A glasses invoice has three readers, and none of them is the customer. The first is the inspector who will one day go through your books. The second is the customer's health insurance, which looks for specific boxes and rejects when one is missing. The third is the accountant of a business customer who wants to book the glasses as an expense. An incomplete invoice fails in front of one of the three, and you are always the one who gets the call.
Here is what the law requires, what the trade adds, and how to correct an invoice without ever deleting it.
- 10 years
- How long the General Tax Code requires invoices to be kept
- 1 number
- Per invoice, in an unbroken sequence, never reused
- 2 lines
- At least: the frame and the lenses, never added together
- 0 erasures
- An invoice is not corrected; it is cancelled with a credit note
The mandatory mentions
Article 145 of the General Tax Code sets what every invoice must show. For an optical shop, that means:
| Mention | What it is | Why it gets checked |
|---|---|---|
| Seller identity | Name or company name, shop address | Without it the invoice belongs to nobody |
| ICE | The common business identifier, 15 digits | Mandatory on every invoice; the insurer and the customer's accountant look for it first |
| Tax ID (IF) | Your number with the tax administration | It ties the invoice to your returns |
| Business tax | The patente number | Required by the Code, often missing from old letterheads |
| Trade register | Number and court | The Commercial Code requires it on business documents |
| Invoice number | A continuous, chronological sequence | A gap or a duplicate is the first thing an audit picks up |
| Date | The day of issue | For the insurer it must be later than the prescription |
| Customer | Name and address; ICE for a business | A "walk-in customer" invoice is deductible for nobody |
| Description | Each item, quantity, unit price before tax | "Glasses" describes nothing; "frame X, lenses Y" does |
| VAT | Rate and amount, per line or per rate | The VAT amount is what a business customer recovers |
| Totals | Before tax, VAT, all taxes included | All three, in that order |
| Payment | Method, and its reference for a cheque or transfer | Required for sales to businesses; useful for everyone |
The CNSS affiliation number is not a tax mention, but it appears by custom on Moroccan letterheads and some funds ask for it: include it.
What a glasses invoice adds
The law knows nothing about glasses. The customer's insurer does. For the invoice to serve the reimbursement as well, it also carries:
- the frame and the lenses on separate lines. Both have their own ceiling, and a single amount cannot be reimbursed;
- the correction of each eye on the lens line: sphere, cylinder, axis, and addition for a progressive;
- the patient's name when it is not the payer's: the child, and the insured parent;
- the prescribing doctor and the prescription date, which save the customer one more document;
- the word "paid" with the date, or the list of payments received.
Issuing an invoice, in order
-
The number follows
The number is the next in the sequence, with no gap. A cancelled invoice keeps its number and gets a credit note; a number is never reused.
-
The date is today's
Not the order date, not the planned delivery date: the day the invoice is issued. For the insurer, it must come after the prescription's.
-
The lines say what was sold
One line per item, with reference, quantity and price before tax. Frame and lenses apart. The correction on the lens line.
-
The totals, in order
Before tax, then VAT with its rate, then all taxes included. All three figures, even if the customer only reads the last one.
-
The payment
Cash, card, cheque with its number, transfer with its reference. What remains due, if anything. It is also what makes the invoice a proof of payment for the insurer.
-
The stamp, and a copy
The shop's stamp is not a tax requirement, but every administration looks for it. Keep a copy of every invoice: ten years is the law, and it is what software does for you.
Getting it wrong: a credit note, never an eraser
An issued invoice is an accounting document. You do not edit it, delete it, or reprint it with a different amount. If it is wrong, wrong price, wrong customer, cancelled sale, you issue a credit note: also numbered, cancelling all or part of the invoice and quoting its number. Then, if needed, a new invoice with a new number.
It feels heavy for a ten-dirham mistake. It is also what protects you: an auditor who finds an invoice reprinted with a different amount stops looking for the mistake and starts looking for the fraud.
An invoice that can be corrected is an invoice that cannot be trusted.
The rule every accountant applies, and that your software should apply for you
Can I invoice a "walk-in customer"?
You can take a private customer's money with a till receipt if that is all they want. But the moment they ask for an invoice, and for glasses they will, for the insurer, it carries their name and address. For a business, its ICE as well, or the invoice is not deductible.
Is the stamp mandatory?
Not for the invoice's tax validity. But insurance funds, mutual funds and many companies refuse an invoice without one. Stamp everything, and the question goes away.
What is the difference between an invoice and a receipt?
The invoice is the document of the sale: what was sold, to whom, for how much, with VAT. The receipt is proof of a payment: this day, this amount, this method. A deposit produces a receipt; the delivery produces the invoice, which mentions the deposit. Both are useful, and neither replaces the other.
I made a mistake on yesterday's invoice. What now?
A credit note for the amount concerned, quoting the invoice number, then a correct new invoice if the sale still stands. Never alter the original, even if the customer has not received it yet.
What OpticAdmin does
Your identity, ICE, tax ID, business tax, trade register, CNSS, is entered once in the settings and printed on every invoice. Numbers follow on their own. Frame and lenses are always on separate lines, with each eye's correction taken from the prescription. An issued invoice can no longer be deleted: the software offers the credit note. And every invoice stays available for as many years as it takes.