The same way receipts are used by consumers, invoices are usually being processed by the business world. Since the format of every invoice is different, it can vary from supplier to supplier what an invoice looks like. One thing that stays relatively the same, is the type of data that the invoice contains. Recently, the Greek government has announced that a digital invoice has the same legal rights as a physical one. So it would be rather interesting to note all the different information an invoice usually contains.
Legal background of Greek Invoices
In the same way that we explained Greek receipts in a previous blog post, in this blog we are going to navigate you through the format of Greek Invoices. Once again, the legal authority of Greece (Εφορία/ Eforia) is responsible for making sure that every company complies to the law. Their core activity is to make sure that companies keep their books and every transaction has a matching invoice.
What is printed on the Greek Invoices?
Information such as VAT Registration numbers, Tax Office and Dates are often to appear on the invoice. All of those details are relevant to the transaction and are essential if one wants to declare a VAT-Refund, for example. Below we have listed the Greek words that you should look for in a Greek invoice and their English translation, just so to make it easier for you to understand. We also included a visual presentation of an average Greek invoice to make it more simple for you to understand one.
- On the first box at the top right corner, you can see the logo of the Merchant. The top left corner is where the details of the Merchant are usually being placed, such as name, address, contact details and, last but not least, the VAT Registration Number(ΑΦΜ) and the Tax Office(ΔΟΥ) that the Merchant belongs to. Both of the last two details, are common to be stated in the receipt.
- The box right below the general details that was just discussed, refers to the information of the buyer. Thus, once again, the Name of the Merchant (ΕΠΩΝΥΜΙΑ), the Address(ΔΙΕΥΘΥΝΣΗ), the VAT Registration Number(ΑΦΜ) and the Tax Office(ΔΟΥ). Lastly, one more important thing that is commonly contained in the same box is the Date(ΗΜΕΡΟΜΗΝΙΑ) of the transaction.
- Right below, you can find the items bought. From left to right you can see the Quantity(ΠΟΣΟΤΗΤΑ) of items bought, their Price(ΠΟΣΟ) but also the VAT (ΦΠΑ) applied.
- Lastly, the box at the bottom refers to the amount of money involved in the transaction. It is common to calculate the Balance of the Customer(ΥΠΟΛΟΙΠΟ ΠΕΛΑΤΗ) on the left bottom corner, the total amount of VAT(ΑΞΙΑ ΦΠΑ) at the middle, but also the total Αmount (ΣΥΝΟΛΟ) charged at the bottom right.
How can Klippa assist you?
Klippa can process large volumes of documents with its OCR engine. All the relevant information that you need for a task can be easily extracted with our OCR. Processing Greek invoices with OCR is one of the use cases, but there are many more. If you have another case where you could save time by extracting information from a document, we are able to assist you. Klippa has out-of-the-box interfaces that you can use or an OCR API to implement in your application. Want to know more about our solutions? Book a demo or call us!
