How to use
Pick a **document type** at the top — `Quote`, `Invoice`, or `Tax Invoice` — and the form re-labels itself accordingly (a Quote shows "Validity period" while an Invoice shows "Payment due date"). Fill in **issuer** (your business: name, business registration number, representative, address, contact email) and **customer** (their business: same fields). Add **line items** with description, quantity, unit price, and optional note; the subtotal, tax, and grand total update live in the preview pane. Pick a **currency** (KRW, JPY, USD, EUR, GBP, CNY), a **tax rate** (default 10% for KR/JP, 0% for EN — adjust as needed), and a **template locale** (kr / jp / en) — this controls the language of labels and date format in the final PDF, independent of the page UI language.
Click **Download PDF** to generate a vector A4 PDF using pdf-lib with a CJK-capable font bundle, so Korean Hangul, Japanese kanji/kana, and Chinese characters all render crisply. The document is a single page for typical invoices (≤ 15 line items) and pages automatically for longer documents. The tool persists your form to **localStorage** so refreshing the page does not lose work, with separate storage keys for the document body and your reusable issuer details (so you can switch between customers without re-typing your own business info). The PDF is generated client-side; **your customer data, line items, and business numbers never leave the browser** — important for B2B invoicing where bills may contain commercially sensitive line items or pricing.
Examples
Korean small-business 세금계산서 with VAT
Input
document type: 세금계산서 (Tax Invoice)
template locale: kr
currency: KRW
tax rate: 10% (부가가치세 / VAT)
issuer: (주)스쿨오브웹 / 사업자번호 123-45-67890
customer: 주식회사 클라이언트 / 사업자번호 111-22-33333
line items:
1. 웹사이트 리뉴얼 디자인 1식 × ₩5,000,000
2. 프론트엔드 구현 80h × ₩80,000
3. CMS 백오피스 구축 1식 × ₩3,000,000
issue date: 2026-05-17
due date: 2026-06-30
Output
subtotal: ₩14,400,000 (5,000,000 + 6,400,000 + 3,000,000)
VAT (10%): ₩1,440,000
grand total: ₩15,840,000
PDF: 1 page, A4 portrait
• 세금계산서 title block (red, top-right per NTS guidance)
• 공급자 / 공급받는 자 boxes with 사업자등록번호 in canonical XXX-XX-XXXXX format
• 합계금액 in Korean numerals: 일천오백팔십사만원
Korea's **세금계산서 (Tax Invoice)** is the legally-mandated document for B2B transactions involving registered businesses; it includes both parties' 사업자등록번호 (business registration number) and the explicit VAT (부가가치세) line. The Korean National Tax Service (국세청) issues these electronically via the **e-세금계산서 system** for businesses with revenue over ₩100M / year — paper 세금계산서 is still valid for smaller businesses but increasingly rare. The 합계금액 (grand total) line is conventionally also expressed in Korean numerals (`일천오백팔십사만원`) to prevent fraud through digit alteration — banks and tax auditors verify the digit and word forms match. This tool generates a PDF you can present alongside the official e-세금계산서, useful for design-conscious clients.
Japanese qualified invoice (適格請求書) for インボイス制度
Input
document type: 適格請求書
template locale: jp
currency: JPY
tax rate: 10% (消費税)
issuer: 合同会社サンプル / 登録番号 T1234567890123
customer: 株式会社クライアント
line items:
1. Webサイト リニューアル 1式 × ¥500,000
2. フロントエンド実装 80h × ¥8,000
3. CMS 構築 1式 × ¥300,000
issue date: 令和8年5月17日
payment due: 令和8年6月30日
Output
subtotal: ¥1,440,000
税抜額(10% 対象): ¥1,440,000
消費税額(10%): ¥144,000
合計: ¥1,584,000
PDF: 1 ページ、A4 縦
• 適格請求書タイトル + 登録番号 (T+13 digit)
• 税率ごとに区分した金額表示
• 日付は和暦(令和年表記)
Japan introduced the **インボイス制度 (Qualified Invoice System)** on **2023-10-01**, mandating that businesses issuing tax invoices register with the National Tax Agency and include a **13-digit registration number (T + 13 digits)** on each qualifying invoice. Without a valid registration number, the receiving business cannot claim consumption-tax (消費税) input credit. Small businesses with revenue under ¥10M / year were historically exempt from consumption-tax filing entirely, but the インボイス制度 puts pressure on them to register voluntarily so their B2B customers can claim credit — the politically controversial outcome. The template displays the registration number prominently per NTA guidance, includes per-tax-rate subtotals (since Japan has 8% and 10% rates for different categories), and uses 和暦 (令和 year) by default with optional Gregorian fallback.
