Invoice Date vs Due Date (and Supply Date) Explained

Invoice date vs due date: the invoice date is the day you issue the invoice, and the due date is the last day the customer can pay on time. The due date is normally the invoice date plus your payment terms, such as 30 days. A third date, the supply date (or tax point), records when the work or delivery actually happened and can decide which tax period the sale falls in.

Our separate guide to setting an invoice due date focuses on choosing terms. This article explains all the dates that can appear on an invoice, how they interact, and why the supply date matters for VAT.

The dates on an invoice at a glance

Date	What it records	Who sets it	Why it matters
Invoice date (date of issue)	When the invoice was created and sent	You, on the day you issue	Starts payment terms; can set the tax point
Supply date (time of supply)	When goods were delivered or services performed	Fact of the transaction	Sets the basic tax point in VAT systems
Due date	Last day for on-time payment	Calculated from agreed terms	Tells the customer when to pay; late fees run from it
Service period	Start and end of ongoing work	Fact of the transaction	Shows what the invoice covers
Payment date	When money was received	The customer	Can be the tax point for advance payments

A simple invoice for a one-off job can get away with two dates: invoice date and due date. Once the work happened on a different day from the invoice, or covers a period, add the supply date or service period too.

What the invoice date means

The invoice date is the date of issue: the day you create and send the invoice. It should be the real date. It is used to:

• Start the clock on your payment terms.
• Place the sale in your sales records and, for many businesses, in the right accounting period.
• In VAT systems, potentially fix the tax point (more on that below).
• Sequence your invoices alongside your invoice numbers.

Invoice numbers and dates should move forward together. If invoice 105 is dated before invoice 104, an auditor will ask why. Keep a clean sequence with the invoice number generator, and never put an earlier date on an invoice to make it look as if it was sent sooner. Our guide to backdating invoices explains why.

What the due date means

The due date is the deadline for payment. In any invoice date vs due date question, remember that the due date can never come before the invoice date; our generator will not let you save one that does. It comes from the payment terms you agreed with the customer. Common terms and what they produce for an invoice dated 31 October 2026:

Term	Rule	Due date
Due on receipt	Pay when received	31 October 2026
Net 7	7 days after invoice date	7 November 2026
Net 14	14 days after invoice date	14 November 2026
Net 30	30 days after invoice date	30 November 2026
EOM (end of month)	End of the month of the invoice, or the month after, depending on the agreement	Check the agreed wording

Count calendar days, not working days, unless your contract says otherwise. Always print the actual date, not just "Net 30", because a printed date leaves nothing to interpret. For a full guide to choosing terms, see invoice payment terms and due upon receipt.

In the UK, if a business customer and supplier have not agreed a payment date, the late payment legislation treats payment as due 30 days after the later of the customer receiving the invoice or the goods or services. It is far better to agree terms in writing than to rely on that default.

Invoice date vs due date vs supply date: the tax point

This is where the dates stop being just admin. In VAT systems, the date that decides which VAT return a sale goes in is the tax point, also called the time of supply. It is not automatically the invoice date.

HMRC's VAT guide (Notice 700) sets out the UK rules:

1. Basic tax point: for goods, usually when you send them or the customer takes them away; for services, when the service is performed.
2. Invoice within 14 days: if you issue a VAT invoice up to 14 days after the basic tax point, the invoice date becomes the tax point. You can ask HMRC in writing for a longer period, for example if you normally invoice monthly.
3. Earlier invoice or payment: if you issue an invoice or receive payment before the basic tax point, that earlier date is the tax point, for the amount invoiced or paid.
4. Continuous services: for ongoing services, there is a tax point each time you issue a VAT invoice or receive payment, whichever happens first.

HMRC also says you should normally issue a VAT invoice within 30 days of the tax point, and a full VAT invoice must show the time of supply as well as the date of issue where they differ. EU countries follow similar principles under the EU VAT Directive, which requires the date of issue and, where different, the date of supply. Time limits vary by country, so check local rules.

In the US, there is no federal VAT, and sales tax is generally based on the sale rather than a tax point system. For income tax, cash-method businesses generally record income when they receive payment, while accrual-method businesses generally record it when it is earned, not simply when it is invoiced. Ask a qualified adviser how this applies to you.

