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As a US company that provides a service, do they need to provide (by law) access to all previous invoices?

What should they state in an invoice?

In Europe, a company that sells a service has a VAT number, for such the invoice needs to contain:

  • Name of the client
  • Name of the service provider
  • Address of the service provider
  • VAT Number of the service provider
  • An unique indent number that can be tracked at least up to 5 years

If this company registered in the US, what does the law say?

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Well, the answer is independent of the company itself, so the link has been removed. Is this a legitimate question or was its purpose to put links on the web? – JoeTaxpayer Jan 9 '12 at 17:21
it was only to point out the company I was referring, it is a problem that I would like to be clarify, but I'm far from knowing what's the law in the country in question. The question is legit, just to mention that I know my way around in StackExchange but wasn't sure where to have this question asked, I'm also a 16k+ user in StackOverflow – balexandre Jan 9 '12 at 17:46
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Ok. Here, there is sensitivity to links that don't appear to have any purpose. No harm done. I don't know the answer to this question, however, I hope someone with this experience will respond. – JoeTaxpayer Jan 9 '12 at 18:07

migrated from money.stackexchange.com Jan 9 '12 at 21:46

2 Answers

up vote 2 down vote

The USA law says nothing, to the best of my knowledge. IRS requires you to send out forms 1099 to certain vendors, but that's for payments, not invoices.

State laws may require stuff, but you didn't mention which state your company is registered in. Also, requirements differ depending on whom you're invoicing and what are the services that you provide. For example, auto repair invoices have very strict requirements in California. State government has its own requirements on what it wants to see on the invoices it gets (here's an example of the CSU requirements).

Bottom line, it depends on many parameters, and you need to research not the "requirements in the USA", but "the requirements in the state, the requirements in the county, the requirements in the city, and the requirements of the payer". Yes, messy. Welcome to the USA.

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State: California, Product: Web Hosting Company, international invoice, or in other words, invoicing clients outside USA. – balexandre Jan 9 '12 at 20:31
I agree with Alex, I think onstartups would be a better place for your question – littleadv Jan 9 '12 at 20:37
up vote 0 down vote

I know of no California (or federal) law that dictates (a) what a web hosting company needs to state in its invoices or (b) whether, and for how long, access to past invoices must be provided.

I believe that you have raised business, rather than legal, issues.

Disclaimer: This information does not constitute legal advice and does not establish an attorney-client relationship.

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