Billing

Malt holds an invoicing mandate, which allows it to issue invoices either:
• In the name and on behalf of the freelancer you are working with
• Or in your name and for your account (as the client)

At the end of your project, financial documents such as quotes and invoices are automatically generated and issued by Malt under your company’s name. That’s why it is important to provide accurate information in your account settings.
These documents feature a standardized Malt header and include billing details for both the freelancer and your company.

If you wish to sign up for the Unique Provider model, please contact your account manager.

How the Unique Provider model works?
1. You select the freelancer you want to work with and freely negotiate the terms of the assignment.
2.  A framework agreement is signed between you and Malt, specifying the conditions for the project’s execution.
3. Malt then signs a back-to-back agreement with the chosen freelancer, which mirrors the agreement between you and Malt. This means all contractual terms between you and Malt are passed on to the freelancer.
4. Malt ensures the freelancer commits to the obligations agreed upon with you.

The benefits of this billing model include strong legal protection under commercial law and coverage by Hiscox’s Malt Professional Civil Liability insurance.

Generate a Purchase order
Before starting a project, add your purchase order directly to the quote on the service page.
This makes it easy for your accounting team to reconcile payments, as they can match the internal purchase order with the freelancer’s invoice number at the end of the service.

Issuing and downloading Invoices
The final invoice is generated when the freelancer marks the project as complete for task-based projects, and at the end of each month for time-based projects.

Three invoices are issued:
• The first invoice covers the service and is between the freelancer and you.
• The second invoice covers service fees and is issued by Malt to you.
• The third invoice concerns the Malt commission and is issued by Malt to the freelancer.
For time-based projects, the invoice statement will be sent to the accounting email address you provided in your settings once the project or month is validated.

To find and download your invoices, you can either go to the project page and click “download the invoice statement,” or access the full invoice history in the “Invoices and receipt” section of your account.

Editing your project
If your project changes and you and the freelancer agree to update the quote, the final invoice will reflect the modification done.
For a task-based project, the process to modify a quote is:
• The freelancer updates the quote on the project page.
• You approve the revised quote.

If the project involves prepayment:
• If the quote is lowered, you will be refunded the difference within 2 working days to your wallet after the project ends.
• If the quote increases, you will need to pay the additional amount shown in the new quote. Payment can be made directly on the project page via credit card or bank transfer.

VAT management
Different Malt legal entities directly affect:
• VAT applied to commission invoices under the Direct and Unique Provider (UP) models.
• VAT applied to freelance service invoices under the Unique Provider model.
For each project, the entity you report to issues both the freelance commission invoice and your service fee invoice.

For example, if you are a French client working with a freelancer registered in Germany, Malt SA will issue your commission invoice since you are based in France.

When is VAT applied to the fees invoice?
Remember, the customer entity is the one issuing the fees invoice.
If the Malt entity issuing the invoice is located in the same country as you, VAT will be applied to the fees invoice.
If the Malt entity issuing the fees invoice is in a different country from yours, VAT will not be applied, following the reverse charge (self-liquidation) principle.
This same rule applies to service invoices in the Unique Provider (UP) model, where the invoicing entity corresponds to your registered entity.
 

For example:
• If you are a freelancer based in France and your client is in Germany, the fees invoice will be issued by Malt’s German entity, so VAT will not be charged.
• If you are a freelancer based in France and your client is in the United States, the fees invoice will be issued by Malt’s French entity, so VAT will be applied.

Reverse charge means that when a freelancer provides services to a client in another country, the invoice is VAT-exempt, and the client is responsible for declaring and paying VAT to their tax authorities.
This system was introduced in the European Union to simplify cross-border trading among member states.