Unpaid invoice from an Italian customer: which documents do you need?
You have the invoice and the customer has not paid. What is missing is often the link between the two: the accepted order, evidence that the work was done, or a clear explanation of the balance. A useful recovery file lets someone outside your business follow the transaction without guessing.
Avv. Luca Valente · 14 October 2026
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Build the file around what each document proves
For a foreign business or freelancer pursuing an unpaid invoice in Italy, the first task is to connect the customer, the agreed work and the amount due. Sending a folder of invoices without the underlying transaction can leave the central questions unanswered.
- AgreementWho ordered what?
The customer’s identity, accepted scope, price and payment terms.
- PerformanceWhat was supplied?
Delivery, completed work, acceptance and any objections.
- BalanceWhat remains unpaid?
Invoices reconciled with payments, credits and the due date.
The documents also help determine which recovery procedure may fit. The evidence needed for an application and the evidence needed to answer a contested claim are not necessarily the same.
Start with the accepted agreement, not only your standard terms
Keep the contract, purchase order, accepted quotation and the version of any terms exchanged at the time. Include amendments: a later email may change the price, delivery date or scope. If acceptance was by email, preserve the message and the attachment it refers to.
- The contracting partyCliente / committente
- Legal name, address and company or tax identifiers, where available. Match these to the order and invoice; explain any difference.
- Accepted scope and priceOrdine / preventivo accettato
- What was agreed, the price or method of calculation, and any authorised additional work.
- Payment termsScadenza / condizioni di pagamento
- The agreed due date or the event that triggers payment, such as delivery, approval or a contractual milestone.
- Cross-border clausesLegge applicabile / foro / arbitrato
- The actual wording about applicable law, courts or arbitration, together with evidence of how the terms were agreed.
An official Italian Company Registration Report can help check a business customer’s identity. Keep it alongside the transaction documents: it does not replace proof that this particular company placed the order.
There is no signed contract. Is the file useless?
Not necessarily. Preserve the quotation, order emails, instructions, delivery records, payment history and messages discussing the amount due. Whether these establish the agreement and support a particular procedure requires assessment. Do not recreate a signature or present a new summary as a document made at the time.
Show delivery or completed work, including any complaint
For goods, retain dispatch records, transport documents, delivery acknowledgments and messages about receipt or returns. For services, retain the agreed milestones, dated deliverables, work reports and the customer’s responses. Where work was approved through a platform, preserve the relevant approval record and identify the project.
Connect the shipment to the order
A delivery record should be read with the goods, quantities and destination it relates to.
Connect the work to the agreed scope
Keep the delivered version, date and instructions, rather than a list of hours alone.
Keep the objection and your reply
Include defects alleged, rejected work, returns and any proposed remedy or price adjustment.
Example: an invoice for extra work is disputed
Illustrative example. A consultant invoices the original fee plus additional work. The customer accepts the original project but disputes the extra charge.
Separate the two amounts. Locate the instruction approving the additional work, any agreed price and the resulting deliverable. A general message saying “please continue” may need to be read with the surrounding correspondence. Identify the gap rather than hiding it inside a single total.
Reconcile the unpaid balance before making a demand
For each invoice, record its number, date, currency, total, contractual due date and any payments or credit notes. Explain how payments have been allocated. If that allocation is disputed or unclear, flag it instead of treating your bookkeeping entry as agreed by the customer.
- Invoice total
- €10,000
- Part payment received
- − €3,000, matched to the bank record and payment reference
- Credit note issued
- − €500, matched to the credit-note number
- Remaining principal
- €6,500, assuming that both the payment and the credit note reduce the principal of this invoice
Interest and recovery costs are calculated separately. Where Italian law applies, a payment may have to be allocated to interest and costs before principal unless the creditor agrees otherwise; check the actual allocation before using this example for your claim.
Keep the relevant bank record or payment confirmation, not just an internal note that money arrived. For several invoices, add a short account schedule and keep the underlying documents. Separate currencies unless the basis for conversion has been established.
Include promises to pay, acknowledgments and proposed repayment plans in full. Record who sent them, when and on behalf of whom. Their effect depends on their wording and context.
Preserve the original digital records
Save original email messages with their attachments where your system allows it. For messages or platform records, retain the conversation context, dates and participant details. Screenshots can help someone read the file, but should not be your only copy when an original record or export is available.
Keep an unchanged source folder and a separate working copy for notes, translations or highlighting. Do not crop out complaints or delete messages that appear unhelpful. Avoid sending access credentials or sharing an entire mailbox to explain one transaction.
Is an electronic invoice enough for an Italian payment order?
Article 634 of the Italian Code of Civil Procedure expressly recognises qualifying electronic invoices transmitted through the Italian Sistema di Interscambio as suitable written evidence for the claims covered by its second paragraph. The provision was added by Legislative Decree 164/2024.
A PDF invoice emailed by a foreign supplier is not automatically an invoice transmitted through that system. Where applicable, retain the original electronic invoice and relevant transmission records. The evidential rule does not mean that the customer cannot oppose the claim or that underlying contractual issues disappear.
The official overview of Italian payment-order proceedings explains the written-evidence requirement. Have the file checked before paying for certified extracts, formal copies or other procedural documents. The guide to opposition to an Italian payment order explains why the underlying transaction can still matter after an order is issued.
List gaps before paying to replace or translate documents
Prepare a short list of what is missing and who may hold it: the customer, carrier, accountant, project manager or your own email archive. State which documents were never created and which may still be obtainable. Do not turn a recollection into a purported contemporaneous record.
If a deadline, court paper or insolvency notice is involved, raise it immediately rather than waiting for a perfect file. When deciding whether further document work is proportionate, consider the costs and prospects of collecting the debt.
For the first enquiry, describe the file
Use the contact form to give the debtor’s name, amount and currency, due date, your country and whether the debt is disputed. Say whether you have an accepted order, proof of delivery or work, invoices, payment records and correspondence. Mention any approaching deadline.
Wait for instructions before sending confidential documents. The practice first checks whether it can assist and whether there is a conflict of interest; any paid assessment is quoted before it begins.
Enquire about an unpaid invoice ↗General information, not a finding that particular documents prove a debt. An enquiry does not create an engagement or mean that responsibility for a deadline has been accepted.