Invoice Calculator for South African Businesses

A South African invoice calculator generates SARS-compliant tax invoices with 15% VAT broken out separately, supplier VAT number, customer details, and sequential invoice numbering. VAT registration is mandatory at R1,000,000 rolling 12-month turnover (voluntary from R50,000). SARS' VAT 404 Guide for Vendors and section 20 of the VAT Act are the authoritative references on tax invoice requirements.

SA invoice compliance is unusually prescriptive because SARS audits invoice content directly during VAT verifications — a non-compliant tax invoice means the customer can't claim input VAT and you can be penalised for issuing an invalid document. The R1 million turnover threshold for compulsory VAT registration is the single biggest invoice-format inflection point for an SA small business: cross it for the first time, and every subsequent invoice must include 11 specific fields that simpler "quotation"-style invoices skip.

Section 20(4) of the VAT Act — required elements of a full tax invoice (R5,000+): - The words "Tax Invoice", "VAT Invoice", or "Invoice" in a prominent place - Supplier's name, address, and VAT registration number - Recipient's name, address, and VAT registration number (if a vendor) - Individual serialised invoice number - Date of issue - Full and proper description of goods or services - Quantity or volume supplied - The value of the supply, the VAT charged, and the consideration (or alternatively the consideration and a statement that it includes VAT, with the rate)

Abridged tax invoices (R50-R5,000): can omit the recipient details and serialised number requirement but must still show VAT separately.

Below R50: no tax invoice required.

Invoice numbering: must be sequential and unbroken — gaps trigger SARS questions during VAT201 verification. Use a clean prefix scheme (e.g. INV-2026-0001) and never reissue a cancelled number; issue a credit note (with its own number, referencing the original invoice) instead.

Currency and rounding: SA tax invoices may be issued in any currency, but VAT must be stated in rand. SARS uses the spot rate on date of supply for the rand conversion. Round VAT to the nearest cent.

Worked example: Cape Town design studio invoices a Johannesburg client R45,000 ex-VAT for a brand identity project. Tax invoice shows: subtotal R45,000.00, VAT @ 15% R6,750.00, total R51,750.00. The studio remits the R6,750 on its next bi-monthly VAT201 return; the client claims R6,750 input VAT on its return, netting the cost to R45,000. If the studio is below the R50k voluntary threshold and not VAT-registered, it issues a plain "Invoice" for R45,000 with no VAT — but the client can claim zero input VAT, making the studio's pricing functionally R6,750 less competitive against a VAT-registered alternative for B2B work.

Payment terms: SA convention is 30 days net for B2B; 14 days for retail credit. The Prompt Payment Code (introduced 2020) targets 30-day max for government suppliers but is widely flouted; expect 60-90 days from large corporates in practice.

For specifics, see SARS' VAT 404 Guide for Vendors and Binding General Ruling 21 on tax invoices. Pair with /pricing-calculator/za for VAT-inclusive shelf pricing and /freelance-rate-calculator/za for the hourly-rate math behind the invoice line.