How to Send an Invoice in Denmark (No Accountant Needed)

Landing your first customer is a good day. Then comes the small administrative moment nobody warns you about: you have to send an invoice.

It feels bigger than it is. Sending an invoice in Denmark is a short, well-defined job, and once you have done it twice it becomes as routine as replying to an email. This guide walks through what a Danish invoice has to contain, how to create and send your first one, and how to keep track of whether it has actually been paid. You can prepare an ordinary invoice yourself; unusual VAT arrangements or legal disputes may need professional advice.

What a valid Danish invoice needs to include

A Danish invoice - a faktura - has to carry certain information. Miss something and the buyer may ask you to correct it, which can delay payment. The checklist below covers an ordinary full VAT invoice for a Danish domestic sale. Simplified invoices, exempt sales and cross-border transactions have additional or different rules.

Your details as the seller

• Your business name and address.
• Your VAT registration number, normally your CVR number or SE number. A CVR number identifies the business; it does not by itself prove VAT registration.

If you are not VAT registered, do not add VAT to your invoice. Include your CVR number if your business has one, and make the absence of VAT clear.

The buyer's details

• The customer's name and address.
• The buyer's VAT number where the transaction requires it, for example certain cross-border business sales. It is not a general requirement on every ordinary domestic invoice.

The invoice's own details

• A unique, sequential invoice number from one or more consistent series. Keep a record of cancellations or corrections rather than reusing an issued number.
• The invoice date.
• The date the goods or services were supplied or completed, if different from the invoice date.

What you are charging for

• A clear description of each item or service.
• Quantity or extent of the service, unit price excluding VAT, line totals and any discounts not already included in the unit price.

VAT and the amounts

• The applicable VAT rate: normally 25% for a VAT-registered seller's ordinary taxable domestic sale. Do not apply this automatically to exempt or cross-border transactions.
• The taxable amount and VAT amount, shown separately. For an ordinary invoice in DKK, show the VAT amount in DKK.
• The total to pay, including VAT.

If you sell across borders, check the rules for the particular goods or services before choosing the VAT treatment. Some EU business services use reverse charge; qualifying EU goods sales have separate exemption conditions. Extra invoice wording and VAT numbers may be needed.

Payment terms and how to pay

These details make payment easier, although they are separate from the statutory VAT-invoice checklist above. Agree payment terms with your customer before relying on them.

• The payment terms, for example 14 or 30 days.
• The due date.
• The currency.
• Your bank details, and a payment reference - usually the invoice number - so the payment can be matched to the invoice.

How to create and send your first invoice, step by step

1. Set up your invoice details once. Enter your business name, address, CVR number, bank account and standard payment terms into whatever tool you use. You then never retype them.
2. Start a new invoice and number it. Take the next number in your sequence - if your last invoice was 12, this one is 13.
3. Add the customer. Name, address, and CVR number if they are a company.
4. Add the lines. Describe the work in plain words the customer will recognise: "Design work, October" or "Replacement tap, fitted". Add quantity and price per line.
5. Select the correct VAT treatment, let the tool calculate the amounts, and check the result before sending. Software cannot decide an unusual VAT case from the numbers alone.
6. Set the payment terms and due date to match what you agreed with the customer. For example, you might agree payment within 14 days.
7. Send it. Most Danish customers expect the invoice as a PDF by email, or delivered through an e-invoicing service. Send it the same day the work is done, or the day you agree with the customer.
8. Save a copy linked to the transaction. Ordinary bookkeeping records must generally remain accessible for five years after the end of the financial year they concern. Use a compliant digital bookkeeping system where required, and check its storage, backup and export arrangements; an invoice generator alone does not guarantee compliance.

How to track whether the invoice has been paid

Sending the invoice is only half the job. The other half is knowing whether the money has arrived.

On a paper system this means logging into your bank and matching payments by hand, which is exactly the kind of task that quietly eats an evening. A better approach is to use something that shows you the status of each invoice in one place: sent, unpaid, due soon, paid.

Mark the invoice as paid when the money lands, and reconcile it against your bank statement so the two records agree. When your invoices and your bank balance tell the same story, you know where your business stands without having to reconstruct it.

What to do if an invoice is not paid

It happens. Most late payments are forgetfulness rather than refusal, and a short, friendly reminder usually settles it.

• Wait until the due date has passed. If the invoice is still unpaid a few days later, send a polite reminder with the invoice attached.
• Send another reminder if needed. Under the ordinary Danish statutory rules, chargeable reminders require reasonable grounds; the fee is at most DKK 100 per reminder, for at most three reminders about the same claim, with at least ten days between chargeable reminders. Check the applicable terms and rules before adding a fee. You can choose to send a reminder without a fee.
• Check any interest claim before adding it. The applicable rate and starting date depend on the agreed terms and the Danish Late Payment Interest Act; printing a new term on an invoice does not automatically make it part of the agreement.
• Seek advice before escalating a disputed or unpaid claim. Debt collection and court procedures depend on the amount and whether the customer disputes the debt. A payment-order procedure is available only when its conditions are met.

The best protection is earlier: clear payment terms, an invoice with nothing missing, and a quick reminder the moment something is overdue.

Keeping your records straight

Good invoicing is not really about paperwork. It is about being able to answer three questions quickly: who owes me money, what have I spent, and how is this month going?

When your invoices, bills and receipts live in the same place, those answers take seconds instead of an afternoon. That is the point of Kaupify: send invoices, keep bills and receipts together, reconcile payments and understand the month - your business, in clear view.

Ready to see the workflow? Book a Kaupify demo at book a Kaupify demo and walk through an invoice, its supporting records and payment reconciliation.

Sources

• SKAT: full VAT invoice requirements
• Erhvervsstyrelsen: accounts and record retention
• Forbrug.dk: reminders and debt collection
• Danish Courts: conditions for a payment order