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Help & FAQ

Answers to frequent questions and a glossary of the most important terms. Did not find what you were looking for?

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First steps

  1. Create an account and confirm your e-mail address
  2. Set up your company: address, tax number, bank details, logo
  3. Add customers and products (or type them directly into the document)
  4. Write, finalise and send your first invoice
  5. Match the incoming payment – done

Frequently asked questions

How do I create my first invoice?
After registering, set up your company (address, tax number, bank details). Then: Invoices → “Create invoice”, choose a customer or type the address, enter items, “Save & finalise”. The invoice number is assigned on finalising; then send the PDF by e-mail.
How do I change a finalised invoice?
As the owner you reopen it via “Edit” – for 24 hours after sending or the first retrieval as PDF, print or XML, stating a reason: the number stays, the earlier version is retained, the new PDF carries a note on the corrected version, and you send it again. This is blocked once a payment is recorded, the invoice is cancelled or the 24 hours are over. Then choose “Correct invoice” under “More”: workes creates a cancellation invoice and a new invoice draft with the same content, which you correct and finalise.
What details must an invoice contain?
Name and address of you and the customer, your tax number or VAT ID, invoice number, invoice date, service date or period, quantity and type of service, net amount broken down by tax rate together with any agreed reduction such as a cash discount, tax rate and tax amount (or the note on § 19 UStG or on a tax exemption). workes puts your details in the designated place; before finalising, the invoice check shows the most important missing details.
In which languages can I create documents?
The interface comes in 12 languages, documents in Deutsch, Türkçe, Русский, English, Polski, Română, Українська, Shqip, Italiano, Hrvatski, Български, ქართული. Choose the interface language in the menu; set the document language per customer or per document – default texts, date and number formats adapt.
How does bank reconciliation work?
Export your transactions as CSV in online banking and upload the file under Payments → Bank reconciliation. workes recognises invoice numbers in the payment reference and suggests the matching invoice. Your bank credentials are not needed.
What is an e-invoice and do I need it?
An e-invoice is an XML file following the EN 16931 standard (XRechnung in Germany; ZUGFeRD combines PDF and XML). Public authorities require XRechnung; since 2025 businesses must be able to receive e-invoices. workes creates XRechnung files and reads incoming e-invoices.
Can my tax advisor access the data?
Yes, in the Business and Team packages – invite them with the “Accounting” role. They see documents, contacts, payments and reports and may export, but cannot change anything. Alternatively, hand over the accountant package (ZIP) per quarter or year.
Does workes replace my bookkeeping or tax return?
No. workes is an invoicing and preparatory bookkeeping solution: it collects income, expenses and receipts and evaluates them. The advance VAT return, cash-basis profit statement or balance sheet is prepared by you or your tax advisor on this basis.
How secure is my data?
Encrypted connection, two-factor sign-in, lock after failed attempts, log of important actions, strict separation of company accounts and regular backups. Details are in the privacy policy and the data processing agreement.
How long do I have to keep invoices?
Since 2025, Germany requires 8 years for invoices and accounting records and 10 years for books, inventories and annual accounts. Export an accountant package regularly and keep it locally as well.
What is the fastest way to write an invoice?
Choose the customer – their payment terms, discount and early-payment discount come along. In the item, tap or type a product: price, unit and tax rate are filled in. Enter jumps to quantity and price, the next line appears by itself. The bar at the bottom shows net, VAT and gross while you type. “As last time” fills in customer and terms like the last invoice, “Text block” inserts saved introductions and closing texts. Finally “Save & finalise” – only then is the number assigned.
How does a quote become an invoice?
In the quote tap “Convert” and choose what to create: invoice, order confirmation, delivery note, partial or final invoice. If you like, take over only some items or partial quantities (partial invoice, partial delivery) or a partial payment in percent. The final invoice deducts the order’s partial invoices by itself. You always get a draft to check.
How do I send reminders for several invoices at once?
