# Credit notes and invoices in CloudCart: automatic invoicing and N-18 How to issue a credit note and invoices in CloudCart: invoices go out on payment, credit notes on returns, and the Ordinance N-18 XML file from the admin. Source: https://cloudcart.com/en/blog/invoices-n18 · CloudCart · 2026-11-06 In short: CloudCart issues the invoice automatically as soon as an order becomes Paid, Completed or Fulfilled, with a sequential 10-digit number, and emails it to the customer. You issue a credit note from the order (the View credit note button) or from a return when only part of the goods comes back. The document numbers then go into the monthly Ordinance N-18 XML file. This guide is for merchants who sell in or from Bulgaria, including foreign founders and companies run from abroad, and who want invoices, credit notes and the NRA file to come straight out of the store instead of being retyped into separate invoicing software. CloudCart, the Bulgarian ecommerce platform, issues the invoice and the credit note from the order itself, and the audit file under Ordinance N-18 (Bulgaria's reporting rules for online sales) is built by the N18 Audit app in the admin. Menu and field names below are written exactly as they appear in the admin. The legal rules come from the [consolidated Bulgarian VAT Act on lex.bg (in Bulgarian)](https://lex.bg/laws/ldoc/2135533201), including the amendments in force from Jan 1, 2026. When a company has to register for VAT is covered in the guide to [VAT registration for an online store](https://cloudcart.com/en/blog/vat-registration-online-store). This is not accounting advice: your accountant confirms what applies to your company. The features themselves, without the step-by-step part, are on the [Invoices and N-18](https://cloudcart.com/en/invoices) page. ## What is a credit note and when do you issue one? A credit note is a document linked to an invoice you have already issued, and it reduces the taxable amount of that sale or cancels it completely. Under Art. 115 of the Bulgarian VAT Act, the supplier must issue a note whenever the taxable amount changes or the sale is reversed: a credit note when the amount goes down or the sale is cancelled, a debit note when it goes up. The note is issued within 5 days of the event that caused it, and it states the number and date of the original invoice. EU law treats it the same way: under [Art. 219 of the EU VAT Directive](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:02006L0112-20250414), any document that amends and clearly refers to the initial invoice counts as an invoice. In an online store you need a credit note (Bulgarian accountants also call it a "storno" or "reversal") in three cases: the customer returns the whole order, returns part of it, or the order is cancelled after the invoice is already out. The invoice itself is due within 5 days of the tax point (Art. 113(4)), and its number is sequential, has 10 digits and uses Arabic numerals only (Art. 114(1)(2)). That is why CloudCart pads the number with zeros to 10 digits by default: invoice 187 prints as 0000000187. | Document | When you issue it | Where in CloudCart | | Invoice | A sale, especially when the customer is a business or asks for one | Automatically on payment, or with a button on the order | | Credit note for the whole order | A cancelled or refunded order that has an invoice | The order → View credit note → Create credit note | | Credit note for part of the order | The customer returns one or more lines | The order → Issue return → partial return → the return's credit note | | Sales document | Card payment under the alternative regime of Ordinance N-18 | Issued on its own when N18 Audit is installed; the link is in the order history | | Monthly XML file for the NRA | By the 15th of the following month, under the alternative regime | Apps → N18 Audit → Add new period | The sales document is the receipt Ordinance N-18 requires instead of a fiscal receipt when a customer pays by card online. The NRA is the National Revenue Agency, Bulgaria's tax authority. ## Who is invoicing in CloudCart for, and which plan includes it? Invoicing is included in all four CloudCart plans: Baby Pack, Starter Pack, CC Pro and CC Master (see the feature table on [pricing](https://cloudcart.com/en/pricing)). Without an active plan, the Invoices menu is hidden and so is the invoice button on the order. Three kinds of stores gain the most. A store that sells to businesses, because every order with a company ID (UIC, EIK in Bulgarian) needs an invoice. A store with many returns, such as clothing and shoes, because every return needs a credit note with the right amount. And a store that takes cards under the alternative regime of Ordinance N-18, because the monthly NRA file takes the document numbers from invoicing. A note for stores selling mainly to consumers: under Art. 113(3)(1) of the VAT Act, an invoice is optional when the buyer is a private individual who is not VAT-registered, and under Art. 113(6) it is issued when either side asks for it. That is why CloudCart lets you invoice only orders with a billing address (see the steps below). > €1 for 3 months Invoices and credit notes from day one, for €1 a month New stores pay €1/month for the first 3 months on any plan, and invoicing is part of even the smallest one. Your first order gets its invoice without a separate subscription to invoicing software. Online store for €1 → ## How do you turn on automatic invoicing? You turn on automatic invoicing in Settings → Invoicing, in the General settings block at the top of the page. The page has three tabs: Invoice template, Credit note template and HTML