# In practice – Billfree

> Software, dunning, cancellations and credit notes day to day.

- [Cancel an invoice in Germany: Storno and correction](https://billfree.de/en/invoicing-in-practice/cancel-invoice-germany/): In Germany, a sent invoice is never overwritten or deleted. If a detail is missing or wrong, a separate correction document that clearly refers to the original is enough under § 31(5) UStDV. For a wrong customer, amount or VAT rate, the cleaner route is a cancellation invoice (Stornorechnung) followed by a new invoice with a new number.
- [Gutschrift vs credit note: a German false friend](https://billfree.de/en/invoicing-in-practice/gutschrift-credit-note/): In German VAT law, a Gutschrift is a self-billed invoice: your customer issues the invoice for what you supplied. It needs a prior agreement, the word „Gutschrift“ or „Self-billing“ and all standard invoice details, including your tax number. A credit note correcting your own invoice is legally something else, even though Germans often call it Gutschrift too.
- [Invoice number rules in Germany: formats and examples](https://billfree.de/en/invoicing-in-practice/invoice-number-germany/): German VAT law requires each invoice number to be unique and assigned in sequence. Letters, years and several separate number ranges are allowed, and gaps are not an error for VAT purposes. Small receipts up to €250 and, since 2025, invoices from small businesses under the Kleinunternehmer rule need no number at all, though using one is almost always wise.
- [Unpaid invoice in Germany: reminders, interest, deadlines](https://billfree.de/en/invoicing-in-practice/unpaid-invoice-germany/): German clients are in default after an agreed payment date, after a reminder, or at the latest 30 days after receiving your invoice. From then on, you can charge business clients 10.52 % interest a year and a €40 flat fee, private clients 6.52 % without the fee. Claims expire three years after the end of the year they arose.

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