The sample
This is a complete VAT sales invoice for a hardware supplier selling to a construction company. Every element required by RR 7-2024 is on it. Work through it once and the rest of this page will make sense.
Malaya Hardware Supply
123 Rizal Street, Barangay San Roque
Quezon City, Metro Manila
VAT‑REGISTERED · TIN 000‑000‑000‑00000
Sales Invoice
No. 001234
Date 15 Aug 2026
| Qty | Description | Unit cost | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20 | Portland cement, 40 kg | 285.00 | 5,700.00 |
| 10 | Steel bar, 10 mm x 6 m | 248.00 | 2,480.00 |
| 5 | Plywood, 3/4 in. marine | 920.00 | 4,600.00 |
What each part is doing
Nothing on that invoice is decorative. Each block is there because a regulation asks for it or because your customer's accountant will:
| On the invoice | Why it has to be there |
|---|---|
| Business name and address | Identifies who made the sale |
| VAT-REGISTERED, TIN and branch code | Required wording — it tells the buyer this invoice can support an input VAT claim |
| Invoice number | Must run in sequence with no gaps you cannot explain |
| Date of transaction | Fixes the period the sale belongs to |
| Buyer name, address, TIN | Required for sales of ₱1,000 or more to a VAT-registered buyer |
| Quantity, description, unit cost | Required detail — a lump-sum line is not enough |
| VAT shown on its own line | The regulation requires VAT separated from the net, not folded into one figure |
Filling it up, line by line
Your own details at the top are normally pre-printed by the accredited printer. What you complete at the counter is everything below them.
- Date and invoice number. The number is usually pre-printed and sequential. Never skip one, and never reuse one — a gap is the first thing an examiner asks about.
- Buyer's details. Name, address and TIN when the sale is ₱1,000 or more to a VAT-registered buyer. Ask at the counter; chasing it afterwards means re-issuing.
- One line per item. Quantity, a description someone else would recognise, and the unit cost. Multiply out to the amount.
- Total the lines. In the sample, ₱5,700.00 + ₱2,480.00 + ₱4,600.00 gives VATable sales of ₱12,780.00.
- Compute VAT at 12%. 12% of ₱12,780.00 is ₱1,533.60, written on its own line.
- Add the two. ₱12,780.00 + ₱1,533.60 = ₱14,313.60 as the amount due.
If you are not VAT-registered
The same document, minus the tax. A non-VAT invoice shows one total with no VAT line, and it must not describe you as VAT-registered. The sample above would become a single amount due of ₱12,780.00 with the VAT-REGISTERED wording and the VAT row removed.
This is the difference worth being pedantic about. A non-VAT taxpayer who issues a VAT invoice becomes liable for the VAT on that transaction under Section 106 or 108 of the Tax Code, on top of any percentage tax already owed, plus a 50 percent surcharge. It usually happens by reusing a template from a business that was registered differently.
The four mistakes that come up most
- VAT folded into the total. One figure with “VAT inclusive” beside it does not satisfy a requirement to show the VAT separately.
- Gaps in the numbering. Spoiled invoices get cancelled and retained, not thrown away, so the sequence stays whole.
- Buyer's TIN left blank on a sale where it was required, which is what forces a re-issue later.
- A non-VAT business using VAT wording, the one on this list with a surcharge attached.
One more that is not a formatting error: still issuing an official receipt as the primary document for a service. That changed in 2024 — the invoice covers services now, and the official receipt no longer supports your customer's input VAT claim. What changed, and what the official receipt is still good for.
This is general information, not tax advice. The sample is illustrative — the businesses are invented and the TINs are placeholders. BIR rules change and how they apply depends on your registration type and your Revenue District Office. This page reflects the issuances cited below as of August 2026. Confirm with the BIR or your accountant before you commission printed invoices or file anything.
Sources: Republic Act No. 11976 (Ease of Paying Taxes Act); BIR Revenue Regulations No. 7-2024, effective 27 April 2024, Section 3(B) on the required contents of an invoice; Revenue Regulations No. 11-2024; Revenue Memorandum Circular No. 77-2024. Summarised from published Philippine tax-practitioner guidance rather than read from the issuances directly, so treat the regulation numbers as the thing to look up.
Issuing these without a booklet
The sample above is what a paper invoice looks like. If you issue more than a handful a week, the arithmetic and the sequence are worth handing to software: numbers that increment on their own, VAT computed and shown separately every time, and a record of what went to whom.
Smapey Invoice does that. It does not register your business, secure your Authority to Print, or accredit a system with your RDO — those stay yours, and they come first.
Stop re-typing the same invoice
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