templates (the raw templates). One Save button stores all three tabs at once. - Turn invoicing on. Open Settings → Invoicing and switch on Activate invoicing . If an external invoicing app that replaces the built-in one is installed (Számlázz.hu, for example), the switch stays off until you deactivate that app: a store has only one active invoice issuer. - Choose when the invoice is issued. In Generate Invoice , choose Automatic if the invoice should go out on its own, or Manual if you want to issue it with a button on the order. - Choose where the number comes from. With Manual, an Invoice number field appears with three options: Automated by system (the next number in the sequence), Manual by admin (you type the number) and External system (the number comes from external software; Gensoft is listed when it is installed). - Decide on the billing address rule. Issue an invoice only if a billing address is selected is on by default. An order without a billing address then gets no invoice, automatic or manual. For a store that sells mostly to consumers, this saves you invoices nobody asked for. - Fill in your company details. On the Invoice template tab, click the company block in the invoice preview. Company name, phone, country, city, street and postcode are required. For a Bulgarian company, the UIC/BULSTAT (checked for a valid checksum) and the legal representative (MOL) are required too. The VAT number and extra lines (for example "VAT No." → BG123456789) are optional. - Set the numbering. In the top block of the invoice you set a prefix, the zero padding (up to 10 digits, 10 by default) and a suffix. Credit notes have their own separate sequence on the Credit note template tab. - Add the logo and save. The invoice logo is uploaded in the Brand settings, not on this page. Click Save. If a field is wrong, the page opens the tab and the field with the error for you. | Generate Invoice | Invoice number | What happens on payment | Best for | | Automatic | (not shown) | The invoice is issued on its own with the next number | Most stores | | Manual | Automated by system | You click the invoice button on the order; the number is sequential | Stores that check each order before invoicing | | Manual | Manual by admin | A window opens where you type the number (digits only, unique) | Numbering kept somewhere else as well | | Manual | External system | The number comes from the external software; if none comes back, you see an error | Accounting in Gensoft | Important: every time an invoice is issued, in every mode, the customer receives an email with the PDF, and that email cannot be held back at the moment of issuing. Before you go live, place a test order to your own email address and check how the invoice looks. What makes an emailed PDF invoice valid is explained in the guide to [electronic invoices](https://cloudcart.com/en/blog/e-invoice-online-store). ### How to choose the numbering The number is built from three parts: a prefix, a sequential number padded with leading zeros, and a suffix. You can insert tags into the prefix and suffix by clicking them: [OY], [OM] and [OD] are the year, month and day of the document itself, [DATE] is the order date, [CID] is the customer number and [CGID] is the customer group. Use [OY] for the year of issue: an order placed on December 30 and invoiced on January 2 gets the new year. The starting number of the sequence cannot be set by hand: the platform takes the highest number already issued and adds 1. If you are moving from another platform and your accountant wants the old sequence to continue, ask whether you need a new prefix before the first invoice. ## How is an invoice issued, automatically and manually? The invoice is issued automatically when the order becomes Paid or Completed, when it is fulfilled, or right away if the order contains only digital products. A Pending order cannot get an invoice, not even manually. A cash on delivery order (the courier, such as Econt or Speedy, collects the money at the door) gets its invoice when it is fulfilled or marked as paid, whichever comes first. In manual mode (Generate Invoice: Manual), the order's action panel has an Invoice row with a create button. Once the order has a number, View invoice appears at the top of the order and opens the PDF in a new tab, where you download or print it. - The success message is no proof. The button says "Successfully generated invoice" even when no invoice was issued (the order does not meet the conditions or has no billing address). Check that the order has an invoice number. - The invoice locks the order. Once an order has an invoice number, its products and prices cannot be edited. If the customer wants another product, you create a new order; if they want fewer, you create a return with a credit note. - The number is permanent. An issued number stays on the order even if it is cancelled, and it is never given to another order. Reissuing an invoice with a new number is not possible: a mistake is fixed with a credit note and a new order. This matches Art. 116 of the VAT Act, which allows no corrections to issued invoices. ## How do I issue a credit note in CloudCart? For the whole order, you issue the credit note from the View credit note button at the top of the order; for part of the order, from the return (Issue return). Both kinds share one numbering sequence, separate from invoices. ### Credit note for the whole order - Change the status. The order must be Cancelled or Refunded and must have an invoice. A Paid order with a partial refund does not qualify. - Open View credit note. The button appears at the top of the order once the conditions are met. Click