Four kinds of free invoicing
Search for free invoicing software and you land on four very different models wearing the same label. The Word template or spreadsheet, free forever but entirely manual. The online invoice generator, free per document, which keeps no history. The capped free tier from a vendor, limited by invoices or by clients. And the full free trial, where you hold the entire product for a set period.
The first two work fine if you send one invoice a quarter. The third bites later on: continuous numbering, electronic sending and data export usually sit behind the paid plan, and you hit that wall after three months of data entry.
Novadesko went for the fourth route. Fourteen days of full access, no credit card, and no stripped down tier that costs you time first and money anyway.
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Word or Excel template: free for good, everything done by hand.
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Online invoice generator: handy for a one off, no history and no follow up.
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Capped free tier: a few invoices a month, sending and export often restricted.
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Full free trial: the whole product for a limited time, subscription afterwards.
One question up front saves a lot of regret: what happens to your invoices the day you leave? If everything comes out in a readable format, testing costs you nothing.
Our 14 day trial, spelled out
The trial gives you the complete product, not a frozen demo with invented clients. You create your real clients, you send your real invoices, you chase them through to payment. That is the only test worth running.
No credit card is asked for at sign up and nothing is charged on day fourteen. Do nothing and access simply ends, with no invoice and no sales chaser.
Whatever you create during the trial stays with you if you subscribe: same clients, same invoices, same numbering, with nothing to retype. If you stop, you export your data before the door closes.
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Quotes, invoices, credit notes and payment reminders.
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Sending by email and over the Peppol network, with delivery status.
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Your own invoice template with your logo and your legal mentions.
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Online payment through a link or a QR code on the invoice.
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Mobile app to invoice from a site visit or a trade fair.
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Support in French and Dutch, during the trial and after it.
The most telling test takes a quarter of an hour: create a real client, send them a real invoice, mark it paid. If those three steps feel natural, the tool suits you.
Where free really stops
A Belgian invoice is not just a tidy PDF. It carries the required mentions, a number with no gaps in the sequence, the correct VAT rate and, in some cases, a reverse charge mention. It also has to be kept for seven years and produced if an inspector asks.
A spreadsheet guarantees none of that. It lets a duplicate number slip through, VAT forgotten on an intra-Community service, an invoice filed where nobody finds it again. Those slips get paid for at VAT return time, when your accountant starts asking for the missing documents.
Vendor free tiers block elsewhere: a monthly cap, automatic reminders reserved for paying customers, export as an extra, Peppol sending simply absent. Free adds up as long as your activity stays tiny.
What each free solution really covers
| Free solution |
What it does well |
Where it blocks |
| Word or Excel template |
Costs nothing, no sign up |
Numbering, VAT, archiving and Peppol all on you |
| Online invoice generator |
Fine for a one off invoice |
No history, no payment tracking, no structured sending |
| Capped free tier |
Enough for a few invoices a month |
Cap reached fast, reminders and export often paid |
| Full free trial |
The whole product tested on your real invoices |
Limited in time, subscription afterwards |
Count the hours, not only the euros. Two hours a month retyping invoices into a spreadsheet already costs more than a subscription, even at a modest hourly rate.
The Peppol mandate changes the maths
Since 2026, invoices between Belgian VAT registered businesses travel as structured electronic documents over the Peppol network. A PDF emailed across no longer does the job in a B2B relationship: your client expects a file their software reads on its own, and you need to receive theirs the same way.
This is where most free solutions drop out. A Word template produces no structured invoice. Neither does an online generator. Free tiers nearly always keep Peppol behind the paid plans, because sending runs through a certified access point that genuinely costs money.
Novadesko is a Peppol access point itself: sending and receiving are part of the subscription, trial included. You raise your invoice as usual, it leaves in the right format for the right recipient, and you can see whether it arrived.
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Sending and receiving in Peppol BIS 3.0, with no middleware.
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Recipient lookup by company number before you send.
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Delivery status visible on every invoice sent.
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Purchase invoices landing straight in your file, ready for VAT.