English quote — international freelance project
Input
document type: Quote
template locale: en
currency: USD
tax rate: 0% (export, customer self-assesses)
issuer: SchoolOfWeb LLC (Delaware, EIN 12-3456789)
customer: Acme Studios GmbH (Berlin)
line items:
1. Initial UX audit 8h × $150
2. Design system specification 40h × $150
3. Component library build 120h × $130
issue date: 2026-05-17
valid until: 2026-06-17
Output
subtotal: $22,800
VAT: $0 (export — customer reverse-charges under EU rules)
grand total: $22,800
PDF: 1 page, A4 landscape
• Quote title block, validity period prominent
• Issuer EIN (US Tax ID) included
• "Reverse-charge — VAT to be accounted for by recipient" note (EU B2B export convention)
For B2B exports from a non-EU country to an EU customer, the **reverse-charge mechanism** applies: the seller invoices with zero VAT and the buyer self-assesses VAT on their own books. The phrase "VAT to be accounted for by the recipient" or "Reverse charge — Article 196 of Council Directive 2006/112/EC" is the conventional language tax authorities expect to see on the invoice. The same mechanism (with different wording) applies for digital services to EU customers under VAT MOSS, and for B2B services between Korean and Japanese businesses (subject to bilateral tax treaty). For freelancers operating across borders, getting this right is the single most-likely audit trigger — invoice templates that miss this clause typically need to be reissued.
FAQ
What is the difference between a Quote, Invoice, and Tax Invoice?
A **Quote (Estimate, 見積書, 견적서)** is a non-binding proposal of work and price *before* an agreement; it has a validity period (typically 30 days) and is not a tax document. An **Invoice (請求書, 청구서)** is a payment request *after* work delivery (or pre-delivery for advance payment); it states an amount owed and a due date. A **Tax Invoice (適格請求書 / 税金計算書 / 세금계산서)** is a special legal form of invoice required for VAT/consumption-tax claims — it includes the seller's tax registration number, line-by-line tax breakdown, and triggers the buyer's right to claim input-tax credit. In most jurisdictions, a regular invoice doubles as a tax invoice once it includes the required fields; Korea and Japan have separate official Tax Invoice systems (세금계산서 and 適格請求書) with strict format requirements. Switching document types in this tool re-labels fields and adjusts validity / due-date prompts accordingly.
What business-number format does each country use?
**Korea**: 사업자등록번호 is **10 digits in `XXX-XX-XXXXX` format** (e.g. `123-45-67890`), issued by the National Tax Service. The first 3 digits identify the tax office, the next 2 the business type, and the last 5 a sequential number with a check digit. **Japan**: 法人番号 is **13 digits** (e.g. `1234567890123`), issued by the National Tax Agency, and the related インボイス制度 registration number is the same 13 digits prefixed with `T` (e.g. `T1234567890123`). **United States**: EIN (Employer Identification Number) is **9 digits in `XX-XXXXXXX` format** (e.g. `12-3456789`), issued by the IRS. **European Union**: VAT numbers vary by country — Germany uses `DE` + 9 digits, France `FR` + 11 chars, UK `GB` + 9 digits — but all start with a 2-letter ISO country code. **China**: 统一社会信用代码 is **18 alphanumeric characters** assigned post-2015 reform. This tool stores whatever you type without format validation (so it works for any country) but the kr/jp templates show placeholder hints in the local format.
Why generate vector PDF instead of rasterized?
Vector PDF (text as text objects, lines as line objects) is the right format for invoices for three reasons. **Text searchability**: accounting software (QuickBooks, Freee, 더존) and email-attachment scanners can read invoice numbers, amounts, and dates from vector PDFs but not from rasterized images, which means your customer can drop the file into their AP system without manual data entry. **Print quality**: vector PDFs scale to any resolution; a 600 DPI printer at the customer's office prints crisp text and line work, while a rasterized PDF at 150 DPI looks fuzzy when printed. **File size**: a typical invoice is 50–200 KB as vector PDF versus 500 KB–2 MB as rasterized PNG-in-PDF — a 5–10× difference that matters when an accounting team archives 1000+ invoices per year. The trade-off is that the PDF must embed CJK fonts to render Korean/Japanese/Chinese text correctly; this tool bundles a subset of Noto Sans CJK to keep the embedded font small while supporting common characters.
Can I save my issuer details so I do not retype them every time?
Yes — the tool persists issuer details to **localStorage** under a separate key from the document body. After filling in your business info once (name, registration number, address, contact, bank info), it stays across sessions until you clear it. When you start a new document, the customer fields are blank but your issuer block is pre-filled. To switch businesses (e.g. you operate as an individual and also as an LLC), the simplest path is to clear the issuer block manually and re-fill — or use two different browsers / profiles. The data **never leaves your browser**; it lives in IndexedDB-style local storage and is not synced anywhere. Clearing browser data, switching machines, or using incognito mode loses the saved state — for cross-device persistence, the workaround is to copy/paste your issuer block from a personal note app each time. A future improvement could be JSON export/import; for now the tool keeps state minimal and local.
