Issuing invoices
This topic describes how to request an invoice for your Alibaba Cloud spending. You can request an e-invoice for your consumed amount, which is typically issued within one business day.
Before you begin
Invoice title and real-name registration
The invoice title must match the name used for your account's real-name registration.
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Registration type |
Invoice title rules |
Available invoice types |
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Individual real-name registration |
The title defaults to "Individual" but can be changed to the name used for the account's real-name registration. |
Supports Fully Digitalized Electronic General Invoice |
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Enterprise real-name registration |
The title is the enterprise's full registered legal name. |
Supports Fully Digitalized Electronic General Invoice and Fully Digitalized Electronic Special Invoice |
Special cases:
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Requesting a corporate title for an individual account:
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Method 1: Change the real-name registration. You can change your account's registration from individual to enterprise. For details, see Change individual registration to enterprise registration. After the change, go to the Invoice Information (Title) page and click Update to latest real-name information. You can then request an invoice with the new title.
ImportantThis action is irreversible. Once an account is changed to an enterprise registration, it cannot be changed back to an individual registration.
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Method 2: Submit application materials. If you cannot change the real-name registration to an enterprise, go to the Invoice Information (Title) page, click Apply for Corporate Title > Individual applying for Corporate Title, and provide the required supporting documents. After approval, you can request an invoice with a title type of "Organization" or "Enterprise". For details, see Request a corporate title invoice for 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 available invoice titles. You can log on to the Invoice Information (Title) page to view and manage it.
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If your application is not approved, you can View Reason to identify missing materials or incorrect information, and then resubmit the application. You can also Delete the application.
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Requesting a different corporate title for an enterprise account:
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You must first change the real-name registration. For details, see Change enterprise entity or update 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 invoice titles to update your invoice title information.
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Invoiceable amount
An invoice is a proof of actual consumption. Therefore:
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Top-up amounts cannot be invoiced. Funds in your account balance cannot be invoiced until they are consumed. For example, if you top up your account with CNY 100 and then spend CNY 60 on a Subscription ECS instance, your invoiceable amount is CNY 60. The remaining CNY 40 cannot be invoiced yet.
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Consumed amounts can be invoiced. A consumed amount becomes invoiceable only after the funds are used to pay for a Subscription order or settle a Pay-As-You-Go bill.
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Subscription products (such as Subscription ECS): You can request an invoice immediately after paying for the order.
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Pay-As-You-Go products (such as Pay-As-You-Go OSS): For consumption in the current month, you must wait until the bill is generated on the 3rd of the following month to request an invoice.
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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 requesting an invoice.
Invoicing methods
You can request an invoice manually. The following three invoicing methods are supported for manual requests:
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Invoice by order details: You can select one or more specific transactions to invoice.
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Invoice by monthly bill: You can consolidate all consumption for a month into a single invoice for monthly financial reporting.
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Invoice by amount: You can specify an amount to invoice. For example, you can choose to invoice CNY 1,000 out of a total consumption of CNY 1,500.
You can also set up auto-invoicing, which automatically issues an invoice for your previous month's bill on the 5th of each month.
Invoicing entities and tax rates
Alibaba Cloud products are provided by different legal entities, so the invoicing company may differ from the payment recipient. This is normal. You can download proof of associated companies for your accounting records. To download these documents, see What do I do if the invoicing entity and payment recipient are different?
When you consolidate multiple consumption records for invoicing, they may be automatically split into multiple invoices based on the invoicing company. For more 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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Invoicing: The system is processing your request. You can cancel the request in this state.
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Invoiced: The invoice has been successfully issued. You can download the e-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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Crediting: You have requested a credit note for an issued invoice, and the system is processing it.
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Credited: The credit note was successfully issued, and the original invoice has been voided in the tax system.
Manually request an invoice
The process of requesting an invoice involves four steps: configuring information, selecting items, submitting the request, and managing the invoice.
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Configure invoice information and recipient email: Before your first request, set up your invoice title and recipient 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: Confirm the invoice details, and then submit the request.
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View and download the invoice: Track the status, download the file, or request a credit note from your invoicing history.
You can navigate to the Issue Invoice page in one of the following ways:
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From the Billing Management console (recommended): Log on to the Billing Management console, click Invoices in the left-side navigation pane and go to the Issue Invoice tab.
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From the top account menu: Log on to the Alibaba Cloud website, hover over your avatar or account name in the upper-right corner, and click Invoices in the menu that appears.
1. Configure invoice information and recipient email
Before you request an invoice, go to the Invoice Information (Title) page in the Billing Management console to manage your invoice titles and recipient email addresses. This allows you to select them directly when making a request. By default, the system uses your account's real-name registration information as the title.
If you need to request a special VAT invoice, go to the Invoice Information (Title) page and provide the required information, including the bank name, primary bank account number, registered address, and registered phone number.
2. Select an invoicing method and items
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Click View Invoicable Amount in the upper-right corner to see your available invoiceable amount, historical invoiced amount, and other details.
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For Pay-As-You-Go products, you cannot immediately invoice for consumption within the current month. You must wait until after the 3rd of the following month.