it and choose Create credit note . - Check and send. After it is created, the same menu shows Download credit note (PDF in a new tab) and Send credit note (email to the customer). Amounts, lines and the date come from the order; there are no fields to fill in. Send credit note also creates the note if it does not exist yet. On an order that does not meet the conditions, the button sends nothing, even though you see a green message. So click Create first, and Send once you see the number. ### Credit note for a partial return - Issue the return. On the order, click Issue return , choose a partial return and mark the lines and quantities. The form shows the amount to refund before you save. The line price is the price paid after the product discount. - Receive the goods. When the parcel arrives, mark the return as received (Receive). The quantities go back into stock and the customer gets a notification. - Issue the credit note. The credit note is a separate action on the return: the goods can already be back in stock while the note is still missing. Check the return history for a credit note entry and, if there is none, issue it from the return. This gives you time to inspect the goods before you document the amount. | | Whole order | Part of the order | | Where from | View credit note → Create credit note | Issue return → Receive → the return's credit note | | Condition | Status Cancelled or Refunded, invoice issued | The order has an invoice and is not fully returned | | Number per order | One | One for each return | | Return record | Created automatically when a paid or invoiced order becomes Cancelled or Refunded | You create it with Issue return; stock comes back on Receive | | Number | From the shared credit note sequence | From the same sequence | Important: after a credit note for a partial return, the order can no longer be reversed as a whole in one step. Each further return covers the remaining lines. If the customer is going to send everything back, wait for the full parcel and create one return. The credit note sequence is shared by both kinds. If you look only at whole-order notes, you will see gaps in the numbers: the missing ones went to partial returns. This is deliberate, because an inspector expects one sequence without holes. On the Credit note template tab, the Method of payment by credit note field changes only the payment method printed on the note. It refunds no money and changes no status. Card payments are refunded from the payment line on the order with Refund payment; for cash on delivery and bank transfers you send the money back yourself. What the law says about return deadlines is covered in [returns and consumer rights online](https://cloudcart.com/en/blog/returns-consumer-rights-online-store). > CloudCart Pay 0% transaction fee through Dec 31, 2026 With CloudCart Pay, the card refund happens on the same order where you issue the credit note. The amount, the document and the stock stay linked, so your accountant sees the whole path of the sale. How CloudCart Pay works → ## What does a credit note contain, and is it negative? A credit note contains the name of the document, the details required on an invoice (number, date, supplier, customer, taxable amount and VAT), the number and date of the invoice it refers to, and the reason for issuing it (Art. 115(4) of the VAT Act). Since the amount reduces the sale, CloudCart shows the lines and totals in the credit note PDF with a minus sign, and the CSV export lists credit notes with negative amounts. From Jan 1, 2026, Art. 114(5) allows amounts in any currency as long as the taxable amount and the VAT are also stated in euro. None of these fields is typed in by hand in CloudCart. The number comes from the credit note sequence, the date is the moment of creation, the lines and amounts come from the order, and the text for the reason or for a VAT exemption comes from the template in Settings → Invoicing → Credit note template. Downloaded as a file, the document is named order__credit_.pdf. | Document | When | Effect on the sale | In CloudCart | | Invoice | A sale (the tax point) | Records the taxable amount and VAT | Automatically or with a button on the order | | Credit note (reversal, storno) | Return, cancellation, an amount that was too high | Reduces or cancels the taxable amount | From the order or from the return | | Debit note | The taxable amount goes up after the invoice | Increases the taxable amount | No button: an increase is handled with a new order and a new invoice | Important: the total of all credit notes on one order cannot exceed the order total. If a partial return's note would go over that limit, CloudCart refuses it with the message "Issuing this credit note would exceed the order total." ## Can you issue a credit note for last month's or last year's invoice? Yes, a credit note for an invoice from a previous month or year is issued as usual. The 5-day deadline in Art. 115(2) of the VAT Act runs from the event (the goods coming back, the sale being cancelled), whatever the date on the invoice. Example: an invoice dated the 28th of one month for an order the customer returns on the 3rd of the next month gets a credit note dated no later than the 8th. - The date is the day of creation. CloudCart dates the note on the day you click Create credit note or issue the note on the return. Issue it on the day you receive the goods and the deadline is met. - The reversal goes into the month of the return. In the N-18 XML file, the sale stays in the month it was paid, and the reversal goes into the month in which the order was cancelled or the return was made. The old monthly file is not