Informer

Informer is a comprehensive accounting software solution widely used in the Netherlands. This guide covers both connecting your Informer instance and configuring it for optimal order processing.

Before You Start

Prerequisites

• Active Informer instance
• Admin or accounting access to your Informer instance
• Completed settings configuration
• Connected BrickLink and/or BrickOwl stores

What You'll Need

• API Key - Your Informer API key for secure authentication
• Security Code - Your Informer security code

Part 1: Connecting Informer

Step 1: Generate API Key

1. Log into your Informer account
2. Navigate to Settings → API Keys (https://app.informer.eu/settings/api/)
3. Create new API Key and choose your administration
4. Copy the API Key for use in BrickInvoice
5. Note your Security Code (same as your Informer login password)

Step 2: Configure Connection

1. Navigate to: /home/accounting/connect
2. Select "Informer" from the package dropdown
3. Fill in your connection details:
   • API Key: The API key you generated in Step 1
   • Security Code: Your Informer security code
4. Click "Connect to Informer" to verify the connection and save the configuration

Part 2: Configuring Informer Settings

After successfully connecting Informer, you'll need to configure how orders are processed and mapped to your accounting system.

General Settings

Before configuring ledger accounts and taxes, you'll need to set up several general options:

Currency:

• Select the default currency for your invoices
• Must match one of the currencies available in your Informer instance

Invoice Template:

• Choose which Informer invoice template to use for generated invoices
• Templates control the layout and design of your invoices

Payment Condition:

• Select the default payment terms for invoices

Make Invoice Final:

• Choose whether invoices should be automatically finalized after creation
• No: Invoices remain editable in Informer (default)
• Yes: Invoices are automatically posted and receive official invoice numbers

General Ledger Account Mapping

Informer uses a flexible chart of accounts system. You'll need to map different revenue types to appropriate accounts based on customer location:

Product Line Items:

• Standard product sales revenue
• Maps to general ledger accounts based on customer location:
  • Domestic: Sales within your country
  • EU: Sales to other EU countries (if you're in the EU)
  • Other Countries: Sales outside the EU or your country

Margin Line Items:

• Additional margin on products (often subject to margin scheme)
• Maps to general ledger accounts based on customer location:
  • Domestic: Margin sales within your country
  • EU: Margin sales to other EU countries (if you're in the EU)
  • Other Countries: Margin sales outside the EU or your country

Shipping Line Items:

• Shipping costs with appropriate VAT treatment
• Single general ledger account mapping for all shipping revenue

Handling Fees Line Items:

• Additional handling fees with appropriate VAT treatment
• Single general ledger account mapping for all handling fees

Line Item Descriptions

You can customize the default descriptions that appear on invoice line items:

Product Description:

• Default description for product line items on invoices
• Example: "LEGO Parts" or "Product Sales"

Margin Description:

• Default description for margin line items on invoices
• Example: "Margin on Second-hand Parts" or "Margin Sales"

Shipping Description:

• Default description for shipping line items on invoices
• Example: "Shipping Costs" or "Delivery Fees"

Tax (VAT) Configuration

BrickInvoice provides comprehensive tax mapping for Informer integration, allowing you to configure specific VAT rates for different transaction types and customer locations.

Tax Settings Overview

BrickInvoice supports three tax categories that need to be configured in your Informer settings:

• Normal Tax: Standard VAT rate used for regular products, shipping, and handling fees
• Margin Tax: Special tax rate for margin goods (typically 0% under margin scheme)
• Export Tax: Tax rate for export sales (typically 0% for non-EU sales)

Setting Up Configuration

1. Navigate to: Accounting Configuration after connecting Informer
2. Complete General Settings section:
   • Select your currency
   • Choose an invoice template
   • Set payment conditions
   • Decide on invoice finalization behavior
3. Configure line item descriptions (optional but recommended)
4. Set up ledger account mappings for each revenue type
5. Configure the three tax types:

Normal Tax (Tax for other Sales):

• Used for: Products, shipping, and handling fees for domestic and EU customers
• Configure your standard VAT rate (e.g., 21% for Netherlands, 19% for Germany)
• This applies to most line items for domestic and EU sales

Margin Tax (Tax for Margin Goods):

• Used for: Margin line items (typically under margin scheme)
• Usually set to 0% or special margin scheme tax
• Applied only to margin amounts on orders

Export Tax (Tax for Export Sales):

• Used for: All line items for customers outside the EU
• Typically set to 0% for export sales
• Applied to products, margin, shipping, and handling for non-EU customers

Automatic Tax Application

When processing orders, BrickInvoice automatically:

1. Determines customer location from order data
2. Compares with your business location
3. Selects appropriate tax based on the logic:
   • Same country = Uses Normal Tax for products/shipping/handling, Margin Tax for margin items
   • Different EU country (if you're in EU) = Uses Normal Tax for products/shipping/handling, Margin Tax for margin items
   • Non-EU country = Uses Export Tax for all line items
4. Applies correct Informer tax ID to each invoice line item based on line item type and customer location

