Issue an invoice
This document explains how to issue an invoice for your Alibaba Cloud consumption. You can request electronic invoices for your costs.
Before you begin
Invoice titles and real-name verification
The invoice title is the name of the purchaser on the invoice. This title must match the entity used for your account's real-name verification.
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Verification type |
Invoice title rule |
Supported invoice types |
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Individual real-name verification |
The invoice title defaults to "Individual", but you can change it to the full name used for your account's real-name verification. |
Supports digitalized electronic general invoice. |
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Enterprise real-name verification |
The invoice title is the full registered business name of the enterprise. |
Supports digitalized electronic general invoice and digitalized electronic special VAT invoice. |
Special cases:
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Issuing an enterprise-titled invoice from an individual account:
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Option 1: Change your real-name verification. You can change your account's verification from individual to enterprise. For details, see Change individual verification to enterprise verification. After the change, go to the Invoice Information (Title) page and click Update to Latest Real-name Information to request invoices with the new invoice title.
ImportantThis change is irreversible. An account changed to enterprise verification cannot be reverted to individual verification.
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Option 2: Submit an application. If you cannot change the real-name verification for your individual account, go to the Invoice Information (Title) page, click Apply for Enterprise Title > Individual Applying for Enterprise Title, and provide the required documents. If approved, you can issue invoices with an 'Organization' or 'Enterprise' title. For details, see Issue an enterprise-titled invoice from an individual account.
After you submit the application, Alibaba Cloud reviews it within 3 to 5 business days and notifies you of the result via SMS.
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If approved, the new title is automatically added to your list of invoice titles. You can sign in to the Invoice Information (Title) page to view and manage it.
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If your application is not approved, you can view the reason, provide the missing documents or correct the information, and resubmit. You can also delete the application.
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Issuing an invoice with a different enterprise title from an enterprise account:
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First, change your real-name verification. For more information, see Change the enterprise entity or update the enterprise name.
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If your enterprise information has been updated and you need to change the invoice title to the new name, see Maintain an invoice title to update your invoice title information.
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Invoicable amount
An invoice is proof of consumption. Therefore:
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Top-up amounts are not invoicable. Your account balance cannot be invoiced before it is spent. For example, if you top up your account with 100 CNY and then spend 60 CNY on a subscription ECS instance, your invoicable amount is 60 CNY. The remaining 40 CNY is not yet invoicable.
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Consumption amounts are invoicable. An amount becomes invoicable only after you use funds to pay for prepaid orders or settle postpaid bills.
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Prepaid products (such as subscription ECS): You can request an invoice after paying for the order.
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Postpaid products (such as pay-as-you-go OSS): For consumption in a given month, you can request an invoice after the bill is generated on the 3rd of the following month.
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Product pricing and consumption bills on the Alibaba Cloud China site are tax-inclusive. You do not need to pay additional tax when you request an invoice.
Invoicing methods
You can request an invoice manually. When you issue an invoice manually, you can choose from the following three methods:
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Invoice by order details: You can choose to issue an invoice for one or more specific transactions.
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Invoice by monthly bill: You can consolidate all consumption from a single month into one invoice for monthly financial reconciliation.
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Invoice by amount: You can specify an amount to be invoiced. For example, you can issue an invoice for 1,000 CNY out of a total consumption of 1,500 CNY.
You can also set up auto-invoicing, which automatically issues an invoice for the previous month's bill on the 5th of each month.
Invoicing entities and tax rates
Alibaba Cloud products are provided by different corporate entities, so the invoicing company may differ from the payment recipient. This is normal. You can download proof documents for affiliated companies to assist with your financial work. To download these documents, see What do I do if the invoicing entity is different from the payment-receiving entity?
If you consolidate multiple consumption records into a single invoice request, the system may automatically split it into multiple invoices based on the invoicing company. For information about invoicing companies, titles, content, and tax rates, see Invoicing companies, content, and tax rates for Alibaba Cloud invoices. When you request an invoice, the invoice content, quantity, and tax rate cannot be modified.
Invoice status
After you submit an invoice request, you can track its progress by checking the "Invoice Status":
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Issuing: The system is processing your request. You can cancel the request in this state.
