Invoice documentation (fakturagrundlag)
Also known as supporting documentation, proof of delivery, underlying records
The invoice documentation is what shows that the invoiced work was actually delivered — the order, the delivery note, the timesheet.
- Shows
- That delivery took place
- Used in
- Disputes and court proceedings
- Burden of proof
- Rests with the creditor
In practice
An invoice is an assertion that something is owed. The invoice documentation is what turns that assertion into something provable: the order, the delivery note, the timesheet, the email in which the work was commissioned.
As long as the customer pays, nobody looks at it. It becomes decisive the moment the debtor raises an objection — because then the question is no longer what the invoice says, but what can be documented. And the burden of proof rests with whoever is demanding payment.
So the documentation is not something to dig out when a case turns difficult. It is something that has to sit on the file from the start, while the person who knows the details still works in the building.
Where it commonly goes wrong
- The documentation is scattered. The order in an inbox, the delivery note in one archive, the hours in another system. The case is winnable and gets dropped anyway, because assembling it takes two days.
- Assuming the invoice is enough. It is a record, not proof of delivery. If the claim is disputed, it is only the starting point.