Invoices in UBL

UBL is the standard file format for sending invoices electronically, so your clients can process them directly into their financial accounting software without manual work. This article explains what UBL is and how to set it up in Legalsense.

What UBL means

UBL stands for Universal Business Language (ubl.xml.org) and is the standard format for electronically sending invoices. It lets your client's financial accounting software process an invoice directly, without manual actions. A UBL invoice is prepared as an XML file; this article refers to that file simply as "UBL."

Before you start

To generate a correct XML file that meets the UBL standard, and that your client's financial accounting software can process without errors, make sure the following basic data is entered correctly and completely in your firm's Firm settings.

[Image: Firm settings page, showing the address and VAT number fields.]

Enter your firm's address details completely in the relevant address fields, and enter your firm's VAT number. Legalsense includes this data as the sender in the UBL file, so your client's financial accounting software can recognize who sent the invoice.

Including an embedded PDF

Under Settings → General → System, you can configure whether UBL output consists of XML only or also includes an embedded PDF. When you embed a PDF, you can also select which invoice template Legalsense uses to generate it. This is the firm-wide default, applied to every debtor unless you override it for a specific debtor, as described below.

Note: This setting only applies to UBL invoices created after you change it.

[Image: System settings, showing the UBL output options and invoice template selection.]

Overriding UBL settings for a specific debtor

You can override the output content and embedded PDF template for an individual debtor, so its UBL invoices don't have to follow the firm-wide default, for example if that client's financial accounting software expects a different embedded PDF layout. You set this on the debtor's own contact page, in the Debtor information section alongside its VAT number and other billing fields; see the article Contact management to learn more about the rest of that section.

The same two fields appear there as under Settings → General → System: whether UBL output includes an embedded PDF, and which invoice template generates it. Both default to Use system default, meaning the debtor follows whichever firm-wide value is currently set. Select a specific option instead to override it for that debtor only.

Note: The per-debtor override is invisible unless Peppol is enabled. See the article Peppol to learn how to set this up.

[Image: Debtor and billing details section on a contact's edit page, showing the UBL output and invoice template fields set to Use system default.]

Note: As with the firm-wide setting, a change to a debtor's UBL settings only applies to UBL invoices for that debtor created after you make the change. Invoices Legalsense already generated keep the output and template that were in effect at the time.

Generating a UBL invoice

Legalsense can automatically add a UBL version of the invoice as an extra attachment to the invoice email, alongside the PDF version. See the article Sending invoices by email for more information about sending invoices by email.

You configure automatic UBL attachment under Settings → Billing → Emails.

[Image: Email settings, showing the Attach UBL and Use UBL attachments checkboxes.]

If you enable Use UBL attachments, Legalsense doesn't send a UBL version with the invoice by default. In that case, you can download it from the invoice using the Download button.

[Image: Invoice detail view, showing the Download button with the UBL invoice option.]

When you click UBL invoice (XML), Legalsense downloads an XML file. You can then process this file outside Legalsense, for example by adding it as an attachment to an email in Outlook.