Worked example: one job, two possible VAT quarters

A VAT-registered plumber in England uses calendar quarters, so the July to September quarter ends on 30 September 2026. She finishes a bathroom installation on Monday 28 September 2026. The price is 2,000.00 plus 20% VAT of 400.00, total 2,400.00, on Net 30 terms.

Scenario	Invoice date	Days after supply	Tax point	VAT return	Due date
A	6 October 2026	8	6 October (invoice date)	October to December	5 November 2026
B	15 October 2026	17	28 September (supply date)	July to September	14 November 2026

In scenario A the invoice is within 14 days, so the invoice date wins and the 400.00 VAT goes in the next quarter. In scenario B the invoice is late, the basic tax point stands, and the VAT belongs in the quarter that has already closed. If she had already filed that return, she might need to correct it. In both cases the due date is simply the invoice date plus 30 days; the tax point does not change when the customer must pay.

The lesson is to invoice promptly and show the supply date on the invoice. In the UK invoice generator you can put "Date of supply: 28 September 2026" at the start of the line description or in the notes.

How to show the dates clearly on your invoice

• Invoice date: near the invoice number at the top.
• Due date: next to the invoice date and again near the total. "Due 30 November 2026" is clearer than "Net 30".
• Supply date or service period: in each line description, for example "Bathroom installation completed 28 Sep 2026", or in the notes if one date covers everything.
• Date format: use a format your customer cannot misread. "06/10/2026" means 6 October in the UK and 10 June in the US. Writing the month as a word avoids the problem in descriptions and notes. Our generator prints the issue and due dates in year-month-day order (2026-10-06), which reads the same way in every country, whether you use the USA invoice generator or the UK version.

Common mistakes with invoice dates

1. Using the supply date as the invoice date when the invoice was actually issued later. The invoice date should be the real issue date.
2. Leaving out the supply date on VAT invoices where it differs from the issue date.
3. Printing only the term. "Net 30" without a date leads to customers counting from when they opened the email.
4. Invoicing weeks late. You get paid later, and in VAT systems the sale may land in a different period from the invoice.
5. Changing dates when correcting an invoice. A correction should be done with a credit note or a new invoice, not by redating the original. See how to correct an invoice.
6. Mixing date formats across invoices, which makes records hard to search and sort.

Dates on recurring and consolidated invoices

If you bill monthly for many deliveries, each delivery has its own supply date, but the invoice has one issue date and one due date. Show each supply date on its own line. Our guide to the consolidated invoice covers this in detail, including how the 14-day rule can catch out month-end billing.

For services billed in advance, such as a subscription or retainer, the invoice date often comes before the service period. Show the period clearly, for example "Support retainer, 1 to 30 November 2026", so the customer knows what the payment covers.

Invoice date vs due date: quick answers to edge cases

A few situations come up often enough to deserve a direct answer.

• The customer says the invoice arrived late. If your terms count from the invoice date, the due date stands. If they count from receipt, use the date the customer actually received it. Email gives you a sent timestamp, which helps.
• You issue the invoice before the work. That is a deposit, proforma or advance invoice. The invoice date is the issue date, and in UK VAT an advance VAT invoice or payment can create the tax point for the amount billed.
• The due date passes on a weekend. Many customers pay on the next working day. If that bothers you, check the calendar before sending and pick a weekday.
• You agreed 30 days from end of month. An invoice dated 12 October would then be due 30 November, not 11 November. Print the calculated date so nobody has to work it out.
• A partial payment arrives. The due date does not change. Record the amount paid, show the balance due, and chase the rest from the original due date.

Most invoice date vs due date disputes disappear once both dates are printed clearly and the terms behind them were agreed in writing before the work started.

Set your dates correctly in the generator

The difference between invoice date vs due date is simple once it is written down: the invoice date is when you bill, the due date is when you get paid, and the supply date is when the work happened. Keep all three accurate and visible, invoice promptly, and check tax point rules with a qualified adviser if you are VAT-registered.

Open the invoice generator. It fills in today as the issue date and a due date 14 days later by default; change the due date to match your agreed terms and add the supply date to the line descriptions before you download the PDF.