What every invoice must show
Whatever your trade, these fields are the minimum:
- The word Invoice (or Tax Invoice where you charge Sales tax) and a unique sequential number.
- Issue date and, for services, the date or period of supply.
- Your business name, address and TIN; your registration number if you have one.
- The client's name and address, and their TIN when they are a registered business.
- One line per item or service: description, quantity, unit price and line total in SSP.
- Subtotal, Sales tax rate and amount (or a statement that none was charged), and the total due.
- Payment terms, due date and bank details.
Numbering and dates
Numbers must run in sequence with no gaps or repeats; South Sudan Revenue Authority (SSRA) checks for both. Use a prefix per year or series if it helps (2026-001), but never reissue a number. The issue date fixes the tax period the sale falls into, so date the invoice when you send it, not when the work started.
Numbering, keeping and correcting invoices
Every taxpayer must keep accounts of all transactions and the documents that support them for six years, and make them available in South Sudan for inspection by a revenue officer (Taxation Act 2009, s.24(1) and (3)). Invoices and receipts are the documents that back those accounts.
No expense or deduction is allowed unless you keep documentation in the required manner and form (s.24(2)). A missing supplier invoice can therefore cost you the deduction, not just a fine.
Your Tax Identification Number must appear on all returns, transactions and other documents required under the Act, and you must give it to anyone who pays you or has to report on you (s.20(2)). A registered business must also display its registration certificate in a conspicuous place at each place of business (s.20(3)).
Showing Sales tax
Only registered businesses charge Sales tax. If you are registered, show the rate and the amount as separate lines; if you are not, do not show a Sales tax line and say so on the document. Charging Sales tax without registration is an offence in most countries, and clients' accountants will spot it.
Electronic invoicing in South Sudan
Many countries now require invoices to be issued through, or reported to, an official electronic system. Where South Sudan does, the PDF you make here is a working document for quotes, proformas and internal records, and the fiscal invoice comes from the official system. Where it does not, an emailed PDF is a valid invoice.
Getting paid
State the due date, not just the terms. Put the bank details on the invoice and ask for the invoice number as the payment reference. Send the PDF on the day the work finishes; late invoices are paid late. A proforma up front is the cleanest way to ask for a deposit.
Fixing a mistake
Never edit or delete an invoice you have sent. Issue a credit note that references the original number, states the reason and reverses the same Sales tax, then issue a new invoice if needed. The South Sudan credit note generator does this.