Fixing common display problems in invoice PDFs

If information on your invoice PDFs is displayed incorrectly or not at all, this article helps you find and fix the problem.

Invoice number and invoice date wrong or not visible

Problem: The invoice number is not visible in the PDF

Causes:

• The invoice number is not shown on the standard layout (depending on your invoice template).
• For invoices created via the API: the request contains no invoiceNumber, or it is not formatted correctly.

Solution:

1. Check your invoice number settings under Settings → Invoices → Invoice number settings.
2. Make sure the invoice number is not empty.
3. For API calls: make sure invoiceNumber is included in the request. Example: "invoiceNumber": "RE-2024-001".

Problem: The invoice date is wrong (previous day or another date)

Causes:

• A time zone offset when the invoice is created (especially with API calls).
• The date is stored in UTC but displayed in a different time zone.

Solution:

1. Check the invoice date set when the invoice was created.
2. Check the time zone setting in your profile under Settings → General.
3. For API calls: the issueDate field should be sent in the format YYYY-MM-DD and is processed in system time.

Problem: The invoice number is not visible on subsequent pages

Causes:

• The invoice template shows the invoice number only on the first page.
• This is part of the layout design of the current template.

Solution:

• This calls for a customized layout. To show the invoice number on all pages, you can have an invoice layout customized on request. Contact our support with this requirement.

Company details, addresses and contact details wrong

Problem: The invoice shows a different company name than expected

Causes:

• The company data in your profile differs from the variant selected when the invoice was created.
• If you have several companies or branches, the wrong one is configured.
• The invoice data was taken from an older setting.

Solution:

1. Go to Settings → Profile and check the company name.
2. If you manage several companies or branches, make sure the correct entity is selected.
3. For future invoices: the current profile data is used.
4. You cannot change invoices that have already been created with wrong data afterwards; create a corrected invoice if necessary.

Problem: The invoice shows an outdated delivery address

Causes:

• The customer's delivery address has changed since the invoice was created.
• The invoice uses a snapshot of the customer data at the time of creation.

Solution:

1. Check the current customer data in your contacts (Contacts or Customers).
2. Changes to the customer data are shown on invoices created in the future.
3. An invoice that has already been created shows the data that was valid at the time of creation; you cannot change it afterwards.
4. If the wrong delivery address is critical, create a new invoice with the correct data or a corrected invoice.

Problem: Customer data on an invoice created from a template is wrong

Causes:

• When copying from a template, the current customer data is not applied automatically.
• The template contains the customer data as it was when the template was created.
• You did not reselect or update the customer when creating the invoice.

Solution:

1. When creating an invoice from a template: reselect the desired customer or check the customer data.
2. Change the address or other fields manually if necessary.
3. Save the invoice with the correct data.

See also: Customize the invoice display: fields, columns and layout.

Display problems with the browser

Problem: The invoice PDF is not displayed correctly in Safari

Causes:

• Safari can have display problems with some PDF formats (especially PDF/A-3-compliant PDFs with embedded XML).
• PDF conformance and browser compatibility are a known issue with hybrid formats such as ZUGFeRD.

Solution:

1. Open the PDF with another reader: download the PDF and open it with Adobe Acrobat Reader or another PDF reader instead of in the browser.
2. Update the browser: make sure Safari is updated to the latest version.
3. Test other browsers: open the PDF in Chrome or Firefox to check whether the problem is specific to Safari.
4. Download the PDF instead of viewing it in the browser: use the download button instead of opening the PDF in the browser.

Problem: Invoice fields or columns are not displayed

Causes:

• The view is filtered to certain columns.
• The invoice template does not show these fields.
• A browser cache problem leads to an outdated display.

Solution:

1. Clear the browser cache: clear the cache and reload the page (Ctrl+Shift+R or Cmd+Shift+R).
2. Check the view settings: go to Settings → View and check which columns are enabled.
3. Switch the invoice template: if another layout shows the fields you need, you can select a different template when creating an invoice.

Layout customizations

Problem: The standard layout does not show all the fields or columns you want

If the standard layout does not meet your requirements (for example, because you need a discount column instead of a tax column, or a logo should be in a specific position), you can have your invoice layout customized.

This is a service available on request. Contact our support with a precise description of your layout requirements so that we can develop a customized template.

Invoices created via the API: PDF with standard layout

Problem: Invoices created via the API show a different layout than in the web UI

Causes:

• The API call does not pass a template ID or configuration reference.
• The system falls back to a standard fallback template.

Solution:

1. Check your API payload: make sure you send a template field or a similar configuration if your invoice layout should not be the standard one.
2. Documentation: read the API documentation in Which BT fields does the faktoora API support? for the available configuration fields.

Further help

If you have a problem that is not described in this list:

• Invoice formats and conversion: for questions about XRechnung, ZUGFeRD and other formats, see Invoice formats and conversion.
• Invoice settings: for configuring default values and templates, see Invoice settings.
• Support: contact our support with screenshots or examples if the problem persists.