Under Dunning, the reminder run is at the top: all invoices ready for a reminder are ticked, with level, fee and recipient. “View text” shows the reminder and the e-mail, removing a tick takes an invoice out, one click creates and sends all. Without an e-mail address the reminder is only created. Anything not sent can be undone right afterwards; with AI enabled, workes suggests a text for created reminders.
How do I plan the week fastest?
In the rota, choose a template as a brush (e.g. “Early 6–14”) and tap the cells or swipe across them with the mouse button or your finger held down; the eraser removes. Without a brush, tapping opens the selection window with times, location and copy. On a computer you can drag a shift into another cell; with Ctrl or Alt it is copied. “More” → “Take over last week” or “Create plan automatically” fills the week, “Publish” notifies the team.
How do open shifts and shift swaps work?
Enter a shift without staff in the “Open shifts” row. Once published, everyone it fits sees it under “My schedule” and takes it over – immediately or after your confirmation, depending on the setting. Likewise, staff offer their own shifts to everyone or to one person; when someone accepts, you confirm (or it applies immediately). Double booking, the eleven-hour rest period and absences are checked, and every step is notified and logged.
How do staff indicate when they are available?
Under “My schedule” → “My availability”: per weekday or for single days “unavailable”, “prefer off” or “happy to”, with times if needed. For staff without an account, the planner enters this on the staff page. The rota shows it in the cells, warns about “unavailable”, and the weekly proposal takes it into account.
How does workes create the shift plan automatically?
At the top of the shift plan, tap “Create plan automatically”: choose the period (one week to one month), the distribution and whether existing drafts stay. “Mixed within the week” is the default: each person gets different shifts during the week, with eleven hours of rest in between. “Rotate weekly” means: the same shift for one week, then the next – early, late, night. With “Fixed shifts” everyone keeps their shift. workes remembers your choice. The preview shows the reason for each shift, each person’s hours against their target (+/−, with a reason if too few), the total hours of everyone and the gaps; gaps can be posted as open shifts. Nothing is saved until you tap “Apply”, and it can be undone for ten minutes.
Where do I see the planned hours against the target?
In the shift plan, next to each person you see the planned time for the week or month, plus the target and the difference (+/−); the “Total” row adds everyone up. It is calculated net: shift length minus break. While a proposal from “Create plan automatically” is open, the proposed shifts already count. The app shows the same figures.
How do I enter a shift wish?
Under “My plan”, at “Shift wishes”, choose “Add wish”: what (only this shift, gladly, not this shift, not available, rather off), which shift, when (every day, on a weekday or on one day) and for how long (empty = no end date). The automatic plan always keeps to “not” and “only”, and to “gladly” and “rather off” where possible. For employees without an account, the planner enters the wish on the employee page.
What is the fastest way to add an appointment?
Type a sentence at the top of the calendar, such as “Fri 2pm viewing Miller”: workes reads the day, time and title and shows a preview – nothing is saved until you click “Save”. Or tap a free slot in the week, day or month view. Move an appointment by dragging it elsewhere; change its length at the bottom edge. For recurring appointments workes asks whether you mean only this one or the whole series; “Undo” reverses everything.
How can customers book an appointment online?
In the calendar under “Online booking” you define services with a duration, weekly hours and rules and switch the page on. Your customers choose a service, a day and a free time there; workes takes care of taken times, public holidays and buffers. Depending on the setting, the appointment is confirmed immediately or is a request that you confirm or decline in the calendar. The customer receives an e-mail with a calendar file and a link to cancel.
How do I invite a customer to an appointment?
In the appointment, choose the customer under “More” and tick “Send invitation by e-mail with a calendar file” – the customer needs an e-mail address for this. The e-mail goes out in the customer’s language. If you change the appointment later, workes sends the change on request; when deleting, a cancellation can be sent.
How do I correct working times and approve the month?
