Frequently asked questions

FreeBillGen is a hosted invoice generator for freelancers and small businesses around the world. Create invoices with configurable tax handling, manage clients, set up recurring billing, and download PDFs in your browser. You can choose from multiple options for invoice labels, although some guidance may remain in English until it is reviewed. It runs on EU infrastructure with GDPR-focused controls. The core is free with no card to start.

Yes. The current free core includes unlimited invoices, configurable tax handling, multiple options for invoice labels, recurring schedules, payment reminders, VAT and aging reports, CSV import and a read-only API. You do not need a payment card to start, and there is no invoice limit, watermark or client cap. Optional Pro extras help fund the service, but making and downloading an invoice does not require Pro. There are no ads or behavioural analytics on either tier.

Pro is for power users and is additive to the current free core. It adds more than one company on a single account, the write API plus webhooks, accounting-software export formats for Xero and QuickBooks, and auto-send on recurring schedules. The read-only API, invoices, invoice labels in multiple language options, templates, your logo, clients, reminders, reports, the inbound e-invoice inbox and hosted Pay now links are currently included in Free. Current purchase options are shown on the pricing page.

Making and downloading a professional invoice is included in the current free core. You do not need a payment card, and there is no invoice limit or watermark. Lifetime Pro helps fund the service through a defined set of software features with predictable ongoing costs: multiple companies, the write API and outbound webhooks, accounting exports, and auto-send on recurring schedules. New Pro purchases have a one-time total of €49 for lifetime access to those listed software features, including applicable location-specific tax, with no subscription or renewal. Optional services with a direct per-use provider cost are not included; when offered, they use separate one-time credit packs that do not renew. Paddle shows the exact tax breakdown before you pay. Your invoices remain accessible and exportable independently of Pro. Your data rights do not depend on your plan.

Freelancers and small businesses around the world. FreeBillGen offers country-aware fields and tax treatments where they have been implemented, flexible tax handling elsewhere, and multiple selectable options for invoice labels. Some guidance may remain in English until it is reviewed. It is designed for a single operator running their own books, not for accounting agencies managing multiple clients. It is not a local-law compliance certificate; verify the current rules for your jurisdiction.

No. FreeBillGen works for sole traders, individual activity licence holders, and any registered legal entity. Your legal status does not affect the software - it simply renders whatever company details you configure. Check with your accountant for tax compliance in your situation.

The invoice language picker offers multiple options, including English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Polish and Dutch. The selected language controls invoice labels and document presentation; some app guidance may remain in English until it is independently reviewed. A language choice does not prove a jurisdiction-specific format. The tax engine supports configurable VAT, GST, sales tax and zero-rate treatments, with selected country-aware fields and notes where reviewed. This is software, not tax advice - verify local requirements with an official source or qualified adviser.

Yes. Each invoice can be in a different currency - EUR, USD, GBP, and others. The currency symbol and code appear on the PDF.

Yes. Add the recipient on the invoice and click Send by email. The PDF is attached automatically. Email delivery uses our hosted SMTP - no setup required.

Yes. You can create multiple numbering series (for example `INV-2026-0001` or `EX/2026/001`) with custom prefixes, suffixes, and starting numbers. This is useful if you need separate series for different service categories or years.

Yes. Set the frequency (monthly, quarterly, yearly, or every N days), start date, and client. On every plan, FreeBillGen generates the draft automatically. Lifetime Pro can also auto-send it by email; on Free, you review and send the generated draft yourself.

A mutable draft can be edited. Issuing an invoice freezes its legal content, whether it is unpaid, partially paid, fully paid, emailed, or later cancelled, so the same numbered document cannot silently change. Use a credit note or a new corrected document when an issued invoice needs correction.

Yes. You can set up multiple companies under Settings → Companies, each with its own details, bank accounts and logo. When you have more than one, an "Issuing company" picker appears on the invoice so you choose which one issues it. Once an invoice leaves draft the issuing company is locked, so a sent invoice always reflects the company that issued it. Running more than one company is a Pro feature; the free core covers a single company.

Yes. Add a logo to a company under Settings → Companies and it appears on the PDF and on the online invoice page. Each company keeps its own logo, so invoices from different companies are branded separately.

Yes. Each invoice has a "View invoice online" link - a signed, expiring URL that shows the invoice without anyone needing to log in. Paste a hosted payment URL from your own provider (for example a Stripe Payment Link, PayPal, Wise, or a bank pay page) and it becomes the Pay now button. FreeBillGen does not create the payment, process funds, or take a cut. An eligible EUR invoice can also show a SEPA scan-to-pay QR when its IBAN, account-holder name, amount, and other required payment fields fit the supported EPC payload.

