Cancelling or correcting an issued invoice: the auto-entrepreneur's credit note in Algeria

A pricing error, a service that ends up reduced, a client who backs out after receiving the invoice: these situations happen to every auto-entrepreneur. This guide explains why an issued invoice is never edited, how to choose between cancellation and a credit note, what a credit note must contain and what it changes for your revenue and your IFU.

Why an issued invoice is never edited

An invoice is a dated, numbered document that records an agreement: you provided this, the client owes that. As soon as it is issued, validated with its number and sent to the client, two things freeze it.

• Continuity of numbering. Your invoices form a chronological sequence with no gap or duplicate (see the mandatory details). Once a number is assigned it is used up, even if the invoice is later cancelled: deleting it would create a gap, reusing it a duplicate.
• The record of the agreement. The client may already have entered the invoice in their books, or paid part of it. If you change the amount on your copy, the two versions no longer match and nothing proves which one is right.

A correction therefore always goes through a new document, which leaves the original invoice intact and explains what changes: a cancellation or a credit note. Only a draft, which has not yet left your hands, can be edited freely.

Cancellation or credit note: choosing the right route

The rule fits in one sentence: as long as no payment has been received, cancellation is enough; as soon as any sum has been collected, or only part of the invoice needs correcting, it is a credit note.

Cancellation: the invoice stays, and so does its number

Cancellation applies to an issued invoice for which you have received no payment. It does not make the document disappear: it marks it as cancelled and removes its amount from your invoiced revenue.

1. Check that no payment, even partial, has been recorded on the invoice. If there is one, use a credit note.
2. Mark the invoice as cancelled, keeping its original PDF. The number remains used up: the next invoice takes the following number, never the cancelled invoice's.
3. Inform the client in writing, an email is enough, so they remove it from their books.
4. If a correct invoice must be reissued, create a new document, with a new number and today's date, stating for example "cancels and replaces invoice FAC-2026-0024".

Example: Amine Kaci issues invoice FAC-2026-0024 for 120,000 DZD to Hydra Services SARL, then realises it was meant for another client. Nothing has been paid. He cancels FAC-2026-0024 and issues FAC-2026-0025 to the right client. His series stays continuous: 0024 (cancelled), 0025 (issued).

In MyHissab, cancellation is only offered on an issued invoice with no payment at all; a paid invoice, even partly paid, can only be corrected with a credit note.

The credit note

A credit note is a document that acknowledges a sum owed to the client, or a reduction of what they owe you, with reference to a specific invoice. It is issued against an issued or paid invoice and follows its own numbering.

What it contains

• The words "Credit note" in plain sight, so it is not mistaken for an invoice.
• Its own number, in a separate series, for example AV-2026-0003. Credit notes do not draw on the invoice series.
• The date of issue.
• The reference of the original invoice, number and date: this is what ties the credit note to the initial agreement.
• Your identity as it appears on your invoices: legal name, the words "Auto-entrepreneur", card number, NIF if assigned, contact details.
• The client, with the same information as on the original invoice.
• The credited lines: description, quantity, unit price in DZD, amount. The reason fits in the description ("Commercial discount granted", "Contact page not delivered").
• A single total in DZD, without VAT, with the wording "VAT not applicable — auto-entrepreneur regime, final flat tax (Law No. 22-23)".
• The amount in words, on the same model as the invoice: "This credit note is set at the sum of … Algerian dinars". The spelling rules are in the guide on the amount in words.
• What happens to the sum: to be refunded (agreed method and date) or deducted from the remaining balance due.

Partial or full credit note

• Partial credit note: it covers only the part to be corrected. Invoice of 120,000 DZD, contact page not delivered valued at 30,000 DZD: credit note of 30,000 DZD, the invoice remains due for 90,000 DZD.
• Full credit note: it credits the entire invoice, when a paid invoice must be redone completely (wrong client, service ultimately cancelled). If a correct invoice is to follow, it takes a new number.

A credit note cannot exceed what remains to be credited: several credit notes on the same invoice add up to its amount, not beyond.

