Payment terms on Stripe invoices and in the e-invoice
Business customers often pay on account with payment terms rather than by card. Stripe supports this, and the e-invoice has to reflect it correctly. This guide shows where the due date comes from and how it ends up in the XRechnung.
Two ways to collect a Stripe invoice
For every invoice and subscription, Stripe has a collection method (collection_method):
- Charge automatically (
charge_automatically): Stripe charges the stored payment method as soon as the invoice is finalized. There are no payment terms. - Send invoice (
send_invoice): the customer pays by a due date, for example by bank transfer or on Stripe's payment page. You set the date as a period ("due in 14 days",days_until_due) or as a fixed date.
Some payment methods only work with "send invoice", such as bank transfer. For overdue invoices, Stripe can send up to three reminders.
What goes into the XRechnung
BelegDock takes the payment terms from the finalized Stripe invoice and adds nothing of its own:
| Stripe | XRechnung |
|---|---|
Invoice due date (due_date) | Payment due date (BT-9) |
| Amount already paid | Paid amount (BT-113); the rest stays due |
| Invoice offers bank transfer | Payment means SEPA credit transfer with IBAN and the invoice number as remittance information |
| All other cases | Payment means "not defined", with a note that payment runs through Stripe |
| Invoice description, footer, custom fields | Invoice note (BT-22) |
A short payment terms text (BT-20) is always added: for an open invoice "payment by the agreed method through Stripe", for an invoice offering bank transfer a pointer to the account and remittance information, for a paid invoice "already paid". The texts are in German, like the invoice. The standard requires a due date or payment terms when an amount is due (rule BR-CO-25), so this is always met.
Automatically charged invoices have no due date in Stripe, so their XRechnung has none either, only the payment terms. Credit notes never carry a due date.
Early-payment discount (Skonto)
Stripe invoices have no field for an early-payment discount. BelegDock therefore writes no discount terms into the XRechnung. A discount mentioned only in the footer ends up as free text in the invoice note, which an incoming-invoice system will not evaluate automatically.
Reminders and late payment
Because the XRechnung carries the same number as the Stripe invoice, Stripe's reminders and payment page still match the document your customer has booked. BelegDock sends no dunning letters of its own.
Under German law, between businesses a debtor of a money claim is in default at the latest 30 days after the due date and receipt of the invoice (§ 286(3) BGB). Payment terms longer than 60 days are only valid if expressly agreed and not grossly unfair to the creditor (§ 271a BGB). Payment terms are not a mandatory invoice item under § 14(4) UStG.
In short: how to set it up
- For customers paying on account: set the subscription or invoice in Stripe to "send invoice" and enter the period in days.
- Set up reminders in Stripe's Billing settings.
- For bank transfer: allow bank transfer as a payment method on the invoice, so Stripe's account details also appear in the XRechnung.
- Finalize a test invoice and check in BelegDock that the due date is right.
Sources
- Collection methods and due dates and invoice object,
due_date(Stripe) - § 286 BGB, § 271a BGB, § 14 UStG (German)
- XRechnung (KoSIT, German)
This page is a summary, not tax or legal advice.
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