The insufficiency of Stripe’s default invoices for European requirements

US B2B SaaS and productized solutions are rarely compatible with Europe – and missing on revenue opportunities.

The odds are that your billing process is not EU-friendly today. Especially if you use Stripe 🤯

I spend an unhealthy portion of my time arguing with US B2Bs and advising startups on implementing global policies to open a new global market.

❗EU billing requirements are complicated. Here’s where Stripe’s default setup fails often – which legitimately brings conversion rates DOWN.


❌ Email receipts and invoices are not sent automatically

Any business serious about bookkeeping must have a record of each transaction. You can’t just splurge on anything with a business credit card and expect the IRS in each country to deduct taxes and make your life easier.

Every PayPal or 2Checkout or alternative gateway will issue an email confirming a payment, with an option to download an invoice.

😵‍💫 Stripe doesn’t – and there’s a specific FAQ section explaining how merchants can do that: https://lnkd.in/dr6tgHNi

Customers however end up making payments and not receiving an invoice. In SaaS, that happens monthly, making a CPA’s life a living hell (and leading to fines and taxes).

❌ Invoices are useless

Europe (and a number of other countries) require a handful of invoice items to be present with the purchase.

A US LLC may be just fine with a default receipt from Stripe that provides almost no usable information. 🏖️

Europe invoices should be compliant – and Stripe even provides a walkthrough for invoice templates: https://lnkd.in/dFg58Qqu

The Australian Taxation Office also mandates invoices including seller details for any transaction over $82.50 (GST included), and buyer details present at all times for sales over $1,000.

❌ Lack of billing/invoice clarity

European SaaS often include tax details in their FAQ sections of landing pages or help desks. It’s always clear what’s supported and reassurance that billing is 100% handled and covered.

➡️ Bottom line, a streamlined billing process can easily expand sales opportunities, adoption, referrals for global businesses who cannot afford to annoy the IRS and purchase a subscription without the corresponding paperwork in place.

👨‍🏭 It’s too much effort going through support or searching for points of contact to confirm and hope for the best.

And counter-intuitive to conducting business.

If you use Stripe, follow the simple steps to be compliant.

And Stripe – just make these default already.