The invoice: you sell something
An invoice is a document that you issue when you sell a product or service to a customer. It formalizes the claim, triggers the payment obligation and serves as a tax document for VAT.
Characteristics:
- Issued by the seller (you) to the buyer (your customer)
- Contains VAT if you are subject to it
- Mandatory numbered and sequential
- Enforceable document: your customer must pay you
The expense report: you claim a reimbursement
An expense report is an internal document that you use to claim reimbursement of a professional expense that you have advanced. For example: a client meal, a train ticket, equipment purchased for a project.
Characteristics:
- Issued by the employee or self-employed person to their employer or client
- Accompanied by supporting documents (receipts, invoices, bills)
- No VAT on the report itself (VAT appears on the supporting documents)
- Not subject to the same numbering rules
Quick comparison
| Criterion | Invoice | Expense report |
|---|---|---|
| Direction | You → Customer | You → Employer / Customer |
| Purpose | Payment for a service | Reimbursement of an advance |
| VAT | Yes (if subject to it) | No (on the report) |
| Supporting documents required | No | Yes mandatory |
| Sequential numbering | Mandatory | Not mandatory |
| Legal payment period | Yes (30 days) | According to agreement |
Concrete cases for a Belgian self-employed person
You work on assignment for a client
At the end of the month, you send an invoice for your hours worked. If you have advanced expenses (parking, equipment), you include them in the invoice as "expense rebilling" OR you send a separate expense report with supporting documents attached.
You work on a flat-rate project
You send an invoice for the agreed flat-rate amount. Ancillary costs are either included in the flat rate or rebilled separately with supporting documents.
You have personal professional expenses
Business meals, fuel, professional subscriptions: these are expenses that you record in your expense accounting. No expense report — you just keep the receipts/invoices for your accounting.
Expense rebilling: watch out for VAT
When you rebill expenses to a client (e.g. a train ticket that you advanced), two options:
- Out-of-pocket — you rebill the exact same amount, without markup, and you can exclude it from your VAT base (if you have the original invoice in the customer's name)
- Standard rebilling — you integrate the expenses into your normal invoice and apply your usual VAT
If in doubt, talk to your accountant — out-of-pocket rules are strict.
How Ledgerly manages both
In Ledgerly, you can record your professional expenses (with automatic OCR receipt scanning) and rebill them directly on a client invoice with one click. The distinction between expense report / invoice is managed automatically.
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