Can companies charge for invoice copies?

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mattwnz

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#140861 22-Feb-2014 21:44

Have a friend who lost some invoices from a company and need to get some copies from the company for their tax return. They have asked the company for copies, but the company' said they would need to charge for their time in finding and sending them, as they initially did provide them. Is this acceptable practice from a copy to charge for their time ? I can see it from both sides, as it takes the company time to do this, but on the other hand it doesn't seem right.

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#992570 22-Feb-2014 21:55

sounds pretty reasonable to me. Not the original companies fault they are lost. They meet their legal obligations and provided the invoice within 28 days.

Now whether they want to do it for free to keep in good with their customer is another story.

What would you do? How much margin/how much does the customer spend?

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#992596 22-Feb-2014 22:20

I suppose ultimately the invoices are only required in the event IRD audit the accounts.

They could skip getting them unless/until that happens....!

Zeon

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#992601 22-Feb-2014 22:27

Not a good way to build customer confidence and seriously, how sh!t is their system for not being able to find them?

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#992602 22-Feb-2014 22:29

From memory my bank charges $8 for a statement copy. Yeah, banks, etc. How much does this outfit want to charge? A reasonable charge is ok imho. They could easily say no I think. Imagine if they are using manual invoice books and your friend has only an approximate date.

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#992634 23-Feb-2014 02:14

nathan: sounds pretty reasonable to me. Not the original companies fault they are lost. They meet their legal obligations and provided the invoice within 28 days.

Now whether they want to do it for free to keep in good with their customer is another story.

+ 1 but I guess it might depend on how many invoices are required to be copied. If it is only a small number, perhaps the company should provide the copies for free as a goodwill gesture. However if it's, say, 100 - there could be a lot of work in finding and copying and a charge would reasonable.

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#992684 23-Feb-2014 10:11

Doesn't sound unreasonable to me. If they sent invoices originally, then they should be entitled to charge for the additional service being asked of them now.

Not necessarily the most endearing thing to do from a customer service point of view. But not unreasonable.

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Paulthagerous

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#992689 23-Feb-2014 10:19

Agreed that they are within their rights to charge a reasonable fee for it.

Some companies will send the originals to storage with an external company, so if they have to pay for a box to be sent back there is a real cost there they may want to pass on. Normally they would have an electronic copy but sometimes an original may be required.

However, this may not be good customer service. But if the invoices are really old, or there are a lot, or if it isn't the first time this has happened with the particular customer, it might be fair. Need more facts for that.

johnr

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#992690 23-Feb-2014 10:23

Sounds reasonable Yes

raytaylor

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#992708 23-Feb-2014 11:33

I think it sounds reasonable.
Every company should be moving to an online based customer portal system which is what we do. If someone wants an extra copy of an invoice (we charge for posting invoices, emailed/online is free) then thats fine. If it was from 5 years ago I would probably charge to look it up.

With accounting systems like freshbooks (i think xero, myob, quickbooks does it too now) there is a customer where they can look up old invoices themselves.

Or start asking suppliers to email them to you.

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SteveON

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#992741 23-Feb-2014 12:39

Do you work for free? No. Then it is totally reasonable.

Zippity

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#992743 23-Feb-2014 12:44

I suppose your friend is a POM and receives a benefit too.

In other words, another one of those bludgers who wants everything for free.

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#992812 23-Feb-2014 14:43

Zippity: I suppose your friend is a POM and receives a benefit too.

In other words, another one of those bludgers who wants everything for free.

Are you genuinely psychic, and racist as well? There is nothing in this thread that suggests any of your three things.

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#992818 23-Feb-2014 15:08

Its not really that hard though:

1. Sit down at accounts computer
2. Load up accounts program
3. Lookup Client Name
4. Click 'Email invoice' or 'Print' on invoice.

Job done, takes about 30 seconds - 1 minute. Add on another minute + a stamp if you need to post it.

However someone already does this (office admin work), so it might take even less time if they are already doing steps 1-4 anyway.

What would you call a reasonable cost for the above? If it more than $1-2 then your getting ripped off.

Funny tangental fact: Placemakers charge you $500 a year if you are a SUPPLIER of theirs, just to RECEIVE (not send) your invoices!!!

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#992825 23-Feb-2014 15:19

Most business surely should be in a position where it is reasonably easy to print a duplicate invoice and email it to their customers

Put it this way, if said bill was unpaid and you said you needed a copy in order to settle the account I am sure you would have an invoice copy within minutes and at no cost to you

surfisup1000

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#992827 23-Feb-2014 15:29

mattwnz: Have a friend who lost some invoices from a company and need to get some copies from the company for their tax return. They have asked the company for copies, but the company' said they would need to charge for their time in finding and sending them, as they initially did provide them. Is this acceptable practice from a copy to charge for their time ? I can see it from both sides, as it takes the company time to do this, but on the other hand it doesn't seem right.

Banks charge for replacement statements so why not??

But, if an important customer were asking I'd think they would not charge .

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