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Issued: The invoice has been successfully issued. You can download the electronic invoice file.
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Voided: You canceled the request before the invoice was issued. The original request is void.
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Reversal in progress: You have requested an invoice reversal for an issued invoice, and the system is processing the request.
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Reversed: The invoice reversal was successful, and the original invoice has been voided in the tax system.
Request an invoice manually
The complete process for issuing an invoice involves four steps: configure information, select items, submit the request, and manage downloads.
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Configure invoice information and receiving email: Before issuing your first invoice, set up your invoice title and receiving email address.
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Select an invoicing method and items: Choose to invoice by order, by month, or by amount based on your financial needs.
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Confirm invoice information and submit the request: Review the invoice details and submit the request after confirmation.
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View and download the invoice: Track the status, download files, or request an invoice reversal from your invoicing history.
You can navigate to the Issue Invoice page in one of the following two ways:
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From the Costs and Bills console (recommended): Sign in to the Costs and Bills console. In the left-side navigation pane, click Invoice. On the Issue Invoice page, you can request an invoice as needed.
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From the top account menu: Sign in to the Alibaba Cloud official website. Hover over your avatar or account name in the upper-right corner and click Invoice in the menu that appears.
1. Configure invoice information and email
Before you request an invoice, go to the Invoice Information (Title) page in the Costs and Bills console to manage your invoice titles, receiving email addresses, and other information. You can then select this information directly when issuing an invoice. The system uses your account's real-name verification information as the default title.
If you need to issue a special VAT invoice, go to the Invoice Information (Title) page and add your bank name, primary bank account number, registered address, and registered phone number.
2. Select method and items
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Click View Invoicable Amount in the upper-right corner to see your invoicable amount, historical invoiced amount, and more.
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For postpaid products, you cannot immediately issue an invoice for the current month's consumption. You must wait until after the 3rd of the following month.
Select an invoicing method based on your needs:
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Invoicing method |
Common use case |
Instructions |
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Invoice by Order Details |
You need to issue a separate invoice for one or more specific transactions, such as for resources purchased for a specific project. |
Click Invoice by Order Details and select the orders you want to invoice. You can click Expand All Filters and search by Product Name or Item Name to find the desired orders. You can also copy the order number from the My Orders page and then search for the corresponding Order/Bill/Contract No. on the Issue Invoice page to quickly find the order. |
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Invoice by Monthly Bill |
You perform monthly financial accounting and reimbursement and need to consolidate all consumption from a single month into one invoice. |
Click Invoice by Monthly Bill. The system automatically lists all billed and invoicable months.
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Invoice by Amount |
You need to specify a specific amount from the total invoicable amount, such as issuing an invoice for 1,000 CNY out of a total consumption of 1,500 CNY. |
Click Invoice by Amount and enter the specified invoice amount. Select Invoice by Order Details or Invoice by Monthly Bill. If the amount for a single order or bill is split across multiple invoices, you can still issue an invoice for the remaining amount later. |
A Management Account (MA) administrator issuing invoices for multiple member accounts can choose to invoice separately or consolidate invoices.
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Invoice separately: Consumption from multiple accounts under the enterprise is invoiced separately for each account.
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Consolidate invoices: Consumption from multiple accounts under the enterprise is consolidated by the invoicing entity. If the selected consumption orders belong to different invoicing entities or have different tax rates, they will be split into multiple invoices.
3. Confirm and submit request
After you click the Request Invoice button, the Confirm Invoice Information page appears. Review the invoice content.
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Invoicing entity: If there are different invoicing entities, the request will be split into multiple invoices. Review the invoicing entity and amount for each invoice.
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Invoice title: Confirm that the title, tax ID, and other information are complete and accurate.
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Invoice type: Select digitalized electronic general invoice or digitalized electronic special VAT invoice based on your tax requirements.
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Digitalized electronic general invoice: Intended for small-scale taxpayers or individuals. The VAT amount on this invoice type is not deductible.
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Digitalized electronic special VAT invoice: Intended for general taxpayers. You must provide the company name, tax ID, address, phone number, bank name, and bank account number. The VAT amount on this invoice type is deductible.
