VAT, invoices and receipts for bands (the basics)

The corporate client's accounts department has bounced your invoice for the third time: no VAT number, no invoice number, the wrong legal name, and a "deposit" that nobody can reconcile. The fee is 3,200 EUR and it has been 47 days.

This is not tax advice, and the rules differ by country; check with an accountant where you are. But the general shape is the same across most of Europe, and getting it roughly right is what gets you paid on time.

Who is the seller?

Before VAT or invoices, decide who is legally selling the gig. Three common set-ups:

1. One member as a sole trader invoices the client for the whole fee and pays the others (who invoice the leader, or are paid as freelance fees, depending on local rules).
2. A company or partnership (a limited company, a GbR, an association, a cooperative) invoices, holds the bank account, pays the members.
3. Each musician invoices the client separately. Clean for tax, awful for clients. Corporates will often refuse it.

Most working bands use set-up 1 or 2. Whichever it is, the invoice must carry that entity's legal name, address and tax identifiers, and the money must land in that entity's account. Mismatches between the quote, the contract, the invoice and the bank account are the most common reason corporate payments stall. See a bank account for the band.

When VAT applies

General principles, varying by country:

• Most countries have a registration threshold for small businesses (anywhere from roughly 0 to 100,000 EUR annual turnover, depending on country). Below it you can usually stay unregistered and invoice without VAT, often with a mandatory note stating the exemption.
• Above it, or by choice, you register, charge VAT on fees at the applicable rate (standard rates are typically 19–27% in the EU; some countries apply a reduced rate to live performances or to artists), and reclaim VAT on band expenses.
• Business clients (corporates, agencies, venues) generally do not mind VAT: they reclaim it. Private clients (weddings, parties) cannot, so VAT is a real 20% price increase to them.
• Cross-border gigs inside the EU have their own place-of-supply rules for events. If you regularly play in another country, get advice before quoting.

The practical implication for pricing: know which clients are VAT-sensitive. A band near the threshold often finds that registering is fine for corporate work and painful for weddings. See how to price your band for where VAT sits in the number.

What a correct invoice contains

Across most jurisdictions, an invoice needs:

• The word "Invoice" and a unique sequential number (2026-041, not "wedding invoice")
• Issue date, and the date of supply (the gig date) if different
• Your legal name, address, tax or VAT number, and if applicable company registration number
• The client's legal name and address (for business clients, their VAT number)
• A description: "Live music performance, 5-piece band, 3 × 45 min, [venue], [date]"
• Net amount, VAT rate and amount (or the exemption statement), gross total
• Payment terms: due date, bank details (IBAN and BIC), reference to use
• Reference to the quote or contract number

Optional but useful: a line for the deposit already received and the balance due. Some countries require specific wording for exemptions, reverse charge or small-business status; use it exactly.

Deposits: invoice or receipt?

A deposit is money received before the supply. In many countries, receiving a deposit triggers a VAT liability at that point, and the deposit needs its own invoice (or a proper receipt) rather than being quietly netted off later. The clean pattern:

1. Deposit invoice on booking: "Deposit for live music performance on [date], 30% of agreed fee."
2. Final invoice after the gig: full fee, minus deposit already invoiced, balance due.

Both numbered, both in the sequence. If you use cash for balances, see the next section, and issue a receipt regardless. Payment terms and what to do when the balance is late are covered in payment terms.

Cash

Cash is legal in most places and still common for private gigs. The rules that keep it safe:

• Every cash payment gets a numbered receipt, with a copy kept. A receipt book costs 5 EUR.
• Cash is banked within the week and matched to the receipt number.
• Cash income is recorded exactly like transfers. The tax authority does not distinguish; neither should your books.
• Some countries cap cash transactions (1,000–3,000 EUR is common) and require the payment to go by transfer above that. Check.

The band that keeps 100% of its cash in the books is the band that survives an audit without drama.

Receipts for expenses

Every band expense needs a receipt: fuel, van hire, strings, the rehearsal room, the software subscription, the meal on the road. Photograph it the same day and file it against the gig or the month. Paper receipts fade within a year; the photo does not. A shoebox is not a system; a folder per month with photos named by date is. See band expenses you should track for the full list.

A monthly routine (30 minutes)

1. Reconcile the band account: every transaction matched to an invoice, a receipt or a member payout.
2. Chase overdue invoices (anything past its due date, one polite line each).
3. File the month's receipts and invoices in the archive.
4. Note the month's income and expenses in one row of a spreadsheet or your bookkeeping tool.
5. Set aside the VAT owed (if registered) and a tax reserve (20–30% of net income is a common working figure) in a separate account.

Twelve of these and the year-end takes an afternoon instead of a fortnight.

Do this today

1. Write down, in one sentence, who the legal seller is for your band and whether that entity is VAT-registered.
2. Check your last invoice against the list above. Add anything missing to the template.
3. Buy a receipt book, or set up a numbered receipt template on your phone.
4. Book a 30-minute call with an accountant if you are within 20% of the registration threshold.

Where expert.band helps

Quotes in expert.band carry VAT handling, so the client sees the net, the VAT and the gross before they accept, and the numbers on the accepted quote are the ones you invoice against. The quote and its status stay attached to the gig, which is the reference trail an accounts department asks for when they want to know what was agreed and when.