Select an invoicing method that meets your needs:
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Invoicing method |
Common use case |
Instructions |
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Invoice by Order Details |
Invoice one or more specific transactions separately, such as 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 to search for orders by Product Name or Item Name. You can also go to the My Orders page to copy an order number, then paste it into the Order/Bill/Contract No. search box on the Issue Invoice page to quickly find the order. |
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Invoice by Monthly Bill |
Consolidate all consumption for a month into a single invoice for monthly accounting and reimbursement. |
Click Invoice by Monthly Bill. The system automatically lists all billed months that are available for invoicing.
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Invoice by Amount |
Invoice a specific amount from the total invoiceable amount, such as invoicing CNY 1,000 out of CNY 1,500 in consumption. |
Click Invoice by Amount and enter the desired invoice amount. Choose whether to Invoice by Order Details or Invoice by Monthly Bill. If you split the amount of an order or bill for invoicing, you can request an invoice for the remaining amount later. |
Management Account (MA) or administrator accounts that need to invoice for multiple member accounts can choose to issue separate or consolidated invoices.
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Invoice Separately: Issue a separate invoice for the consumption of each member account.
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Consolidate Invoices: Consolidate the consumption of multiple member accounts by invoicing entity. If the selected consumption items belong to different invoicing entities or have different tax rates, they will be split into multiple invoices.
3. Confirm invoice information and submit the request
After you click the Request Invoice button, you are redirected to the Confirm Invoice Information page. Review the invoice details.
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Invoicing Entity: If items belong to different invoicing entities, they 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 Fully Digitalized Electronic General Invoice (e-invoice) or Fully Digitalized Electronic Special Invoice (e-invoice) based on your tax requirements.
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Fully Digitalized Electronic General Invoice: For small-scale taxpayers or individuals with incomplete invoicing information. After issuance, it cannot be used for input VAT credit.
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Fully Digitalized Electronic Special Invoice: For general taxpayers. You must provide the company name, tax ID, address and phone number, and bank name and account number. After issuance, it can be used for input VAT credit.
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Recipient Email: Confirm that the e-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 model/specification, this field will be empty on the invoice. If you select None, the field will show "None".
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Invoice Remarks: If you want to include specific service details or additional consumption information on the invoice, add them to the remarks.
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By default, the "Registered address and phone number" and "Bank and account number" remarks are pre-selected. You can clear them if needed. To modify this information, see Maintain invoice titles.
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Avoid entering irrelevant terms like "urgent" or "as soon as possible", as they may cause the invoice request to be rejected.
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Invoice Amount: Confirm that the invoice amount is correct. You can click Back to make changes.
After confirming all information is correct, click Submit Application, and then click Confirm Submission in the pop-up.
4. View and download the invoice
Navigate to Invoices>Invoice Download & Credit Note to view all your invoice request records. The Invoice Status column shows the current progress:
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Invoicing: You have submitted an invoice request, and the system is processing it. While the status is Invoicing, you can cancel the request.
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Invoiced: The invoice has been successfully issued, and you can now download it. E-invoices are typically issued within one business day. For invoices for third-party products from Cloud Marketplace, issuance may take up to seven business days. For details, contact the Cloud Marketplace service provider.
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Voided: You canceled the invoice request before it was completed.
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Crediting: You have requested a credit note, and the system is processing your request.
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Credited: The credit note was successfully issued, and the original invoice is now void.
Find the invoice you want to download. When the status is "Invoiced", click Download in the Actions column. You can 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 & Credit Note page and click Request Credit Note. For detailed steps, see Reissue an invoice.
Set up auto-invoicing
After you enable auto-invoicing, the system automatically issues an invoice for your previous month's bill on the 5th of each month. You will be notified by SMS, email, and internal message once the invoice is issued.
Auto-invoicing requires the invoiceable amount to meet the following conditions:
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The invoiceable amount for the account must be ≥ 0.
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The remaining invoiceable amount after invoicing must be ≥ 0.
If invoicing fails due to an insufficient invoiceable amount, a mismatch between the title and real-name registration, or other reasons, the system will send a notification. Please resolve the issue promptly.
If your account's real-name registration or invoice title changes, the auto-invoicing setting is automatically disabled and must be reconfigured.
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Log on to the Alibaba Cloud console and navigate to the Billing Management> 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 accounts for which to enable auto-invoicing.
NoteAdministrators of a Management Account (MA) can configure settings for multiple accounts at once. If an account cannot be selected, you may not have invoicing permissions for it. First, configure permissions on the Account Center page.
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Set the invoice title, invoice type, and select a recipient email address from the list of saved addresses. If no email addresses are available, click Set Recipient Email to add one.
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Populate Remarks with Bank & Address Information: Choose whether to automatically include this information in the invoice remarks field.
NoteYou can select multiple accounts and click Set Recipient Email or Populate Remarks with Bank & Address Information 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 confirmation pop-up window.
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Invoice APIs
FAQ
Corporate title for individual account
Why is the payment recipient Alibaba Cloud Computing Co., Ltd., but the invoicing entity is a different company?
Tax rate information
Zero or negative invoiceable amount
Invoicing for domain names
Invoicing for a closed account
Update invoice title
Change recipient email address
Invoice status stuck at "Invoicing"
Title information for Alibaba Cloud
Receipts for top-ups or orders
For other invoice-related questions, see Invoice FAQ.