Under Times you find the monthly sheet: per day clock-in, clock-out, break, net, target and balance. “Change” turns the row into a form – adjust the times, enter a reason, press Enter. The old and new values are kept in the log. If “Clock out” is missing, one click accepts the suggestion (daily target plus break); if a whole day is missing, “Add later” pre-fills the line below. When everything is right, “Approve month” – after that the month can only be changed again once you withdraw the approval. Under “Team this month” you approve several employees at once.
How do we request and decide on leave?
Under Absences, tap the first and last day in the calendar and “Request leave” – the working days and the remaining leave afterwards appear right below; public holidays and absent colleagues are marked. The owner decides in the list with a button or, on the phone, by swiping (right approves, left rejects) and can undo the decision for ten minutes. The year overview shows everyone as stripes, with remaining leave on the right.
How do I create an employment contract or a certificate?
Documents → “Create document”, choose the template and the person: everything from the master data is pre-filled, only the missing details are at the top. Check and preview are below, then “Check and create PDF”. For several employees at once there is “Series”. If you release the document, the person confirms receipt in their account. The templates are samples and do not replace legal advice.
How do I work with orders?
When the customer accepts a quote – manually, via the customer link or by signature – the order is created automatically and you are notified. Without a quote, create it under Orders, also as a sentence such as “Fri bathroom Müller tiling”. Appointments, times, photos, tasks and documents are attached to the order page; the big button moves it on: start work, report as done.
How does an order become an invoice?
On the order page, “Invoice from order”: with a quote, the final invoice is created with its items and down payment invoices are deducted; open times for the order are added as hours. Without a quote, the invoice is created from the times. The order is then “invoiced”. If the invoice is cancelled, it goes back to “done”.
How do I keep track of tasks?
Under Tasks, type a sentence such as “Call Miller tomorrow” – day and customer are recognised. A task can be assigned to a person, who is then notified; “Mine” shows what is on your plate. The tick completes it, “Undo” brings it back. Follow-ups on customers and documents appear in the same list – also in the app.
How do I attach photos to a job and get it signed?
On a document or customer, choose images or PDFs under “Photos and files” – several at once, photos are downsized. On a quote, delivery note or order confirmation the customer signs on screen under “Get it signed”: the quote then counts as accepted, the delivery note as delivered. Name, time and purpose appear in the PDF.
My time is wrong but the month is already approved – what now?
Under Times choose “Request correction” on the entry and enter the correct times and a reason. The owner sees the request at the top of the Times page and approves or declines; you are notified. If the month is locked, the planner withdraws the approval first.
Can employees report sick themselves?
Yes, if you allow it: Roster → Templates & demand → “Employees may report sick themselves”. Then “My plan” and the app show “Report sick”; the report applies immediately, you get a notification, a certificate can be attached. workes deletes certificates one year after the absence ends.
How did this week go?
The overview has the card “This week”: invoices, incoming payments, expenses, hours worked, appointments and routes of this week, next to last week. Use “Customise” to move or hide the card. The app shows the same figures as a weekly report.
How do I decide on a correction request?
Open requests appear under “Waiting for you” on the overview and at the top of the Times page under “Correction requests” – with the old and new time and the reason. “Approve” corrects the time immediately, “Decline” leaves it as it was; the person is notified. If the month is approved, withdraw the approval first.
How do I edit several entries at once?
In lists such as invoices or products there is a checkbox in front of each row; the checkbox in the header selects all, Shift-click a range. As soon as something is selected, a bar with the actions appears at the bottom – send, mark as sent, PDFs as ZIP, active/inactive, delete. The message afterwards says how many were done and how many skipped, and offers “Undo”.
I deleted something – how do I get it back?
Right after deleting, “Undo” appears in the message at the bottom for ten seconds. After that the deleted item stays in the recycle bin for 90 days (Settings → Data) and can be restored there. Finalised documents are never deleted but cancelled – tax law requires this.
Can I change values directly in the table?
