How do you create an invoice in Advoca?
- Record time entries on the matter (directly or with a timer). Completed, billable time entries are ready as "unbilled".
- In the matter, click Create invoice. Advoca bundles the time entries, applies the rate and discount from the fee agreement and gives the invoice a number such as F2026-001.
- Costs you recorded on the matter (court roll fee (rolrecht), letters, registered letters, …) are included automatically. Add further lines if needed: with the quick buttons + Court roll fee, + Letter, + Registered letter and + Other cost, or freely as a fee, cost or disbursement with quantity, unit price, VAT rate and line discount.
- Approve the invoice. With ✉ Email invoice your client receives the PDF and the UBL file by email, sent on behalf of your firm; replies go to your billing email address. You can also download the files and send them yourself.
- Record the payment. Once paid in full, the invoice automatically becomes paid.
Record costs on the matter as they arise
On the Costs tab of a matter you record a cost the moment it arises: the court roll fee when proceedings are filed, a registered letter, a letter, a bailiff's fee. Each cost stays on the matter as to be invoiced and is automatically added to the next invoice for that matter. If you remove the line from a draft invoice, the cost is ready again for later.
| Quick button | Type | VAT | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Court roll fee | Disbursement (passed on) | none | Fixed amount per court: €50 (justice of the peace court (vredegerecht), police court), €165 (court of first instance, enterprise court, labour court), €400 (court of appeal, labour court of appeal), €650 (Court of Cassation) |
| Letter | Office cost | 21% | Your own price per letter; Advoca remembers it |
| Registered letter | Office cost | 21% | Your own price per item; Advoca remembers it |
| Other cost | Cost or disbursement (your choice) | 21%, 6% or 0% | Free description and amount |
One button: Download invoice
⬇ Download invoice gives you, in a single zip file, the PDF (for the client and your records) and the UBL file (for Peppol or your accountant).
Which VAT regimes does Advoca support?
Belgian lawyers have been subject to VAT since 1 January 2014. Advoca knows the regimes that occur in a law practice. If you choose a regime at 0%, Advoca puts the statutory wording on the invoice. The application currently generates this wording in Dutch:
| Regime | Rate | Wording on the invoice (in Dutch) | Translation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | 21% | — | — |
| Reverse charge (medecontractant) | 0% | Btw verlegd — medecontractant, art. 20 KB nr. 1 | VAT reverse-charged — co-contractor, Art. 20 Royal Decree No. 1 |
| Intra-Community service | 0% | Vrijgesteld van btw — intracommunautaire dienst, art. 21 §2 W.Btw | Exempt from VAT — intra-Community service, Art. 21 §2 Belgian VAT Code |
| Exempt | 0% | Vrijgesteld van btw, art. 44 W.Btw | Exempt from VAT, Art. 44 Belgian VAT Code |
| Pro deo / second-line legal aid (juridische tweedelijnsbijstand) | 0% | Pro deo — juridische tweedelijnsbijstand, geen btw | Pro deo — second-line legal aid, no VAT |
You set the default regime per client (contact) and can change it per invoice. The invoice shows a VAT breakdown per rate: taxable amount and VAT amount for each rate, as the law requires.
What is on the PDF invoice?
- Your firm: name, address, VAT number, company number, phone and email (from Firm details).
- The client: name, address and VAT number from the contact record.
- Invoice number, date, due date and matter ID.
- The lines, the subtotal, the VAT breakdown per rate and the total.
- The payment instruction with your IBAN and BIC and the structured payment reference.
Structured payment reference and payment follow-up
Every invoice receives a Belgian structured payment reference (+++xxx/xxxx/xxxxx+++) with a valid modulo 97 check digit. You record payments, including partial payments; Advoca shows the amount outstanding. An overview lists overdue invoices. With one click Advoca emails a reminder to the client's billing email address, with the outstanding balance, your IBAN and the structured payment reference, and the invoice attached as a PDF. Advoca counts the reminders per invoice.
Credit notes
If an invoice needs to be corrected (in whole or in part), you create a credit note for it. The credit note receives its own number (for example CN2026-001) and refers to the original invoice.
UBL and Peppol
In addition to the PDF, Advoca creates a structured UBL file (XML) for every invoice and credit note, containing the supplier (your VAT number and address), the client, the lines, VAT, the total, the structured payment reference and your IBAN. Since 1 January 2026, Belgian VAT-registered businesses must exchange structured e-invoices with each other, by default via Peppol. Advoca does not yet send invoices over the Peppol network itself: you use a Peppol access point of your choice for that. Read the full Peppol guide for lawyers.
Fee agreements that count
For each matter you record how you invoice: a fixed hourly rate, a matter percentage, a discount, a maximum budget with an alert percentage, or a fixed fee. When drawing up the invoice, Advoca uses that agreement, so nobody has to look it up.