Advance receipts in Serbian e-fiscalization: how to issue and close them

1.When an advance receipt is issued

The Law on Fiscalization explicitly says that fiscalization covers not only retail sales but also advances received for future sales. The receipt is issued when the advance is received — not later, when the goods are delivered.

In practice an advance receipt is most often issued when:

• a customer pays an annual or monthly subscription in advance;
• a customer buys a voucher, gift card or service package used later;
• a customer pays for a course, event or booking before it starts;
• a customer pays part of the amount upfront and the rest on delivery.

Whether a payment is an advance or an immediate sale depends on when delivery happens. If unsure about your case, confirm with your accountant.

2.What goes on an advance receipt

An advance receipt lists no products but a single item named “Аванс” (advance), quantity 1, for the amount received. In front of the word is a number and after it the tax label in brackets, both depending on the tax rate the future sale will be taxed at, as set out in the Tax Administration guide on advance payments:

Flat-rate taxpayers and anyone outside the VAT system send “13: Аванс (А)” — not “10: Аванс (Ђ)”, which would report 20% VAT that was never charged.

At the customer’s request, the products covered by the advance may be listed in the advertising section. If the customer pays in instalments, each payment is its own advance receipt, and each one references the previous.

3.How an advance is closed: three receipts

An advance stays “open” until you close it. On delivery you do not issue just one final receipt — the advance is refunded first, and only then is the final receipt with the actual products issued. The chain always runs in this order:

1. 1Advance — SaleWhen the customer pays upfront. One “Аванс” item for the advance amount. This receipt goes to the customer.
2. 2Advance — RefundOn delivery, before the final receipt. It references the last advance sale receipt. This receipt is not given to the customer.
3. 3Normal — SaleRight after the refund. The final receipt with the actual products, referencing the advance refund. This receipt goes to the customer.

Choose the tax label and click a step to see exactly what goes on each receipt:

This is what the whole chain looks like on real receipts, in the Tax Administration example with two advances: two Advance — Sale receipts, then an Advance — Refund for the total advance, then the final Normal — Sale. Below the closing line of the final receipt stand the number and date of the last advance receipt.

4.Which receipt references which

The receipts in the chain are linked by references: each one carries the number and time of the previous receipt. The same order ID on all three does not link them — only the reference does.

• The first advance has no reference. Each further advance for the same purchase references the previous advance.
• The advance refund references the last advance sale receipt.
• The final receipt references the advance refund.

The advertising section of the final receipt must show the number and date of the last advance sale receipt — not the refund. This is the most common mistake in the chain.

5.An end-to-end example

You sell an online course for 12,000 RSD with 20% VAT. The customer pays on 1 March, and the course starts on 15 March. These are the three receipts you issue:

АВАНС ПРОДАЈА
10: Аванс (Ђ)          1 × 12.000,00
Укупан износ                12.000,00
ПФР број: …-…-101

АВАНС РЕФУНДАЦИЈА
10: Аванс (Ђ)          1 × 12.000,00
Референца: …-…-101
(not given to the customer)

ПРОМЕТ ПРОДАЈА
Online course (Ђ)      1 × 12.000,00
Референца: (advance refund number)
Аванс: …-…-101 од 01.03.

The customer thus gets two receipts — the advance on 1 March and the final one on 15 March — while the refund stays in your records.

6.Special cases

Choose a situation to see which receipts are issued:

7.Advances through FiskalAPI

The whole chain is three API calls, and it also works on the free test key, with no tax consequences:

Frequently asked questions