Tax Rate Examples

Netherlands Business Example:

• Normal Tax: 21% BTW (applied to products, shipping, handling for NL and EU customers)
• Margin Tax: 0% (applied to margin items for all EU customers)
• Export Tax: 0% (applied to all items for non-EU customers like US, CA)

Germany Business Example:

• Normal Tax: 19% MwSt (applied to products, shipping, handling for DE and EU customers)
• Margin Tax: 0% (applied to margin items for all EU customers)
• Export Tax: 0% (applied to all items for non-EU customers)

Invoice Line Item Example

Netherlands business receiving order from German customer:

Order: €120 (products) + €10 (margin) + €5 (shipping) + €2 (handling)

Informer Invoice Line Items:
1. Products: €99.17 (ex-VAT) → Product Ledger (EU) → 21% Normal Tax
2. Margin: €10.00 (ex-VAT) → Margin Ledger (EU) → 0% Margin Tax
3. Shipping: €4.13 (ex-VAT) → Shipping Ledger → 21% Normal Tax
4. Handling: €1.65 (ex-VAT) → Handling Ledger → 21% Normal Tax

Informer calculates: €114.95 base + €21.05 VAT = €136.00 total

Same business receiving order from US customer:

All line items would use Export Tax (0%) instead of Normal Tax,
resulting in no VAT being added in Informer.

Invoice Finalization

Informer supports both draft and final invoice creation:

Draft Invoices (Default):

• Invoices are created in draft status
• Can be modified in Informer before finalization
• No invoice number assigned until finalized

Auto-finalization (Optional):

• Enable "Make Final" in Informer settings to automatically finalize invoices
• Invoices are automatically marked as final after creation
• Invoice number is immediately assigned and available

Customer Management

BrickInvoice automatically manages customers (relations) in your Informer system:

• Customer Creation: New relations are automatically created based on order data
• Customer Updates: Existing relation information is updated when needed
• Customer Search: System searches by company/customer name to avoid duplicates
• Address Information: Billing and shipping addresses are mapped from order data

Part 3: Invoice Features

Automatic Invoice Creation

When orders are synchronized:

1. Customer Sync: Customer data (relation) is created or updated in Informer
2. Invoice Generation: Invoice is created with proper line item structure
3. Invoice Posting (optional): Invoice can be automatically finalized in Informer
4. Invoice Number: Final invoices receive an invoice number from Informer

Invoice URLs

BrickInvoice automatically generates direct links to view invoices in your Informer interface. These URLs allow you to quickly navigate to the invoice in Informer for review or further processing.

Manual Synchronization

You can manually synchronize orders through the system, useful for:

• Orders that failed automatic synchronization
• Testing your Informer configuration
• One-time synchronization of specific orders

Troubleshooting

Configuration Issues

"Ledger Accounts Not Loading"

• Check connection: Verify Informer is still connected
• Refresh: Try refreshing the configuration page

"Invoice Creation Failed"

• Permissions: Ensure user can create invoices and relations in Informer
• Data validation: Check if all required fields are properly filled

"Tax Configuration Issues"

• Tax rates not loading: Verify Informer connection and check if VAT rates exist in your Informer instance
• Wrong tax applied: Check customer country and verify tax configuration matches your setup
• Missing tax on line items: Ensure Normal, Margin, and Export tax settings are all configured
• Tax calculation errors: Verify Informer tax rates match your configured percentages

Best Practices

Common Tax Scenarios

Scenario 1: EU VAT Compliance

• Normal Tax: 21% (Netherlands) or 19% (Germany) for products, shipping, handling
• Margin Tax: 0% for margin scheme goods
• Export Tax: 0% for all items to non-EU customers

Scenario 2: Export-Only Business

• Normal Tax: Your domestic rate (for any local sales)
• Margin Tax: 0% or margin scheme rate
• Export Tax: 0% (most of your customers will use this)

Scenario 3: Mixed Business Model

• Normal Tax: Standard rate for regular products and services
• Margin Tax: Special rate for second-hand/margin goods
• Export Tax: 0% for international customers
• All three taxes properly configured for complete coverage

Invoice Management

Draft vs Final Invoices:

• Use draft invoices when you need to review before finalization
• Enable auto-finalization for streamlined processing
• Final invoices cannot be modified and receive official invoice numbers

Customer Data Quality:

• Ensure complete customer names and addresses in your store orders
• Review duplicate relation handling in Informer
• Keep customer information up to date for accurate invoicing

Next Steps

After configuring Informer:

1. Test integration - Process a few orders to verify everything works
2. Verify invoices - Check that invoices are created correctly in Informer
3. Set up automation - Enable accounting schedule for automatic processing

Support

If you encounter issues with the Informer integration:

• Check the connection status in BrickInvoice
• Verify your Informer configuration and permissions
• Contact support with specific error details if needed