INVOICING, COMPARED

A PDF in an email is not an invoicing system.

It works right up until someone asks how much a client still owes, or which invoice that bank transfer belongs to. This is what changes when the invoice carries its own state, its own link and its own balance.

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Invoice template + spreadsheet + emailCord Invoicing

Where the invoice livesA PDF in an email thread, plus a row in a spreadsheetA record with its own state: draft, open, paid, void or uncollectible

How the client pays itThey read the PDF, then look for your bank details somewhere elseThe invoice has its own page where the client pays the balance, in full or in part, by card or, in beta, by bank transfer with a reference

How you know the balanceSomeone reconciles the bank statement against the spreadsheet by handOnline payments and the transfers you record both reduce the same balance

NumberingA counter someone maintains, easy to skip or duplicateSequential per country and document type, reserved transactionally at issue time

VATA VAT rate someone looks up and types into the templateVAT on every line at the rate in your catalogue (standard, reduced, zero-rated or exempt), totalled by rate on the invoice

CancellingA credit note typed up separately, and the spreadsheet may never find outWith no payments it is voided; with payments, it becomes a credit note

RemindersSomeone remembers. Or does not.Each invoice carries its own due date and Cord emails before and after it

Another currencyA rate someone typed in, from a day nobody recordedIssued in the currency of the sale, with a dated rate stated on the document

From your own systemsCopy and pastev1 API, webhooks per state change, and an MCP server

What Cord does not do

In the UK no authority receives each invoice, and Cord does not submit your VAT returns to HMRC under Making Tax Digital: you or your accountant still do.
Online, the client pays by card, and in beta by bank transfer with a reference. On invoices, payment by Bacs Direct Debit is in beta. Bank transfers made outside the link are recorded by hand.
Recurring invoices are monthly: you schedule them from the app, from the Professional plan, and quarterly or yearly schedules are not available yet.

QUESTIONS

Before you switch

Does Cord file my VAT return?

No. In the UK no authority receives each invoice: Cord puts the VAT on every line of the invoice, and you or your accountant submit the return to HMRC with Making Tax Digital software.

Can I move my existing numbering to Cord?

Yes. Cord keeps a sequence per country and document type with a prefix you choose, so you can continue your current series instead of restarting at one.

What happens to invoices I already issued elsewhere?

They stay where they are. Cord does not import historical invoices from another system; it takes over from the moment you start issuing here, and your balance in Cord reflects only what Cord issued.

A PDF in an email is not an invoicing system.

What Cord does not do

Before you switch

Issue, send and collect. In one place.

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