What is a Tax Invoice
A tax invoice is a document that lists the products of a sales transaction with a statement of the sum due for the products. This is an important document as it is a proof of transaction between the Supplier and the Customer. Apart from detailing the goods and services provided, it should also contain info regarding the amount payable by the Customer.
Every market has different requirements, but in Singapore for example, in addition to the invoice number, invoice date, Supplier and Customer, it must also include:
GST/Tax Number and Company Registration Nuber
Detailed product description - Product name, SKU number, unit price, quantity and total amount
Payment details - Legal name of the Supplier and bank details
Total payable amount inclusive of tax
What is a Delivery Order
On the other hand, delivery orders (DO) are usually issued to Customers when the products are being delivered to them and it serves as proof of delivery. While it is important for DO to have all the info regarding the order, unlike tax invoices, financial info such as product prices are not essential on a DO.
Some of the key info on OrderEZ's DO includes:
Order Number
Customer's address
Delivery Instructions
Information about products to be delivered - Product Name, SKU Number and Quantity
Why they should be 2 different documents
It is common for Suppliers to have different trade prices for different Customers. Hence, product pricing can be a piece of sensitive info that you want to include only in the tax invoice and not the DO.
Additionally, the purpose of a DO is to document what products are being delivered to the Customer, while the purpose of the tax invoice is to serve as payment advice. Omitting the product prices and payment info details on the DO can ensure that you have a cleaner and clearer document presented to the Customer at the point of goods receipt to help them check against the physical goods delivered.