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United Kingdom

VAT invoice with VAT per line item, in English and in pounds, ready to be paid by card.

What it is

In the United Kingdom Cord issues a VAT invoice with a sequential number, each line item’s VAT, your VAT registration number if you are registered, and your client’s details. Today the United Kingdom has no authority that authorizes or registers invoices, so Cord’s document is your invoice: there is no registration with HMRC to make from Cord.

In the United Kingdom
Default currency GBP
Tax VAT
Tax ID VAT reg. no., validated (HMRC modulus 97); also the Company Number
Document VAT invoice and credit note (Commercial invoice in the editor)
Authority Not applicable to the invoice
PDF language Your client’s or, if they have none, your account’s
Online payments Card with Cord Payments; bank transfer with a reference and Bacs Direct Debit in GBP (new)

Requirements

  • Plan: any (Free: 10 invoices per month).
  • Your VAT registration number if you are registered: it is what the law requires on the invoice, not your UTR.
  • Permissions: Settings for the tax profile and taxes; Quotes to issue; Collections to void and credit.

Set up your account

  1. In Settings › Tax profile, complete your legal name, your VAT reg. no. (with or without the GB prefix; XI for Northern Ireland), address, city, postal code, and invoice prefix.
  2. Review your catalog in Settings › Taxes.
  3. Activate your payments account in Settings › Payments › Account to get paid by card and, if you want, turn on Automatic bank transfer and Bacs Direct Debit in Settings › Payments › Payment methods.
Settings › Tax profile, "Invoice identity" section of an account in United Kingdom: legal name, tax ID, address and invoice prefix.

Taxes

Settings › Taxes of an account in United Kingdom: the starter catalog Cord seeds, with 4 profiles, the default one marked and the note that rates apply per line.
  • VAT 20% (standard, default) and VAT 5% (reduced).
  • Zero-rated and Exempt are two different profiles on purpose: in the United Kingdom they are different regimes (the first lets you recover input VAT; the second does not), and your return treats them differently.
  • Each line item carries its own rate; the document prints one row per rate.

Tax ID and vocabulary

  • The tax ID label is VAT reg. no. Cord validates the number with HMRC modulus 97 (including the variant for new numbers) and accepts government department numbers. It also accepts the Companies House Company Number, which is what payments onboarding asks a company for.
  • The tax is called VAT throughout the app, the PDF, and your client’s link.

Client and product data

  • Client: their country and, if a registered business, their VAT number, validated with the same rule.
  • Product: its default rate from the catalog.

Void or correct

An invoice is voided from its detail if it has no payments applied; with payments, it is corrected with a full or partial credit note.

Get paid online

  • Card with Cord Payments, on the quote link and the invoice link.
  • Bank transfer with a reference in GBP, on the invoice link and the quote’s payment page: your client transfers by Faster Payments, Bacs, or CHAPS to a sort code and account number of their own, with a reference per payment, and Cord reconciles it on its own. It needs a client linked to the document. New feature: see Bank transfer with a reference.
  • Bacs Direct Debit in GBP, on the invoice link, in the client portal, and in automatic payments: 4 business days to confirm (7 with a new mandate), and your client’s bank statement shows the payment processor as the collector. New feature: see Bank debit.
  • Outside MXN, Cord charges no platform fee. See Fees.
  • Your payouts arrive at your account with a sort code and an eight-digit account number. See Payouts.

In Settings › Payments › Payment methods, each method shows its status. While the payment processor turns on the transfer, the row says In review and your clients don’t see it yet; the Your client will see line at the top only counts what’s already Active.

Harlow Building Supplies's (Harlow, UK) Settings › Payments › Payment methods with an active payments account. Under Online payments, each method with its fee: Credit and debit card: Active; Automatic bank transfer: In review; Bacs Direct Debit: Active; automatic payments allowed; and the transfer to your account with the bank, Sort code · Account number and beneficiary. At the top, "Your client will see: Credit and debit card, Bacs Direct Debit and Transfer to your account."

On the link of an invoice in GBP, your client chooses Bank transfer and sees a sort code and account number of their own, with that payment’s reference highlighted:

Link for Harlow Building Supplies's invoice INV-000087 with Bank transfer chosen in the selector and, below, the Bank transfer instructions: the reference K3WP9R2XTM highlighted with its Copy button and the note to put it in the transfer's reference field, the Amount £6,840.00 GBP, Account holder Harlow Building Supplies Ltd, Sort code 108800, Account number 00012345, the note about transferring less or more, and the Print or save PDF button.

On the quote’s payment page, each part of the payment (deposit, balance, or installment) has its own reference, and your client can send the instructions to their email with Email these to me:

Payment page for Harlow Building Supplies's (United Kingdom) quote COT-0091: a £4,800.00 GBP deposit on a £9,600.00 GBP total, with Bank transfer chosen in the selector and the bank transfer instructions: the reference M7QX4T9WKR highlighted with Copy and the note to put it in the transfer's reference field, the Amount £4,800.00 GBP, Account holder Harlow Building Supplies Ltd, Sort code 108800, Account number 00012345, each with Copy, and the Print or save PDF and Email these to me buttons.

Plan limits

Plan Invoices per month
Free 10
Starter, Pro, Scale, Developer Unlimited

What is coming: mandatory e-invoicing

The UK government confirmed that e-invoicing between businesses will be mandatory for VAT invoices from April 2029, with the Peppol network as the exchange framework. The technical specifications have not been published yet.

Cord does not cover it yet

Today Cord does not generate structured e-invoices (Peppol) for businesses in the United Kingdom: the European formats it generates are for issuers established in the European Union. Your Cord VAT invoice remains valid until the obligation takes effect.

What Cord does not cover yet

  • Peppol e-invoicing for issuers in the United Kingdom.
  • Making Tax Digital: Cord does not file your VAT return; export your invoices to your accounting software or connect QuickBooks Online or Xero.

Common problems

Cord rejects my VAT number. The check digits do not match. Check the number on your VAT registration certificate.

Should I enter my UTR or my VAT number? Your VAT registration number. Whatever you enter in VAT reg. no. is printed on the invoice, and the UTR should never go on an invoice.

My client needs the invoice in an electronic format. Today Cord does not generate it for the United Kingdom; send them the PDF.