How do I handle multiple tax rates on one invoice?
The current tool applies a single tax rate to the entire invoice — appropriate for most service-only businesses. For invoices that mix tax-exempt and taxable items (common in Japan with food vs non-food at 8% vs 10%, or in Korea with certain medical / educational services), the workaround is to create two separate invoices, or to manually compute the per-rate subtotals and put them in the notes field. Japan's インボイス制度 specifically requires separate tax-rate breakdowns on a single document; for that case, our current single-rate tool is not a fully compliant solution and a manual override is needed. A future version could add per-line-item tax-rate selection; for now the practical advice is: keep invoices single-tax-rate when possible, or use accounting software (freee, MoneyForward, 더존 ERP) for complex tax scenarios.
Should I number my invoices? What numbering scheme is recommended?
Yes — sequential, unique invoice numbers are **legally required** in most jurisdictions for tax compliance (Japan's インボイス制度 explicitly requires per-issuer unique numbering, EU VAT rules require unique sequential numbers, US tax law strongly recommends them). Common schemes: **YYYYMM-NNN** (e.g. `202605-001` — easy to sort, makes month-of-issue obvious), **YYYY-NNNN** (e.g. `2026-0142` — annual reset, simpler), or **plain incrementing** (e.g. `INV-1042` — works but harder to spot year transitions). For small businesses, the YYYYMM-NNN format is the practical sweet spot: you can resume numbering from 001 each month, find any invoice quickly by month, and audit gaps trivially. The tool seeds the document number with `Q-{YYMMDD}-001` by default, but you should overwrite it to match your existing numbering — consistency across invoices matters more than the specific format.
Related concepts
Invoicing is one of the oldest documented commercial practices — clay tablets from **Mesopotamia ~3000 BCE** record itemized lists of grain and livestock with seller marks, essentially the world's first invoices. The modern invoice format emerged in Renaissance Italy with **double-entry bookkeeping (Luca Pacioli, 1494)**, which formalized the relationship between invoices, ledgers, and account balances. The current global B2B invoice has three structural layers stacked over centuries: a **medieval merchant header** (parties, dates, document number), a **double-entry Italian body** (line items, quantities, unit prices, subtotals), and a **modern tax-administration footer** (tax registration number, tax breakdown, regulatory disclosures). Different jurisdictions emphasize different layers — US invoices skimp on the tax footer (sales tax is collected differently), EU invoices emphasize it (VAT compliance), Japanese and Korean invoices since 2010s have moved to formalize the tax footer to combat informal-economy tax evasion.
The **電子インボイス (e-invoice) wave** of the 2010s–2020s is reshaping the document. **Italy** mandated structured XML e-invoicing for all B2B transactions in 2019 — receivers no longer accept paper or PDF for tax-deductible expenses. **Mexico**, **Brazil**, and **Chile** have similar mandates dating to the 2010s, motivated by closing VAT collection gaps. **South Korea** has run the **국세청 e-세금계산서 system** since 2010 with mandatory adoption for businesses over ₩100M / year revenue. **Japan** launched the **PEPPOL-based Japan e-Invoice (デジタルインボイス)** in 2023 in conjunction with the インボイス制度 reform. **PEPPOL** (Pan-European Public Procurement OnLine) is a 4-corner messaging network now adopted globally — sender → sender's access point → receiver's access point → receiver — that standardizes the wire format for e-invoices across countries. This tool produces human-readable PDFs that work alongside e-invoice systems but does not yet emit PEPPOL XML; for businesses required to file via PEPPOL, a dedicated e-invoicing platform (Trustweaver, Tradeshift, Pagero, freee, MoneyForward, 더존) is needed.
Three adjacent **business operation concepts** intersect with invoice generation. **Accounts Receivable (AR) aging** is the practice of tracking unpaid invoices by how many days overdue they are (0–30 / 31–60 / 61–90 / 90+ buckets) — chronic 60+ day buckets indicate either a process failure on your side (no reminder cadence) or a customer-relationship problem (they're struggling or disputing). **Cash conversion cycle** measures days from spending money on inputs to receiving payment for outputs; invoicing speed (issue immediately after delivery, not weeks later) is the single biggest lever for small businesses. **Net 30 / Net 60** payment terms are inherited from physical-goods trade where 30-day terms accounted for shipping and inspection time — for digital services those reasons evaporate, but the convention persists. Many freelancers and B2B service providers default to Net 30 because that's what their customers' AP systems expect; Net 15 or even prepaid is increasingly common for small projects where the asymmetric cash-flow burden of waiting 30 days for a $5K invoice can sink a one-person operation.