generated again. - The status locks. A Cancelled or Refunded order with a credit note or a return cannot go back to Paid. You can still switch between Cancelled and Refunded. - Wrong price or discount after invoicing. An invoiced order cannot be edited, so in CloudCart the path is a credit note for the whole order plus a new order with the correct price, which gets its own invoice. ## How is the Ordinance N-18 XML file generated? The N-18 XML file is generated by the N18 Audit app: you choose a month, CloudCart builds the file to Annex 38 of the ordinance, and you download it and upload it to the NRA portal between the 1st and the 15th of the following month. CloudCart does not file it for you. The file is for merchants who accept cards under the alternative regime of [Ordinance N-18 on lex.bg (in Bulgarian)](https://lex.bg/laws/ldoc/2135540645), Art. 52o to 52u. - Register the store with the NRA. The NRA assigns a unique e-shop number after you file the store's details under Annex 33. The registration is explained step by step in Ordinance N-18 for online stores . - Install N18 Audit. Install N18 Audit from Apps. The app has no on/off switch: once installed, it works. - Enter the unique number. In the app settings, enter the number from the NRA. The default domain is the store's main address. Map each payment method to its type under the ordinance: a bank's virtual POS (with the terminal number) or a payment service provider. - Add a period. Click Add new period , choose the month (MM-YYYY) and save. The file is built in the background, sometimes over several hours when the system is busy, and you get a notification in the admin when it is ready. - Download and file it. The file is named, for example, "N18 Audit 2026-10 - …xml". Download it from the list and upload it to the NRA portal by the 15th. Two groups of orders go into the file. Sales are the orders that became Paid, Completed or Fulfilled during the month. Reversals are orders already sold that became Cancelled, Refunded or another negative status during the month, plus partial returns by return date. An order placed in April and paid in May goes into May. A sale in May returned in June is a sale in May and a reversal in June. Each order appears in one monthly file only. Amounts are in euro for orders from January 2026 onward. Important: the file takes the document number of each sale (the sales document or the invoice) from the store's invoicing. If invoicing was off during the month, the sales go in without a number and the file does not meet the ordinance. Turn invoicing on before the first month you report. If you generate a month again, a second file appears next to the first: download the new one and delete the old one so that you do not file the wrong one. > Invoices and N-18 One file a month, with the numbers from your orders The invoice, the credit note and the reversal in the XML file all come from the same order. At month end you download one file and upload it to the NRA, with no three systems to reconcile. Invoices and N-18 in CloudCart → ## Invoice list, PDF archive and export for your accountant All issued invoices are in the Invoices menu on the left. It lists only orders with an invoice number, with buttons to download the invoice and the credit note on each row. Filters search by order date, customer, whether a credit note exists, and order or invoice number. - Download saves the invoices as PDF files in a ZIP archive. - Export creates a CSV register with 12 columns (invoice number, order, customer, amount and more), one row per product. Credit notes come at the end, with the invoice and credit note numbers and negative amounts, so they are easy to reconcile. - Up to 10 invoices download immediately. Above 10, they are processed in the background and arrive in your inbox. - If two-factor authentication is on, CloudCart asks for a code before downloading or exporting. Important: the Download and Export buttons currently cover every invoice in the store, whatever the filter. The filter narrows only the list on screen. If your accountant wants a single month, split the rows by date in Excel. An AI assistant can run the monthly check for you. You connect Claude Code, ChatGPT Codex, Gemini CLI or Cursor to the store with a read-only PAT token (a personal access token from the admin) and ask: "Which paid orders from October still have no invoice number, and which cancelled orders have no credit note?" The assistant reads the orders and gives you the list before you generate the XML file. > Store run with an AI assistant The month-end check in one sentence An AI assistant with a PAT token matches orders, invoice numbers and credit notes on request, so you do not go through the list line by line. A read-only token cannot change a single order. Store run by AI → ## Built-in invoicing or separate invoicing software? For a store selling in Bulgaria, CloudCart's built-in invoicing covers the invoice, the credit note and the numbers for the N-18 file, with no separate invoicing software. External software makes sense if your accounting already keeps the sequence there, or if you sell in a market with its own e-invoicing system. | Option | Market | Who assigns the number | Note | | CloudCart built-in invoicing | Bulgaria and all other markets | CloudCart, from the store's sequence | Invoice, credit note, template, PDF, export | | Gensoft | Bulgaria | Gensoft (Invoice number: External system) | Bulgarian ERP and accounting system; the invoice stays in CloudCart, the number comes from Gensoft | | FGO | Bulgaria | FGO | Documents are kept in FGO; the order keeps the link | | SmartBill | Romania | SmartBill | Invoices