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Receiving email: Confirm that the electronic invoice will be sent to the correct email address. You can click Select Email to change it.
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Invoice content: The invoice content, quantity, and tax rate cannot be modified. If you select Blank for the specification model, this field will be empty on the invoice. If you select None, it will display "None" on the invoice.
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Invoice remarks: If you want to display specific service details or add related consumption information on the invoice, you can add it in the invoice remarks.
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By default, the "Registered address and phone" and "Bank and account number" are included in the remarks. You can deselect these options. To modify this information, see Maintain an invoice title.
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Avoid entering irrelevant words like "Urgent" or "ASAP", as this may cause the invoice request to be rejected during review.
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Invoice amount: Confirm that the invoice amount is correct. You can return to the Previous Step to make changes.
After confirming that all information is correct, click Submit Request, and then click Confirm Submission in the confirmation pop-up window.
4. View and download invoices
Navigate to Invoice>Invoice Download & Reversal to view all your invoice request records. The Invoice Status column shows the current progress:
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Issuing: You have submitted the invoice request, and the system is processing it. You can cancel the request while the status is Issuing.
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Issued: The invoice has been issued successfully. You can now download it. Electronic invoices are typically issued within one business day. For Cloud Marketplace third-party products, invoices are usually issued within seven business days. For specific details, contact the Cloud Marketplace service provider.
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Voided: You canceled the request before the invoice was issued.
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Reversal in progress: You have requested an invoice reversal, and the system is processing the request.
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Reversed: The invoice reversal was successful, and the original invoice is now void.
On the Invoice Download & Reversal page, enter an invoice number in the search box to quickly find the corresponding record. Click Details to view the associated order information and invoice amount.
Find the invoice you need to download. When the invoice status is "Issued", click Download in the Actions column. You can choose to download the invoice in PDF, OFD, or XML format based on your financial requirements.
If you find an error in an issued invoice or need to reissue it, you can find the specific invoice on the Invoice Download & Reversal page and click Reverse Invoice. For details, see Reverse or reissue an invoice.
Set up auto-invoicing
After you enable auto-invoicing, the system will automatically issue an invoice for your previous month's bill on the 5th of each month. You will receive a notification via SMS, email, and internal message once the invoice is issued.
Auto-invoicing requires the invoicable amount to meet the following conditions:
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The invoicable amount for the account must be greater than or equal to 0.
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The remaining invoicable amount after invoicing must be greater than or equal to 0.
If invoicing fails due to an insufficient invoicable amount, a mismatch between the invoice title and real-name verification, or other reasons, the system will send a reminder. Please resolve the issue promptly.
If your account's real-name verification or invoice title changes, the auto-invoicing setting will be automatically disabled and must be reconfigured.
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Sign in to the Alibaba Cloud console and navigate to the Costs and Bills > Invoices page.
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Click Auto-invoicing Settings in the upper-right corner.
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In the Auto-invoicing Settings dialog box, configure the following settings:
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Select the account(s) for which you want to enable auto-invoicing.
NoteA Management Account (MA) administrator can configure settings for multiple accounts at once. If an account cannot be selected, you may not have invoicing permissions for it. First, configure the necessary permissions on the Account Center page.
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Set the invoice title, invoice type, and select a receiving email from the list of saved emails. If no email is available, click Set Receiving Email to add one.
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Add bank and address information to remarks: Choose whether to automatically include this information in the invoice's remarks section.
NoteYou can select multiple accounts and click Set Receiving Email or Add bank and address information to remarks in the upper-right corner to apply settings in bulk.
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After completing the configuration, click Enable Auto-invoicing, then click Confirm to Enable in the dialog box to save the settings.
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Invoice APIs
FAQ
Enterprise title for individual accounts
Different invoicing entities
Tax rates
Zero or negative invoicable amount
Invoice for domain purchase
Invoice for deleted account
Modify an invoice title
Change the receiving email
Invoice status stuck on "Issuing"
Alibaba Cloud title information
Receipts for top-ups and orders
Order details on an invoice
For other invoice-related questions, see Invoice FAQ.