Numbering is sequential and handled by Bink: no skipped numbers, no duplicates.
After sending you follow the status — transmitted, delivered, rejected — and on a rejection you see the error the SdI returned, so you know what to correct. If an invoice has to be cancelled or amended, you issue a linked credit note.
Customer details are half the job
Invoices almost always get rejected over a recipient detail: missing tax code or VAT number, incomplete address, wrong province. That is why Bink collects tax details at the moment of purchase, while the customer is in front of the screen and not two weeks later over WhatsApp.
Customers live in a client list: the ones with incomplete tax details are flagged, and you complete them once. On the second purchase the invoice goes out without you asking for anything.
The special cases: healthcare and archiving
For healthcare services provided to individuals, the invoice does not go to the SdI: the data goes to the Sistema TS and the patient gets a PDF. Bink recognises the case — you just mark the customer as a patient — and avoids sending the SdI a document that by law must not go there.
Issued invoices are archived to legal standards for ten years, which is a legal obligation and not an extra service: without compliant archiving, a three-year-old invoice does not hold up in an audit.
Frequently asked questions
Do I still need an accountant if I use Bink's e-invoicing?
Not to issue: Bink fills in and transmits. Yes for everything else — regime, deductions, tax return. Bink prepares the documents and the numbers, the accountant uses them: the two are not alternatives.
Is e-invoicing included in the subscription?
Yes, on the Pro and Business plans, with no cap on the number of invoices. It is not available on the Free plan.
What happens if the SdI rejects an invoice?
You see it in the document status with the error code returned. Fix the field that caused the rejection and re-transmit: the invoice number is not lost.
Does Bink also issue electronic receipts?
No. Electronic receipts require each merchant's own Revenue Agency credentials and cannot be delegated to Bink: the payment is recorded, the document you issue with your own device.
Related guides
- PaymentsGetting paid with a link or a QR code, in person tooThe client is in front of you or on the other end of the phone and you need to collect now: how to create a payment request in thirty seconds and come out with the right document.
- TaxHow much to set aside for tax: the tax dashboardQuarterly VAT, stamp duty, upcoming deadlines and open items: how to read your tax figures without waiting for the accountant to call.
- ClientsA client list that fills itself inNames, tax details and payment history in one place — with nothing to import, because customers enter on their own when they buy from your page.