Test Peppol during the trial, not after it. It is exactly the part free software will never let you try, and today it is the part that matters most.
What comes next costs
Once the trial ends, using the software becomes payable. Plans start at 19 € excluding VAT per month with no minimum term, and you pick one based on what you actually run: invoicing on its own, invoicing with bookkeeping and VAT, or full management with stock, a till and several users.
A freelancer sending ten invoices a month does not pay what a shop with three sales staff and a till pays. Your accountant's access to the file stays free, legal updates are part of the plan, and support is not billed separately.
Then there is the argument that rarely makes it onto a sales page: this subscription is a deductible business expense, and the VAT is recoverable if you are VAT registered with a right to deduct. The real cost lands well under the sticker price.
Free, included or paid at Novadesko
| Item |
Status |
| 14 day trial, all features |
Free, no credit card |
| Quotes, invoices, credit notes and reminders |
Included in the subscription |
| Peppol sending and receiving |
Included, trial period as well |
| Your accountant's access to the file |
Free, no licence for the practice |
| Legal updates for VAT and invoicing |
Included in the subscription |
| Export of your invoices and your clients |
Free, including if you leave |
| Using the software after the trial |
Paid, from 19 € excl. VAT per month |
| Add on modules and till hardware |
Paid, activated on request |
Monthly with no commitment means what it says: you stop whenever you like and you walk away with your invoices.
Deciding in ten minutes
A free offer is judged on what it does not put in the headline. A handful of questions asked before you open an account will save you a wasted evening of data entry.
Look at the exit first: do your invoices come out, and in what format. Then look at the cap, if there is one, and what happens the moment you go past it. Finally check the Belgian part, VAT and Peppol, because that is what decides whether free lasts until your next return.
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Credit card requested at sign up, yes or no.
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Automatic charge at the end of the free period.
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Cap on invoices, clients or quotes in the free offer.
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Peppol sending and receiving included or reserved for paid plans.
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Export of your invoices and your clients on the way out.
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Accountant access billed separately or part of the price.
Frequently asked questions
Is there genuinely free invoicing software in Belgium?
Yes, with a trade off. Invoice templates, spreadsheets and online generators cost nothing and suit anyone sending two or three invoices a quarter. They handle neither continuous numbering, nor document archiving, nor structured sending over Peppol, which has become mandatory between Belgian businesses.
Does Novadesko offer an unlimited free plan?
No. We offer fourteen days of full access with no credit card, then a subscription from 19 € excluding VAT per month. A capped free tier mostly produces disappointment after three weeks, when the fourth invoice of the month refuses to go out.
Do I need a credit card for the free trial?
No, sign up asks for none. Nothing is charged on day fourteen: either you pick a plan, or access simply stops.
Can I send Peppol invoices during the trial?
Yes. The trial covers the complete product, Peppol sending and receiving included. It is the feature to test first, now that the structured electronic invoice is the norm between Belgian VAT registered businesses.
What happens to my invoices if I do not subscribe?
You export them before the trial ends. If you subscribe later, you carry on in the same file with the same clients and the same numbering, without retyping anything.
Is a spreadsheet enough to invoice legally?
An invoice stays valid as long as it carries every mandatory mention and a unique, continuous number. A spreadsheet does not prevent that, but it does not guarantee it either, and it produces no structured electronic invoice. The risk shows up at an inspection or at VAT return time.
Does my accountant have to pay to see my invoices?
No. The portal for practices is free: your accountant opens your file, reviews the documents and pulls the entries in their own software format, with no extra licence.
Does the subscription tie me in for a year?
No, it runs monthly with no minimum term. You stop whenever you want and you take your data with you.
Is invoicing software tax deductible?
A subscription to professional software is a deductible expense, and the VAT is recoverable if you are VAT registered with a right to deduct. Your accountant will confirm the exact treatment for your situation.
See also
Prices and plan contents can change over time. The pricing page always prevails, and your invoicing obligations should be checked with the FPS Finance or with your accountant.
