Surcharge on the document total

Sometimes a finished document needs something on top: a service surcharge, an energy surcharge, a premium for a booking at very short notice. The totals block has an Add surcharge button for exactly that.

Adding a surcharge

Open the quote, invoice or delivery note and scroll to the totals block below the positions. Next to Surcharge on the document total you will find the Add surcharge button.

The dialog asks for two things:

• Name — what the customer reads on the document, for example “Service surcharge”. The suggestion can be overwritten.
• Percentage — how many percent to add on top of the sum of all positions.

Before you confirm, the dialog shows which positions this creates and what they add up to. Add surcharge places the surcharge as its own position at the end of the document.

Why one surcharge sometimes becomes two positions

A position on a document always carries exactly one VAT rate. A surcharge is a position like any other — so it, too, carries exactly one rate.

On a document with a single VAT rate that goes unnoticed: one surcharge, one line. But if food at 7 % and drinks at 19 % sit on the same document, the surcharge could not be assigned to either rate without reporting the wrong VAT.

Univents therefore splits it: one surcharge line per VAT rate present, each carrying the share attributable to that rate. An example with a 15 % surcharge:

The two lines together are, down to the cent, the same amount that 15 % on the grand total produces. So you can tell the lines apart, the VAT rate appears in the name: “Service surcharge (7 %)” and “Service surcharge (19 %)”. With only one VAT rate the name stays exactly as you typed it.

What the surcharge is calculated on

The basis is the sum of exactly those positions that make up the document total:

• Components of packages do not count separately — their price is already inside the package.
• Optional positions do not count: they are offered, not sold.
• Positions marked as not charged do not count.
• Other surcharges do not count. A surcharge never calculates on a surcharge.

The header discount in the Discount (%) field is applied after the surcharge — it covers the whole document including the surcharge lines.

Changing and removing

If you change a position afterwards, the surcharge follows on its own: the amounts adjust, and if a VAT rate disappears from the document or a new one appears, the matching surcharge line disappears or is created too.

To remove it, click the bin icon next to the surcharge in the totals block. All lines of that surcharge disappear together. If you added several surcharges, the others are untouched.

Surcharges can only be added or removed while the document is still a draft. Once it has been sent, accepted or issued it is locked for content changes — you then need a new version.

On the PDF and in the e-invoice

The surcharge lines print on the PDF like any other position, at the end of the document. They count towards the subtotal, the VAT and the grand total.

In the e-invoice (XRechnung) every surcharge line is a regular invoice line with its own VAT rate. That is precisely why the surcharge is built as its own position and not as a negative discount: a negative discount is not permitted in an e-invoice and would arrive at the recipient as an invalid invoice.

Why the discount field rejects a negative value

The totals block also has a Discount (%) field. A negative value is rejected there — a discount cannot be negative, and a “negative discount” would be invalid in an e-invoice. For an add-on, the Add surcharge button right below it is the correct route.

Frequently asked questions

Can I add a fixed amount instead of a percentage? Not as a surcharge on the document total — that one takes a percentage. Enter a fixed amount as a normal position instead: name, quantity 1, price, VAT rate.

Why can’t I add a surcharge? The document needs at least one charged position with an amount. On an empty document, or one whose total is zero, there is nothing for a percentage to calculate on.

Univents says one VAT rate is negative — what does that mean? On some documents a position subtracts money instead of adding it, a deposit already paid for example. If all positions of one VAT rate add up to a negative amount, splitting the surcharge would give that rate a negative share. The maths would be right — but the document would then carry a line called “Service surcharge” showing a deduction. No customer will accept that, so Univents does not add the surcharge here.

On such a document, enter it as its own position with the amount you calculated. Mind the VAT rate: a position carries exactly one. If the document has several rates, you have to decide which one applies to the surcharge — or split it across two positions so the VAT comes out right.

Can I put several surcharges on the same document? Yes. Each is listed separately and can be removed separately. Each calculates on the positions, not on the other surcharges.