Yes, where a cell shows a pencil on hover: click, Enter or F2 turns it into a field, Enter or Tab saves, Esc cancels. For products these are number, name, unit, price and tax rate, for draft documents the due date. Finalised documents stay locked.
Are there keyboard shortcuts?
Ctrl + K or “/” opens the command palette: pages, actions such as “New invoice” or “Start reminder run” and all features, recently used at the top. In lists j and k jump through the rows, Enter opens, x selects, n creates something new. “?” shows all shortcuts; the question mark at the top right opens the help for the page.
What is “Like last time”?
A button in “New invoice” and “New expense” that fills non-critical fields like last time – customer or supplier, payment term, category, tax rate, payment method. Amounts, line items and numbers are never copied. It is remembered per account and company.
How do I record an expense fastest?
Photograph the receipt or upload it as a PDF – with receipt recognition on, workes reads supplier, date and amounts. Or forward the invoice to your receipt inbox. When entering by hand, “Like last time”, the quick date picker (Today, +7, end of month) and the amount field that calculates help: “100+19%” gives the gross amount.
Where can I see what’s new?
Under “What’s new” (via the question mark at the top right or the user menu) all new features are listed by date with the way there. The question mark counts what you have not seen yet. The short tips on the first visit to a page can also be switched off there.
How do I match payments and bank transactions fastest?
Under Bank you find all open transactions, unclear ones first, each with a suggestion: invoice number, amount, customer name, partial payment or a collective transfer covering several invoices. “Accept all safe suggestions” books the clear ones in one go and can be undone for ten minutes. Drag a transaction without a match onto an open invoice by its handle; if a few euros are missing, book the remainder as discount or fee.
How do I record recurring debits like rent automatically?
On a debit choose “Record as expense” and tick “always like this”: workes remembers the rule, e.g. “If a debit contains “Landlord”, then record as “Rent & utilities” expense”, and does it on its own from then on. All rules are listed as sentences under Bank → Rules. Recurring expenses without a bank transaction are suggested in the expense list as soon as they are due.
How can I quickly see how the month went?
Reports start with questions instead of tables: “How did October go?”, “Who owes me the most?”, “What costs me the most?”, the twelve-month trend with the previous year and what falls due in the next 30 days. With AI switched on, workes summarises the cards in three sentences. Each card can be taken along as CSV.
How does my tax adviser get all documents?
Under Exports in one click: last month, last quarter or last year. The tax adviser package contains documents as PDF, incoming receipts, expenses, payments and contacts as CSV, the DATEV posting batch (if configured) and a summary. The download link is valid for 30 days; if you like, workes reminds you every month or quarter.
What is the fastest way to add a customer?
At the top of the customer list, “Quick-add customer”: name, email and phone are enough, the rest comes later. Even faster: copy the signature from an email or the text of a business card and paste it – name, company, address, phone and VAT ID are detected and filled in, you only check. Type the postcode and workes adds the city; if the customer already exists, a note with a link appears.
How do I merge duplicate customers?
Customers → “Duplicates” shows contacts with the same email, name, phone number or address. Choose which entry remains and tap “Merge”: all documents, payments, appointments, routes and files then belong to that contact, empty fields are filled in. The other entries stay in the recycle bin for 90 days, and “Undo” separates them again. In the list it also works via the checkboxes and “Merge”.
How do I bring my customers over from Excel or my phone?
Customers → “Import”: choose a CSV file from Excel or your previous program or a vCard file (.vcf) from your address book. workes maps the columns itself; you can change every mapping and see beforehand, row by row, what is new, what already exists and what is faulty. Only then is it imported – and for 10 minutes the whole import can be undone.
How do I see what will be billed next month?
Under “Contracts” and “Recurring” every series appears as a sentence, such as “Every month on the 1st, invoice to Müller, €120.00, until cancelled”, with the next dates. The card “What runs next month” adds up all billings of the next 31 days with a total. Pause, resume and end with one click; enter a price change from a date.
How do I set up automatic payment reminders?