Yes, if you turn them on. Enable reminders in Settings and pick the cadence - on the due date, and a number of days after - and the system emails a branded reminder for unpaid invoices on that schedule. Reminders are opt-in and off by default.

Open an issued invoice and use "Create credit note". It creates a separate, numbered credit-note document that nets against the original in your VAT report and is excluded from aging and outstanding figures. Payment is tracked separately, so the correction does not depend on whether the original is unpaid, partially paid, or settled.

Yes. The invoices list has a Download CSV button, and the VAT and Aging reports each export to CSV from their page. You can open those files in a spreadsheet or hand them to your accountant. Pro also adds Xero- and QuickBooks-formatted CSV exports. Automatic two-way sync with those platforms is not available.

FreeBillGen can export generic OASIS UBL and UN/CEFACT CII mappings for eligible EU and EEA seller invoices. For Brazilian sellers it can also export an incomplete, unvalidated NF-e-shaped review draft. These files are not proof of EN 16931, Factur-X, Peppol, national-profile, SEFAZ, or other clearance-platform conformance. CFDI, SUNAT CPE, ARCA WSFE, SII DTE, and DIAN UBL exports are unavailable because the app cannot safely supply and validate their required fiscal data. Use Invoice Passport and the cited authority or platform validator before sending.

Yes, free, by manual upload. Add a supported UBL or CII supplier file to the Inbox and FreeBillGen turns it into readable fields while preserving the original for audit. Syntax recognition is not Peppol, Factur-X or national-profile validation. This is not a Peppol or government-network receiving endpoint, and invoice-by-email intake remains unavailable while its quarantine and mail-infrastructure safeguards are completed. Parsed supplier bank details are marked unverified; copy and SEPA QR actions stay disabled until you confirm the supplier and IBAN through a trusted channel.

Yes. There is a token-authenticated REST API that can read and write your invoices, clients and companies. You create keys under Settings → API keys, where each key gets per-resource read or write scopes - a new key is read-only unless you opt into write - plus an optional expiry. The token is shown once at creation and stored only as a hash, so copy it then; revoke cuts off a key right away.

Interactive docs live at /docs/api, generated from the code so they track the live endpoints. Every create or action call (issue, send, duplicate, credit-note, record a payment) accepts an Idempotency-Key header - resending the same key returns the original result instead of creating, re-numbering or re-sending a second time, so a dropped or retried request is safe.

Yes. Register a webhook endpoint under Settings → Webhooks and we POST a signed JSON callback for supported invoice, payment and client events - an invoice created, paid, sent or cancelled, a payment recorded, or a client created. Each request is signed with HMAC-SHA256 using your endpoint secret, in the X-FreeBillGen-Signature header, so you can verify it came from us; failed deliveries are retried with backoff and every attempt is logged. The signing secret is shown once when you create the endpoint, then masked.

An API key only grants the scopes you pick, and only to your own account - the same per-account isolation applies as in the web app, so a key cannot reach another user's data. Keys are stored as hashes, never in plain text, and you can set an expiry or revoke any key at any time to cut off access. Give a key write scope only if the integration actually needs to make changes.

The service database and hosted files are kept on infrastructure in the European Union. Some functions use named providers: SMTP2GO processes outgoing invoice email and its PDF attachment, Paddle handles checkout and billing, and optional Google sign-in processes account authentication. The Privacy Policy explains the parties' roles, other providers and applicable safeguards.

Operationally, yes - we run the infrastructure, so authorised access may be needed to operate, secure or support the service. We do not sell invoice data or use it for advertising. The Privacy Policy describes the purposes, providers and access controls.

Yes. Reports → CSV exports invoices and VAT reports, and PDFs download individually. To request a broader copy of eligible personal data under GDPR Article 20, email us. We respond without undue delay and normally within one calendar month.

Use Settings → Account → Delete, or email us. Self-service deletion blocks access and anonymises the account immediately. The scheduled purge removes the tenant data within 30 days. The Privacy Policy explains any limited information that may need to remain for legal claims or statutory obligations.

Passwords are stored using the application's configured one-way password-hashing driver, so the stored value is not the original password. Passkeys (WebAuthn) use public-key credentials and can replace password sign-in. We recommend enabling two-factor authentication (TOTP) for additional security.