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Informer

Learn how to connect and configure Informer for automated invoice generation.

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.

Table of Contents

Before You Start

Prerequisites

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 charged to customers
  • Separate account per customer location:
    • Domestic: Shipping to customers in your own country
    • EU: Shipping to customers in other EU countries (if you're in the EU)
    • Export: Shipping to customers outside the EU

Handling Fees Line Items:

  • Additional handling fees charged to customers
  • Separate account per customer location:
    • Domestic: Handling fees for customers in your own country
    • EU: Handling fees for customers in other EU countries (if you're in the EU)
    • Export: Handling fees for customers outside the EU

Contact Sync Options

Sync Email Addresses:

  • When enabled, the buyer's email address is included when creating or updating relations in Informer
  • Useful if you want to send invoices directly from Informer to your customers by email
  • Disable if you prefer not to store customer email addresses in your accounting system

Line Item Descriptions

You can customize the default descriptions that appear on invoice line items. Each description field supports placeholders for dynamic content:

Available Placeholders:

  • {order_number} - The order number (e.g., "123456")
  • {source} - The order source (e.g., "BrickLink" or "BrickOwl")
  • {payment_method} - The payment method (e.g., "PayPal")

Example: "Order {order_number} from {source}" becomes "Order 123456 from BrickLink"

Product Description:

  • Default description for product line items on invoices
  • Example: "LEGO Parts" or "Order {order_number} - Products"

Margin Description:

  • Default description for margin line items on invoices
  • Example: "Margin on Second-hand Parts" or "Margin - {source} order {order_number}"

Shipping Description:

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

Handling Fees Description:

  • Default description for handling fees line items on invoices
  • Example: "Handling Fees" or "Processing - {payment_method}"

VAT (Value Added Tax)

You don't need to configure VAT rates manually. BrickInvoice automatically picks up the correct VAT rate from Informer based on the ledger account you selected for each line item type. Every ledger account in Informer already has a VAT rate attached to it — BrickInvoice uses that automatically.

How it works

When an order is processed, BrickInvoice looks at which ledger account applies (based on the customer's country) and then uses the VAT rate that is linked to that account in Informer.

  • Same country as you → domestic ledger account → its VAT rate
  • Another EU country → EU ledger account → its VAT rate
  • Outside the EU → export ledger account → its VAT rate

You only need to choose the right ledger accounts per situation — VAT is handled automatically.

B2B (business customers with reverse charge VAT)

If you have enabled B2B VAT Exempt in your order sync settings, you can configure a separate VAT rate here for business customers where VAT is reversed (0% with reverse charge). This overrides the automatically determined rate for those orders.

Example

Dutch seller, order from a customer in Germany:

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

Invoice lines in Informer:
1. Products  → EU ledger account (products)  → VAT rate from that account (e.g. 21%)
2. Shipping  → EU ledger account (shipping)  → VAT rate from that account (e.g. 21%)
3. Handling  → EU ledger account (handling)  → VAT rate from that account (e.g. 21%)

Same seller, order from a customer in the US:

Invoice lines in Informer:
1. Products  → Export ledger account (products)  → VAT rate from that account (e.g. 0%)
2. Shipping  → Export ledger account (shipping)  → VAT rate from that account (e.g. 0%)
3. Handling  → Export ledger account (handling)  → VAT rate from that account (e.g. 0%)

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

"Wrong VAT on invoice"

  • Check the ledger account: Verify in Informer that the selected account has the correct VAT rate attached
  • Check the customer's country: BrickInvoice determines VAT based on the customer's country — make sure it is correctly recorded on the order
  • No VAT rate found: If a ledger account has no VAT rate linked in Informer, BrickInvoice falls back to the rate already calculated on the order. Check in Informer that the account has a valid and active VAT rate

"VAT and ledger account are not a valid combination"

This error means the VAT rate linked to your ledger account is not active or has been archived in Informer. To fix this, check your VAT rates at invoicing.informer.eu/settings/vat/ and make sure the rate that belongs to the ledger account is still active and not archived.

Best Practices

Setting up ledger accounts

Make sure you have separate accounts in Informer for each line item type (products, margin, shipping, handling) covering domestic, EU, and export situations. Attach the correct VAT rate to each account in Informer — BrickInvoice picks that up automatically. This way you never need to configure VAT manually, and any changes you make in Informer are reflected immediately.

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