Accounting and invoicing for food creators
Recipes, reels from the kitchen, collaborations with brands and your own cookbooks: food creators have high costs for ingredients and tableware and income from sponsorship and sales. Saldiqo writes the invoices, collects shopping receipts and lets you record products as payment in kind.
What comes up for food creators
Ingredients as a business expense
Shopping for shoots and recipes is spend that sits on many small till receipts. Without order they get lost.
Products as part of the pay
Food, kitchen appliances and tableware arrive as payment. Their value belongs in the statement.
Several formats
Recipe reels, blog posts, cooking classes and your own book: each format has its own income.
How Saldiqo helps
- Invoice for recipe collaborationsRecipe, photos, reels and rights as lines.
- Capture shopping receiptsPhotograph till receipts and capture them as expenses, with a cost centre per project.
- Record productsName product and value in the invoice.
- Cooking classes by invoice runUpload participant lists as CSV and create all invoices at once.
Typical invoice lines
Examples that often appear on invoices in this industry. You set the prices yourself.
- Recipe development and reel, 3 recipes
- Photos for the recipe, 8 shots
- Usage rights for online ads, six months
- Payment in kind: kitchen appliance worth 130
- Ingredients re-invoiced as per receipt
- Cooking class, 12 participants
Tax and invoicing in Germany
What applies to invoices in Germany, in short. As of October 2026.
- VAT
- Standard rate 19 %, reduced rate 7 %. Which rate applies to which supply depends on the case. Saldiqo calculates each invoice line with the rate you pick.
- Small business scheme
- Under section 19 of the VAT Act (UStG) you charge no VAT as long as your turnover was at most €25,000 last year and is at most €100,000 this year. Saldiqo shows how much room is left and adds the note to your invoice.
- Mandatory details
- Under section 14 UStG every invoice shows a tax number or VAT ID, a consecutive invoice number, the date of supply and the recipient. Saldiqo checks this before you finalise an invoice. Small invoices up to €250 gross need fewer details.
- E-invoicing
- All businesses have had to be able to receive e-invoices since 1 January 2025. Issuing becomes mandatory from 2027 if last year’s turnover was above €800,000, and from 2028 for domestic business-to-business sales in all cases. Small businesses under section 19 are exempt. Saldiqo creates XRechnung and ZUGFeRD.
- VAT return
- The advance VAT return goes to the tax office through ELSTER, by the 10th after the end of the period. You file monthly if last year’s VAT was above €9,000 and quarterly above €2,000. Saldiqo provides the figures; you file in ELSTER or through your tax adviser.
- Record keeping
- Keep invoices and accounting vouchers for 8 years, books for 10 years and business letters for 6 years. The period starts at the end of the calendar year.
- Late payment
- In the second half of 2026 the default interest rate is 10.52 % between businesses and 6.52 % towards consumers, plus a €40 flat fee that applies to businesses only. Saldiqo has reminder levels with deadlines and fees.
- Getting paid
- Every invoice carries a GiroCode (EPC QR) that customers scan with their banking app. You match payments by uploading the bank statement as CSV or CAMT.
- Tax adviser
- Cash-basis profit calculation (EÜR), a DATEV export and a separate login for your tax adviser are built in.
Frequently asked questions
How do I capture many small shopping receipts?
Photograph them with your phone and capture them as expenses. You can assign them to a cost centre, for example a project.
How do I treat products as payment in kind?
You name product and value in the invoice. You clear the tax treatment with your tax adviser.
Do food creators in Germany have to charge VAT?
Yes, unless they qualify as small businesses under section 19 UStG. That applies when turnover was at most €25,000 last year and is at most €100,000 this year. The limit is hard: VAT is due on the sale that takes you over it.
Do food creators in Germany need e-invoicing?
Every business must be able to receive e-invoices since 2025. Issuing is mandatory from 2027 if last year’s turnover was above €800,000, and from 2028 for domestic business-to-business sales in general. Small businesses, invoices up to €250 and tickets are exempt. Private customers still get a normal invoice.
How long do food creators have to keep invoices?
Invoices and vouchers for 8 years, books for 10 years and business letters for 6 years, counted from the end of the calendar year. You can store receipts digitally in Saldiqo. The legal duty to keep records and to document your procedures stays with you.
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As of October 2026. General information, not legal or tax advice, without guarantee. For your case ask your tax adviser.