Proposals & Invoices ยท Article 5.1
The Clozo invoice family: DEP, INV, STR, DCR, CRN, REC
Six document types make up the full Clozo invoicing chain. Each has a distinct legal role under EU VAT Directive Art. 220 and ยง14 UStG. This article maps which document fires when and what it references.
A single Clozo proposal can produce up to six different document types over its lifecycle, depending on what happens (amendments, refunds, manual deposit corrections). This article is the map. For the deep mechanics of each, see articles 6.2โ6.4 and Section 7 (amendments) / Section 8 (refunds).
in the Documents dropdown on every proposal detail page, the relevant document types appear as they're generated. Filter labels in the dropdown: "Proposal", "Signed Agreement", "Deposit Invoice", "Final Invoice", "Cancellation Notice" (Storno), "Credit Note", "Receipt". Each is a downloadable R2 link (CORS-enabled, no auth required for the URL โ the link is unguessable).
Why this works this way
Why so many document types? EU VAT law (Directive 2006/112/EC, Title XI Chapter 3) treats different events as different chargeable points: an advance payment is one chargeable event, the supply of services is another, a partial reduction of scope is another. Each event needs its own paper trail because each shifts a VAT liability. Most freelancer tools collapse this into "an invoice" and risk falling foul of national rules (especially ยง14 UStG in Germany, Art. 220 of the EU Directive, BTW Art. 35a in the Netherlands, CGI Art. 271-II in France).
The full document family (from apps/pdf/service.py and HELP_LIFECYCLE_MAP.md Section 5):
| Type | Prefix | Renderer | Trigger | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Proposal PDF | PRO- | render_proposal_pdf | Send proposal | The offer (not an invoice) |
| Service Agreement | AGR- | (signed PDF render) | Client signs | The contract (not an invoice) |
| Deposit invoice | DEP- | render_deposit_invoice_pdf | Client signs (deposit > 0) | Anzahlungsrechnung โ VAT chargeable on advance payment |
| Final invoice | INV- | render_final_invoice_pdf | Issue final invoice | Schlussrechnung โ settles the project, references the DEP |
| Storno invoice | STR- | render_storno_invoice_pdf | Amendment with cost decrease | Cancels/voids the previous invoice; "Rechnungskorrektur" in DE |
| Deposit correction | DCR- | render_deposit_correction_pdf | Amendment changes deposit amount | Documents the deposit adjustment |
| Credit note | CRN- | render_credit_note_pdf | Refund initiated | Records the refund + reason + VAT breakdown |
| Receipt | REC- | render_receipt_pdf | Payment landed | Confirms receipt of funds |
The happy-path chain (no amendments, no refunds):
``
Proposal sent โ PRO-2026-0042
Client signs โ AGR-2026-0042 + DEP-2026-0042
Deposit paid โ REC-2026-0042 (deposit stage)
Project done โ INV-2026-0042 (references DEP-2026-0042)
Final paid โ REC-2026-0042 (final stage)
``
The amendment-with-decrease chain (ฮโ):
``
โฆ happy path through Deposit paid โฆ
Amendment signed โ STR-2026-NNNN (voids old INV)
+ INV-2026-NNNN (revision=2, reduced scope)
+ CRN-2026-NNNN (credit note for refund)
+ Stripe refund OR manual SEPA refund
+ REC-2026-NNNN (refund receipt, when refund settles)
``
Document numbering is sequential per freelancer per year per type, atomic (SELECT FOR UPDATE on DocumentCounter). No gaps โ once a number is assigned it's permanent. Year resets on January 1: INV-2025-0099 is followed by INV-2026-0001. See article 6.9 for the exact mechanics.
Retention: every document in the family is stored on Cloudflare R2 with legal_hold flag for 10 years to satisfy GoBD ยง147 AO (DE), Wet OB Art. 52 (NL), CGI Art. L102 B (FR), and parallel rules across EU member states.
Troubleshooting
Keep reading
Proposals & Invoices
The deposit invoice (DEP-) โ Anzahlungsrechnung, facture d'acompte
The deposit invoice is the legal artefact that records VAT liability on an advance payment. Under EU VAT Directive Art. 65, the deposit becomes chargeable the moment the client pays โ the deposit invoice is what the law requires you issue.
Proposals & Invoices
The final invoice (INV-) โ Schlussrechnung, facture de solde
The final invoice closes the project. It states the full work value, then explicitly references the deposit invoice and **deducts both the deposit amount and the deposit VAT**, so you don't pay tax twice. This deduction is mandated by ยง14 UStG and parallel rules across the EU.
Proposals & Invoices
Receipts (REC-) โ payment confirmation, single-stage vs split
A receipt confirms that a payment was actually received. Clozo issues one receipt per payment event: one for the deposit, one for the final balance, or a single receipt if the project was 100% prepaid.
Refunds & Notifications
EU invoice compliance โ Art. 226 mandatory fields, sequence numbering, retention
Every invoice Clozo issues complies with EU VAT Directive Art. 226: 14 mandatory fields, sequential numbering with no gaps, immutability after issue, and 10-year retention.
Proposals & Invoices
Invoice numbering โ sequential per year per type, atomic, no gaps
Every invoice gets a sequential number from an atomic counter scoped per freelancer per year per document type. No gaps allowed under EU VAT Directive Art. 226(2); enforced by a row-level database lock so concurrent operations cannot collide.