Stay Compliant: Automatic Self-Billing VAT Invoices for Affiliates

Paying affiliates is the easy part. The paperwork that comes with it? Not so much.

When you pay affiliates in the UK or EU, you may need to issue self-billing invoices — documents that you (the buyer) create on behalf of the affiliate (the supplier). This is standard practice when the buyer calculates and pays the commission, rather than the supplier sending an invoice.

Insert Affiliate handles this automatically.

What Are Self-Billing Invoices?

In a normal transaction, the supplier sends an invoice to the buyer. But in affiliate marketing, you calculate the commission and pay the affiliate — they do not invoice you. Under UK and EU VAT rules, this means you need to issue the invoice on their behalf.

A self-billing invoice includes:

• Your company details (the buyer)
• The affiliate's details (the supplier)
• The commission amount
• VAT details (if applicable)
• A unique invoice number
• The date of the transaction

How Insert Affiliate Handles It

Automatic Generation

When you process an affiliate payment through Insert Affiliate, a self-billing invoice is automatically generated with all the required details.

Correct VAT Treatment

The system handles VAT calculations based on:

• Whether the affiliate is VAT-registered
• The affiliate's country
• The applicable VAT rate

Accessible Records

Both you and the affiliate can access invoices from your respective dashboards. No chasing paperwork, no missing records.

Why This Matters

Legal Compliance

Self-billing is a legal requirement in many jurisdictions when the buyer calculates the payment. Not having proper invoices can result in issues during audits.

Simplified Accounting

Instead of chasing each affiliate for an invoice before you can record the expense, everything is generated automatically. Your accounts are always up to date.

Professional Relationships

Affiliates appreciate not having to create and send invoices. It removes friction from the payment process and makes your programme easier to work with.

What You Need

To use self-billing invoices, you need:

1. A self-billing agreement with each affiliate (Insert Affiliate provides a standard template)
2. Your company's VAT registration number (if applicable)
3. The affiliate's VAT details (collected during onboarding)

Setting It Up

1. Go to Settings
2. Navigate to Payment Settings
3. Enable Self-Billing Invoices
4. Enter your company details and VAT information
5. Invoices are generated automatically with each payment

Learn more about the full setup in the Self-Billing Invoices documentation or explore Stripe Connect setup for processing payments.

Key Takeaways

Generating a self-billing invoice affiliate document automatically removes a major compliance burden. A proper vat invoice affiliate system handles affiliate payment compliance across jurisdictions. With automated tax compliance and streamlined affiliate invoicing, both you and your affiliates can focus on growing revenue instead of paperwork.