Sales vs Invoice Data
Two terms often come up in accounting: Invoice data and sales data. In the ASA evaluations, too, invoice data or sales data form the data basis, depending on the report. Although they appear similar at first glance, there are important differences between them. In this article, we will take a closer look at these terms and explain their respective meanings.
The difference between sales data and invoice data is best explained with the help of a simple example:
A guest has a 4-day stay from July 29 to August 2, he pays 100 € per night.
In this case, the following dates appear in the sales data for each service date:
July 29: €100
July 30: €100
July 31: €100
August 01: €100
If the departure date is August 2, €400 will be invoiced, so there is the following entry in the invoice data (invoice date) for this case:
August 02: €400
Depending on the recommendation of the respective tax advisor, the date of performance is used in Germany and Austria as the basis for the advance VAT return instead of the invoice date. In this case, the sales data (totals per revenue account) are the basis. To ensure that these do not change after a preliminary return has been made, it is mandatory to carry out a regular daily closing.Businesses in DE and AT that also work with invoice data for the preliminary VAT return can send their business consultant the corresponding report for "active accruals" (documents from 1.1. with accrual date 31.12.).
If you have further questions, contact your ASA expert.
So the temporal component is the most important distinction. In the month of July, 300 € of sales were generated ("Sales analyses", "Manager reports",...), in August it is 100 €.
In the invoice data ("Accounting", "Documents issued",...) nothing appears in July, in August the invoiced 400 €.
In Italy and Switzerland, the document principle applies for the sales tax (VAT) calculation, so the invoice data are always the basis for this. For these establishments, no daily closing is required, since definitive or transferred documents (to the Agency of Revenue, Fiscal Trust,...) cannot be changed afterwards.