How to Create UBL Invoices in WooCommerce?

UBL (Universal Business Language) invoices have become important for eCommerce stores. Learn how to create UBL invoices in WooCommerce. 

Generating UBL invoices in WooCommerce will help you streamline your invoicing process and set up standardized invoices compatible with international systems, software, and tax regulations.

In this article, we will explain everything you need to know about UBL invoices and how to generate UBL invoice documents for your store orders.

By the end of this article, you’ll have a clear understanding of how to streamline your invoicing, reduce manual work, and improve the customer experience for your eCommerce store.

Universal Business Language (UBL) is an open standard for electronic business documents. It provides a framework for various business documents, such as invoices, purchase orders, and shipping labels, using the Extensible Markup Language (XML) format.

The UBL standard was developed by the Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards (OASIS). They aimed at developing a standardized, royalty-free library of business documents using XML.

It was first released in 2004 and is used by many small to medium-sized eCommerce businesses. UBL invoices are important for eCommerce stores as they help streamline invoicing processes, standardize business invoices, and make them compatible with international systems and tax regulations.

Now, let’s have a detailed overview of the importance of UBL invoices in eCommerce:

1. Standardize business invoices: UBL establishes a common standard for business documents, eliminating any confusion caused by multiple invoice formats across different regions and industries. 
2. Integration with various software: UBL offers easy integration with various ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) and accounting systems. This streamlines the invoicing process between different systems used by sellers, buyers, and tax authorities. 
3. Automate invoicing process: UBL invoices are formatted for machine readability. It helps eCommerce stores automate the invoicing processes with faster invoice generation and payment processing. By automating the invoicing process, eCommerce businesses can reduce operational costs. 
4. Compliance with regulatory requirements: There are several legal requirements for invoices in different countries. UBL invoices provide a standardized format that aligns with these requirements and generates electronic invoices. 
5. Reduce errors and inconsistencies: With UBL invoices, data is entered in a structured and automated format. This will reduce errors in invoicing and improve the accuracy of your business documents. 

Follow the below steps to create UBL Invoices in WooCommerce:

Step 1: Install WebToffee PDF Invoices Plugin for WooCommerce

To create UBL invoices, you’ll need to install a third-party invoice plugin like our WooCommerce PDF Invoice plugin. 

• From your WordPress dashboard, go to Plugins > Add New Plugin.
• Search for “WebToffee WooCommerce PDF Invoice plugin” in the search bar. 
• Once you found the plugin, click on Install Now to install the plugin. 

• Then, activate the plugin on your WordPress website. 
• After installing the plugin, you will be asked to enter some details about your online store.

Step 2: Enable WooCommerce PDF Invoices

• Go to Invoices/Packing option from the sidebar menu and click on Invoices.
• Select the Enable Invoice option. (if not enabled by default)
• Choose a date for the invoice. Choose either the order date or the invoiced date. 
• Select the order statuses to automatically generate the invoice. You can select multiple order statuses to auto-generate WooCommerce invoices. 
• Choose the emails to automatically attach the invoices. 

Step 3: Set Up WooCommerce Invoice Numbers

In this step, you can create a custom sequence of invoice numbers for WooCommerce orders.

• Choose an invoice number format with prefixes and suffixes and the invoice number format. 
• You also have some other options for WooCommerce invoices, like generating invoices for older orders, adding order meta fields, etc. We’ll skip that for now. 
• Click on Update Settings to save the changes. 

Step 4: Enable UBL Invoices in WooCommerce

• Now, go to the UBL tab.
• Enable the UBL Invoices checkbox. 
• Choose a UBL format from the dropdown menu.
• Choose the order emails to attach the UBL Invoice.

Step 5: Configure WooCommerce Tax Class

In this step, choose the Tax class for your WooCommerce store based on your store region.

• Click on Update Settings to save the settings.

When a new order is created, you can download the UBL Invoice from the Order Edit page in WooCommerce.

Below is a preview of the UBL invoice:

UBL invoices are important in many countries to comply with tax regulations and other legal requirements. It helps you streamline the invoicing process on your WooCommerce store.

By enabling UBL invoices on your WooCommerce store, you can create structured business documents that support various international systems and tax classifications. It also lets you automate the invoice creation process and offers faster invoicing for your WooCommerce store.

We hope this article has helped you learn everything you need to know about UBL invoices and how to generate UBL invoices on your WooCommerce store.

So stay tuned for more such informative posts and helpful guides.