Credit note template

CREDIT NOTE                                No. AV-2026-0003
                                           Date: 22/09/2026
Reference: invoice FAC-2026-0024 of 03/09/2026

Issuer                       Client
Amine Kaci                   Hydra Services SARL
Auto-entrepreneur            Hydra, Algiers
AE card no. 16-00123-24
NIF: 0000 0000 0000 000

Description                              Qty    Unit price   Amount
Contact page not delivered (showcase site) 1     30,000.00    30,000.00

Credit note total                                       30,000.00 DZD
VAT not applicable — auto-entrepreneur regime,
final flat tax (Law No. 22-23)
This credit note is set at the sum of:
thirty thousand Algerian dinars.

Allocation: deducted from the balance of invoice FAC-2026-0024.
Remaining due by the client: 90,000.00 DZD.

If the invoice had already been paid, the last two lines become "To be refunded by bank transfer on …", with the date agreed with the client. The credit note follows the layout of the invoice template, identification block included.

Effect on revenue and the IFU

The auto-entrepreneur pays the single flat tax (IFU) of 0.5% of their revenue. A credit note reduces that revenue: the credited sum is no longer a receipt.

Invoiced revenue, the reference for the annual cap, is reduced by the credit note amount. Collected revenue, the practical basis of the IFU, is reduced too once the overpayment is refunded or deducted from a balance still due. The IFU is calculated on the net: 90,000 DZD × 0.5% = 450 DZD, not 600 DZD. A cancellation with no payment simply removes 120,000 DZD from the invoiced figure; the collected figure never moved.

The filing rules are set by the DGI: the guide on the IFU explains the calculation, and the tax office remains the only reliable source on how to file. Keep the credit note with the original invoice: it is what justifies the difference between what you invoiced and what you declare.

The overpayment when a credit note follows a payment

When the client has already paid and the credit note comes afterwards, you are holding a sum that no longer belongs to you: the overpayment.

1. Calculate it: payments received − (invoice − credit notes). Invoice of 120,000 DZD paid in full, credit note of 30,000 DZD: overpayment of 30,000 DZD.
2. Agree in writing with the client on how to handle it: refund (bank transfer, cheque, CCP deposit) or, if they have other open invoices with you, allocation to one of them.
3. Record the refund on its date, with its reference, as carefully as a payment received (see recording a payment). Until it is done, your collected revenue for the year remains overstated.

If the original payment was only partial, the credit note is first applied to the remaining balance. Invoice of 120,000 DZD, deposit received of 50,000 DZD, credit note of 30,000 DZD: the client still owes 40,000 DZD and there is nothing to refund.

MyHissab flags the overpayment as soon as a credit note exceeds what the invoice still owes, and deducts credit notes from collected revenue and the estimated IFU on the dashboard.

Common mistakes

1. Deleting the invoice and reissuing one with the same number. The client may hold the first version; two different documents under one number are indefensible.
2. Editing the PDF with an editor to change an amount or a date. The file sent to the client no longer matches yours, and the alteration shows.
3. Issuing a credit note without reference to the original invoice. An isolated credit note justifies nothing: it must cite the number and date of the invoice it corrects.
4. Numbering credit notes in the invoice series. A "FAC-2026-0031" that is actually a credit note distorts the reading of invoiced revenue.
5. Cancelling an invoice that has already been paid. After payment, only a credit note handles the overpayment properly.
6. Forgetting to refund. The credit note records the debt; the refund settles it. Without it, your collected revenue stays wrong.

Frequently asked questions

Can I fix a simple typo in the client's address on an issued invoice? Not on the document itself. Unpaid invoice: cancel it and reissue it with a new number. Paid invoice: full credit note, then new invoice. Before acting, ask the client's accounting department what they require, since they are the ones who will record the corrected document.

Must the credit note carry the amount in words? The custom is to include it, as on the invoice, with the phrase "This credit note is set at the sum of". Accounting departments often ask for it, and it removes any ambiguity about the credited amount.

Can a credit note serve as a discount on the next invoice? With the client's written agreement, the overpayment can be allocated to a following invoice rather than refunded. Mention the allocation on both documents, the credit note and the following invoice, so the trail is readable in both sets of books.