and credit notes, with submission to e-Factura | | Számlázz.hu | Hungary | Számlázz.hu | Replaces built-in invoicing while active | | myDATA | Greece | CloudCart | Sends each invoice and credit note to AADE and prints the MARK and QR code | If your store is connected to inventory or ERP software, check which system issues the invoice before you turn invoicing on in both. When you migrate from WooCommerce, Shopify or OpenCart, the old orders are carried over and kept separately, and new invoices start from the CloudCart sequence; the details are on the [migration to CloudCart](https://cloudcart.com/en/migration) page. ## Good invoicing practices for an online store - Test with an order to yourself. The invoice email goes out on every issue. A test order shows the template, the company details and the number before any customer sees them. - Turn invoicing on from day one. The N-18 XML file takes its numbers from invoicing. A month without it gives a file without document numbers. - Use [OY], never [DATE], for the year. [DATE] is the order date and [OY] is the year of the document. The difference shows on orders from late December. - Wait for the full parcel on a full return. One return for everything is cleaner than several partial ones, and after the first partial note the order can no longer be reversed as a whole. - Check the order before marking it paid. After invoicing, products and prices are locked. For phone orders, check quantities and the billing address before you record the payment. - Give your accountant the CSV, not a folder of PDFs. The register with negative credit note amounts is far quicker to match against the bank statement. - Keep one XML file per month. After regenerating, delete the old file so that you do not upload it by mistake. ## Mistakes to avoid - An invoice that "was generated" but does not exist. The success message also appears when the order does not meet the conditions. Check the number on the order. - A credit note on a paid order with a partial refund. View credit note does not appear until the status is Cancelled or Refunded. For part of the amount, use a return. - Two systems issuing invoices at once. Built-in invoicing plus external software that also issues documents gives two sequences for one order. Pick one issuer. - An invalid UIC in the company details. The page will not save until the UIC/BULSTAT passes the checksum. Copy it from the Bulgarian Commercial Register. - An order without a billing address while the rule is on. A business customer who left the billing address empty gets no invoice. Add the address on the order, then issue the invoice. ## Frequently asked questions **What is a credit note?** A credit note is a document linked to an invoice already issued that reduces the taxable amount of the sale or cancels it. Under Art. 115 of the Bulgarian VAT Act it is issued within 5 days of the event, such as a return or a cancelled order. It states the number and date of the invoice it refers to. **How do I issue a credit note?** In CloudCart, for the whole order, set the status to Cancelled or Refunded, click View credit note and choose Create credit note. For part of the order, create a return (Issue return), mark the returned lines, receive the goods and issue the return's credit note. Amounts and lines come from the order. **How do I issue invoices automatically?** In Settings → Invoicing, switch on Activate invoicing and set Generate Invoice to Automatic. The invoice goes out on its own when the order becomes Paid, Completed or Fulfilled, and the customer receives it by email. If the billing address rule is on, orders without a billing address get no invoice. **How is the N-18 XML file generated?** Install the N18 Audit app, enter the store's unique number from the NRA and click Add new period for the month. CloudCart builds the Annex 38 file in the background, and you download it and upload it to the NRA portal between the 1st and the 15th of the following month. **Do I need separate invoicing software for my online store in Bulgaria?** For a CloudCart store selling in Bulgaria, it is optional. Built-in invoicing issues invoices and credit notes with sequential numbers and PDFs, and the export gives your accountant a CSV register. External software such as FGO or Gensoft makes sense if your sequence is already kept there. **Can I correct an invoice after it is issued?** Not directly. Art. 116 of the VAT Act allows no corrections to issued invoices, and in CloudCart an issued invoice locks the order and keeps its number permanently. The mistake is fixed with a credit note for the invoice and a new order with the right details, which gets a new invoice. **Can I issue a credit note for an invoice from last month?** Yes. The 5-day deadline in Art. 115 of the VAT Act runs from the return or cancellation, whatever the invoice date. In CloudCart the note is dated on the day it is created, and in the N-18 XML file the reversal goes into the month of the return. **Is a credit note shown with a minus sign?** Yes, because the credit note reduces the sale. In CloudCart the lines and totals in the credit note PDF carry a minus sign, and in the CSV export of invoices the credit notes have negative amounts. Invoices and credit notes are in every CloudCart plan, and sales carry 0% commission to the platform ([zero-commission ecommerce](https://cloudcart.com/en/offer/zero-commission-ecommerce)). A new store pays €1/month for the first 3 months on any plan. [Create your store for €1](https://cloudcart.com/en/offer/online-store-for-1-euro) and issue your first invoice with your first order. For invoicing questions, write to support@cloudcart.com.