Creating an invoice and securing it via the IOTA DLT

With the shelli.io invoice generator, we are showing a very simplified concept of how an invoice can be generated and merged with a DLT network (IOTA of course).

Privacy first

This application runs completely in your web browser and shelli gets no data. So it can be used offline and is fully GDPR compliant!

Invoice authenticator

The invoice generator can confirm the authenticity of any invoice created with it. On creation, it generates a Hash from the Invoice and saves it to the tangle, to the invoice address. So it’s directly linked to the payment data. The invoice recipient can prove the correctness of the invoice with any “Proof of Existence tool” and can be sure of the invoice’s authenticity and hackers will not be able to change the invoice address! Furthermore, the audit can be done by any entity having access to the Tangle.

What's Next

The next iteration will include the basis of being § 14 UStG (VAT etc…) compliant (for Germany), with the challenges of differentiating invoice types for M2M, B2B, B2C, C2C business and how to receive the needed information to complete a compliant invoice.

Payment Alerts

Alert on incoming payments to the invoice IOTA address. This shelli service can be run also in the browser and notifies the user when payment has arrived. It is also possible to send an email or SMS to your phone within shelli services.

Invoice storage

Companies have to store invoices for at least 10 years. That’s a long time and it’s not easy to handle the number of invoices, with respect to the duration and the upcoming M2M economy. None the less of keeping everything structured and thus easily auditable. Shelli will provide storage services, where invoices are stored and encrypted on the shelli infrastructure. So you can access your invoices at any time from anywhere.

Invoice Reminders

If we think about the normal economy, one has to take into account that not everything is paid directly, but rather later. Here we have to think about the payment due date and discount (will be discussed in the future).

For now, shelli implements a simple invoice reminder where shelli automatically creates a reminder invoice if a due date wasn’t fulfilled and sends a reminder to accounting.