Japanese invoice, receipt and estimate guides
How to write invoices, receipts and estimates in Japan, plus Japanese tax and electronic bookkeeping rules. Each page lists its sources so you can check before you create a document in Dokolo.
Writing documents4
- How to Write an Invoice in Japan (請求書)How to write an invoice in Japan (請求書, seikyūsho), explained with a numbered sample and a close-up of the line-item table. Also covers what a qualified invoice must contain and how to round consumption tax.
- How to Write a Receipt in Japan (Ryōshūsho)A numbered sample receipt walks through each field of a Japanese receipt (領収書). The page also covers what a receipt needs to count as a qualified invoice (適格請求書), and how to decide whether a paper receipt needs a revenue stamp (収入印紙).
- How to Write an Estimate in Japan (見積書)A walkthrough of the Japanese estimate (見積書, mitsumorisho) using a numbered sample and a close-up of the line-item table. It also covers how to set the validity period, tax-inclusive vs. tax-exclusive amounts, copyright terms that affect withholding, and record retention.
- Japanese Invoice Terms GlossaryJapanese invoice terms, receipt terms and estimate terms you meet in documents and emails from Japanese clients, sorted into eight groups with the reading, meaning and where each one appears. Terms that have their own how-to guide link to it.
Procedures for Japan residents7
- Japan's Electronic Bookkeeping ActThis guide covers the part of Japan's Electronic Bookkeeping Act that became mandatory in January 2024: keeping electronic transaction data. It explains the tamper-prevention and search requirements, when search is waived, retention periods, the relief for businesses that are not ready, and what Dokolo does.
- Japan’s Qualified Invoice System ExplainedJapan’s invoice system explained from the seller’s side: how to register, what happens when a tax-exempt business registers, the six items a qualified invoice must show, and the conditions for simplified invoices, return invoices and the small-amount rule, as of October 21, 2026.
- Japan Receipt Revenue Stamp RulesHow to decide whether a receipt needs a revenue stamp, in order: paper or electronic, issued in the course of trade or not, stated amount of 50,000 yen or more. Includes the duty table, affixing and canceling, the penalty tax and reissued receipts, as of the National Tax Agency materials dated April 1, 2026.
- Correcting or Reissuing a Japanese InvoiceHow to handle a mistake in an invoice you already issued, a return invoice for discounts and returns, and a reissue for a lost copy, with the conditions for each. Based on NTA Q&A 33, 34, 24-5 and 49-2 and other NTA material checked on October 21, 2026.
- Japan’s 20% and 30% Special Rules and the 80%→70% Transitional MeasureThe 20% and 30% special rules that lower a seller’s tax payable, and the transitional measure (80%→70%→50%→30%) for a buyer purchasing from tax-exempt businesses, split by sole proprietor vs company and by taxable period vs purchase date. Based on NTA material as of October 21, 2026.
- Withholding Tax on Invoices in JapanWhat a sole proprietor or freelancer in Japan needs to know when billing a fee that the client withholds tax from: which fees are covered and which are not, the rates and rounding, what changes when consumption tax is shown separately, and how to lay out the invoice down to the net amount due (差引ご請求金額). Based on National Tax Agency (NTA) and e-Gov sources as of October 23, 2026.
- Foreign-Currency Invoices in JapanHow a business in Japan writes an invoice in US dollars, euros, won or another foreign currency: a foreign-currency invoice can still be a qualified invoice (適格請求書), only the consumption tax amount per rate has to be in yen, which exchange rate to use, when to round, a worked example, and how to give bank details for a payment from abroad. Based on National Tax Agency (NTA) and e-Gov sources as of October 23, 2026.