What Is an Invoice Cancellation (Storno) and When Do You Need It?
Invoice cancellation (storno) is the annulment of an already issued invoice that contains an error or for which the transaction was not successfully completed – a cancelled invoice may no longer be used.
Why it matters
- Legal and tax perspective – incorrectly recorded invoices can cause problems with tax calculations (VAT) and business reporting.
- When dealing in cash (fiscal cash register), every invoice must be properly recorded and stored.
- Incorrectly issued invoices can cause problems during tax inspections.
FURS (the Slovenian Financial Administration) warns that the rules of the Slovenian Accounting Standards (SRS) on maintaining business books must be followed – entries must be orderly, complete, accurate, and timely.
When is it necessary to cancel an invoice?
Cancellation is necessary if:
- Customer data was entered incorrectly (name, address, tax number),
- The amount or quantity of goods is incorrect,
- An error was made when issuing the invoice (incorrect payment method, incorrect currency),
- The transaction is being cancelled at the customer's request or due to a payment error,
- Goods or services are being exchanged.
IMPORTANT:
- Never delete the original invoice.
- The cancellation invoice must clearly reference the original invoice.
- If the original invoice was tax-verified, the cancellation document must also be tax-verified with FURS.
- Both the original and the cancellation invoice must be kept for at least 10 years.
Invoice cancellation within the Apollo program
Apollo allows tax-unverified documents to be edited or corrected during the current tax period, and tax-verified documents to be properly cancelled.
1. Cancelling a tax-unverified invoice
If the invoice was issued in a period (e.g. a month) that has not yet been closed in the business books, it can simply be edited (by clicking "Edit" within the invoice), the incorrect data corrected, and the invoice reissued – without a formal cancellation procedure. If the document was already sent to the customer before the change, it is necessary to coordinate the change with the customer, who must also receive the corrected version. In this case, the invoice retains the original document number assigned to it when it was originally created.
2. Cancelling a tax-verified invoice
In the case of a tax-verified invoice, editing is not possible – only a full cancellation is available. A cancellation invoice must be issued – a document with negative amounts that fully cancels out the original invoice. Since the original invoice was tax-verified, the cancellation invoice must also be tax-verified.
Apollo prepares the cancellation invoice automatically and sends it to FURS, which issues a confirmation. Once the cancellation is successfully completed, all that remains is to issue a correct, new invoice – this will also have a new document number.
IMPORTANT: It is recommended to carry out every invoice cancellation as soon as possible, within the same VAT period – otherwise the VAT correction is only recorded in the period in which the cancellation is actually carried out.