Under “Automation” there are ready-made rules such as “If a sent invoice is 7 days overdue → suggest a payment reminder”. One click switches them on in “Observe” mode: matches wait in the waiting list for your approval, nothing is ever sent automatically. Every rule is shown as a sentence, and the log shows for each run which invoices were affected.
How is the day's route created with one click?
Under Routes you will find “Route from today's orders”: delivery notes, order confirmations and appointments of the day with an address are already ticked. Choose a driver (with availability from the rota), “Create route” – workes creates the stops, puts them in the best order and notifies the driver in their language. Recurring routes such as the “Monday route” appear as their own button on the matching weekday.
What does the driver see?
Under “My routes” in the phone's browser – no app – one stop is shown large: address, time window, note, “Route” and “Call”. Tap “Arrived”, then “Delivered” (optionally with signature or photo), then the next stop moves to the top. “Report problem” has the common reasons as buttons. Only the times of the taps are stored, no location.
How do I change the order and time windows of stops?
In the route, drag stops by the handle on the left to the right place (also with your finger) – or use “Suggest best order”. Change time windows, minutes on site and the note for the driver under “Stop time windows” directly in the table: click a cell, type the value, Enter. Arrival times are recalculated.
How do I find a setting quickly?
Use the search field at the top of the settings: type “payment term”, “IBAN”, “logo” or “dunning fee”, Enter – the page jumps to the field and highlights it. Settings are ordered by task (Writing invoices, Getting paid, Team, On the road, Notifications, Security, Plan), each with a “What for?” sentence. Under “Recently changed” every change can be reset.
What does the business type do?
Trades, courier, practice, hospitality, agency or other: the choice sets matching defaults (payment term, discount, quote validity), creates sample products numbered BSP-… and – if there are none yet – shift templates, plus matching “First steps”. What you have already changed stays. Remove the samples under Settings → On the road & business type with one click.
How do I get fewer or more notifications?
Under Notifications → Settings you decide per type whether it comes by email or as push in the app – the list shows everything. Quiet times (e.g. 20:00 to 7:00) hold emails back; the digest bundles them once a day or week.
How do I redeem a promo code?
Under “Access & package” enter the code and tap “Check”: you see what it does – e.g. “20% on Business for 6 months” with price and end date. Only “Redeem now” books it. Registration has its own field for it. If an agreed price applies to your company, only a trial extension can be redeemed; if a promotional price runs at the same time, the lower one applies.
How does “Invite friends” work?
While the campaign runs, owners find “Invite friends” in the user menu: copy, share or email their personal link. The gift arrives when the invited company has paid its first plan invoice – as a credit on the next invoice.

Glossary

These explanations also appear in the application behind the ? symbol.

VAT ID (VAT identification number)
A number for business within the EU, e.g. DE123456789. You apply for it at the Federal Central Tax Office. For German customers only, the tax number is enough.
Reverse charge (recipient accounts for VAT)
For certain services to companies elsewhere in the EU you do not show VAT – the customer accounts for it. The invoice then needs a corresponding note.
Tax treatment (reverse charge, EU, non-EU)
Per document: standard taxation with VAT, reverse charge for services to businesses in other EU countries or certain domestic cases (Sec. 13b UStG), tax-free intra-Community supply (Sec. 4 no. 1b UStG) or export to a non-EU country (Sec. 4 no. 1a UStG). Without VAT, workes puts the mandatory note and the customer’s VAT ID on the document; EU sales appear in the EC Sales List under Reports.
ZUGFeRD
A PDF that also carries the invoice data in machine-readable form. The recipient sees a normal PDF, but their software can read the data directly.
Tax rate
The VAT percentage on a line item. Usually 19 %, reduced 7 % (e.g. books, food), 0 % for exempt services.
Net / gross
Net is the price without VAT, gross the price including VAT – i.e. what the customer actually pays.
Value added tax (VAT)
The tax you add to your services and pay to the tax office. In Germany usually 19 %, for certain services 7 %.
