Which payment method to accept and state on an auto-entrepreneur invoice

An auto-entrepreneur's invoice states the expected payment method and due date. This choice is not a detail: it determines the proof you will keep, any stamp duty, and how long the money will take to arrive. By the end of this guide, you will know which method to offer each client, what to write on the invoice and what to keep for every payment received.

Decide on the method before issuing the invoice

The payment method and due date are among the details expected on an invoice, just like the number or the amount in words; the details are in the guide on the mandatory details of an auto-entrepreneur invoice. Yet an issued invoice can no longer be changed. If you write "bank transfer" and the client ends up paying in cash, you do not rewrite the invoice: you record the payment as it actually happened, with its stamp duty, and the invoice stays as it is. Hence the value of agreeing on the method from the quote stage.

Three questions are enough to choose:

• is the client a business, which most often pays by bank transfer or cheque, or an individual, who may sometimes prefer cash or a CCP deposit?
• what trace do you need? A bank statement is worth more than a receipt you wrote yourself;
• what delay do you accept between the invoice and the money being available?

This delay has a direct effect on your figures: the invoice enters invoiced revenue on its date, while the money only enters collected revenue when it is received. The slower the method, the wider the gap between the two.

The payment methods, one by one

Bank transfer

The client instructs their bank to credit your account. They need your details: account holder's name, bank and account number, in other words your RIB, printed on the invoice. Since the activity is carried out in your own name, give the account you hold, in the name shown on your auto-entrepreneur card, so the client has no doubts.

This is the best-traced method: the transaction appears on their statement and on yours. Ask the client to put the invoice number in the transfer reference; a statement showing "FAC-2026-0021" is matched effortlessly. The payment is secured when the amount appears on your statement, not when the client says they have sent it. No stamp duty.

CCP deposit or transfer

The postal current account lets a client without a bank account pay you other than in cash: a deposit at an Algérie Poste counter onto your CCP, or a transfer from CCP to CCP. State on the invoice the CCP number with its key and the account holder's name. The proof is the deposit receipt given to the client and your CCP statement. CCP deposits are not subject to stamp duty.

Cheque

When you receive it, note the issuing bank, the cheque number and the date of deposit. A cheque is not available money: it becomes so once you have deposited it with your bank and the amount appears on your statement. So mark the invoice as paid at that point, not when you receive the paper.

When a client settles several invoices with a single cheque, put the same cheque number on each invoice concerned and write out the breakdown: cheque no. 1234567 for 180,000.00 DZD, i.e. 120,000.00 DZD on FAC-2026-0021 and 60,000.00 DZD on FAC-2026-0023. Photograph the cheque before depositing it: that is your supporting document. No stamp duty.

Cash

This is the only method that triggers the stamp duty of article 100 of the Stamp Code, as amended by article 46 of the 2025 Finance Law: nothing up to 300 DA, then, per 100 DA or fraction thereof, 1 DA up to 30,000 DA, 1.5 DA up to 100,000 DA and 2 DA above, with a minimum of 5 DA and no cap. The duty is added to the total, on a separate line, and is calculated only on the part paid in cash. The guide on stamp duty on cash payments details the rule; here are a few reference points:

Cash leaves no bank trace. Your register and the receipt you give the client are the only proof: always hand over a receipt (or the receipted invoice) showing the date, the amount, the stamp duty and the total collected, and record the payment the same day.

Card and online payment

A payment terminal or an online payment service produces a slip or a confirmation with a transaction identifier: that is the reference to record. Electronic payments are not subject to stamp duty. The conditions for accessing these services and their cost depend on your bank or the provider; find out before offering them, and only announce this method on your invoices once it actually works.

Comparing the methods

On the cost side for the client, only stamp duty comes under a published rule. Any bank charges vary from one bank to another and are not covered here.

Partial payment, deposit and instalment schedule

A quote may provide for a deposit (30% is common practice, not a rule). An invoiced deposit enters revenue on its date; the quote guide explains how to provide for it.

Each partial payment is recorded separately, with its own method and its own reference, and stamp duty applies only to the cash portion. Example: Amine Kaci, a developer in Algiers, invoices 120,000.00 DZD to Hydra Services SARL.

If you grant an instalment schedule, write it on the invoice: amount and date of each instalment. The sum of the payments must never exceed the invoice total; if a client pays too much, refund the excess or note it explicitly, do not absorb it into another document.

What to write on the invoice

Three pieces of information, in a readable block below the total:

Payment method: bank transfer
Due date: 25 October 2026
Bank: ...  RIB: ...  Account holder: Amine Kaci
Reference to quote: FAC-2026-0021

For a cheque, add "payable to" followed by your name. For a CCP, the number and the key. For cash, allow for the stamp duty and total collected lines, as in the dedicated guide. If you accept several methods, say so: "bank transfer or cheque", and give the details for both. A due date given as a precise date avoids arguments; "on receipt" is acceptable if that is your practice. Once the due date has passed, the guide unpaid invoice: following up with a client describes what to do.

What to note for each payment received

1. The actual date of receipt: statement date for a transfer, date handed over in person for cash, credit date for a cheque.
2. The amount received, in DZD, excluding stamp duty.
3. The payment method.
4. The reference: transfer reference, cheque number and bank, receipt number, transaction identifier.
5. The invoice or invoices settled, with the breakdown if one payment covers several.
6. The stamp duty, if part is paid in cash.
7. The supporting document kept: photo of the cheque, deposit receipt, slip, screenshot of the confirmation.
8. The balance still owed on the invoice.

In MyHissab, "Record a payment" from the invoice uses these fields: date, amount, method (cash, bank transfer, cheque with bank and number, card, online payment, other), reference and private supporting document; stamp duty is calculated automatically for cash and the application refuses an overpayment. The step-by-step is in recording a payment in MyHissab.

Common mistakes

• Marking the invoice paid on a promise. "The transfer goes out tomorrow" is not a payment received. Wait for the statement.
• Calculating stamp duty on the total instead of the cash portion. On 120,000 DZD of which 24,000 in cash, the duty is 240 DA, not 2,400 DA.
• Giving no receipt for cash. Without a receipt or a same-day record, neither you nor the client can prove the payment.
• Printing a wrong RIB, or no RIB at all. The client waits, you chase, and the transfer goes to the wrong account. Check every digit before the first invoice.
• Cashing one cheque for several invoices without a written breakdown. Impossible afterwards to say which invoice is settled.
• Leaving the due date blank. Without a date, a reminder has nothing to rest on.
• Editing the issued invoice to change the method. The invoice stays; only the payment record reflects the actual method.

Frequently asked questions

The client pays by a different method from the one stated on the invoice: what should I do? Nothing on the invoice, which cannot be changed. Record the payment with the method actually used and its reference. If it is cash, calculate the stamp duty on the amount received and give a receipt that mentions it; the total collected will exceed the invoice total by the amount of the duty.

Do I have to put my RIB on all my invoices? Put it on as soon as you offer bank transfer, which is the most common case with businesses. For an invoice to an individual who will pay in cash or by CCP, the RIB is of no use; the CCP number is. The right reflex: give only the details matching the methods you genuinely accept.

A cheque received in December and credited in January counts for which year? For your own tracking, the invoice enters invoiced revenue on its December date, and the payment is recognised on the date the money is available in your account, in January. For the flat tax (IFU) return, the procedures are set by the DGI: it, or your tax office, will tell you how to handle this case.