Input tax
The VAT you paid on your own purchases. You can offset it against the VAT you collected (VAT payable).
Small business regulation (§ 19 UStG)
Those who stay below certain turnover limits may waive VAT. Then no VAT may be shown on invoices – workes adds the mandatory note automatically.
Small business threshold (§ 19 (1) UStG)
Since 2025: a small business is one whose total turnover was at most €25,000 in the previous year and does not exceed €100,000 in the current year. Once the €100,000 are exceeded, the scheme ends immediately – the sale that crosses the threshold is taxable, earlier sales remain tax-free. Counting is by date of payment, excluding VAT; tax-exempt sales under § 4 no. 8 ff. UStG do not count and would have to be deducted. In the year of founding, the €25,000 limit applies to the current year. The traffic light in the reports is no substitute for tax advice.
Service date / service period
The day or period in which the service was provided. Mandatory on invoices – for monthly services e.g. “01/08 – 31/08”.
Due date
The day by which the customer should pay. After that the invoice is overdue and reminders can be sent.
Costing (internal)
Your planned costs for a quote or invoice: own hours, material, external services, travel. Visible internally only – never on documents, in exports or in the search.
Planned surplus
Net price minus planned costs including risk buffer. A planning figure for pricing decisions – not a realised profit, as taxes, overheads and payment defaults are missing.
Billing plan
The plan of what is to be billed for a contract and when (flat rates per period, milestones, approvals). If the invoice for a due period is missing, a check note appears – invoices are only created when you click.
Automation modes
Preview only shows what would happen. Watch places proposals for approval. Active creates reminders automatically (without sending). A central switch pauses everything.
Cash discount
A price reduction when the customer pays particularly quickly – e.g. 2 % if paid within 7 days.
Progress invoices
A progress invoice is a full invoice for part of the amount. It is deducted again in the final invoice of the same order.
Credit note / cancellation invoice
A credit note (cancellation invoice) reverses a finalised invoice in full or in part – afterwards a new, correct invoice can be created.
Reminder levels
Payment reminder, 1st reminder, 2nd reminder: each level has its own text, deadline and fee. Reminder fees may only reflect the damage actually caused by the default, such as postage – not your own working time.
GiroCode
A QR code on the invoice that customers scan with their banking app. IBAN, amount and payment reference are filled in automatically.
E-invoice / XRechnung
An invoice as a structured XML file following the European standard EN 16931. Public authorities in Germany require XRechnung; since 2025 businesses must be able to receive e-invoices.
Leitweg-ID
An identifier of public-sector customers in Germany. It is required as buyer reference in the XRechnung.
Cash-basis profit statement (EÜR)
A simplified profit calculation on a cash basis (§ 11 EStG): income counts when the money arrives, expenses when they are paid. In workes it corresponds to the report by payment – a preparation for it, not a tax return.
Result by invoice date (accrual)
Income counts with the invoice date, even while the invoice is unpaid. This is not the tax cash-basis profit statement (EÜR): it goes by the time of payment (§ 11 EStG). For that, the report has the view by payment.
Cash accounting for VAT (§ 20 UStG)
With the tax office’s approval you owe VAT only when the money arrives, not already with the invoice. If this is set, the report and the overview show the view by payment first. The setting has no effect on your documents.
Advance return period
How often you file the advance VAT return (§ 18 para. 2 UStG): quarterly is the rule, monthly with more than €9,000 VAT due in the previous year or in the first two years after founding. The tax office tells you the period. Due by the 10th day after the end of the period.
Annex EÜR (preparation)
The lines of annex EÜR with the amounts from workes – income by payment received, paid expenses by category. workes does not know depreciation, staff, vehicle costs and payments to the tax office; add those in ELSTER or with your tax adviser.
Open items
All invoices that are not yet (fully) paid.
VAT payable
VAT collected minus input tax paid – the amount that goes to the tax office (or is refunded).