Empty invoice generation

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Finalize empty invoices

By default, Lago finalizes all invoices — even those with a total amount of zero. However, some customers may prefer to skip these invoices to avoid generating unnecessary accounting documents. To support this, you can configure Lago to skip finalizing invoices that are considered empty.

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Empty invoices definition

Lago considers an invoice empty if it contains no line items before applying coupons or discounts. If a discount brings the total amount to zero but the invoice originally contained line items, it will still be finalized, as it is not considered empty under this definition.

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Billing entity level

The setting finalize_zero_amount_invoice is enabled (true) by default. You can disable it at the billing entity level under Invoice settings. When set to false, Lago will skip finalizing empty invoices for all customers linked to that billing entity — unless a customer-specific override is applied.

LAGO_URL="https://api.getlago.com"
API_KEY="__YOUR_API_KEY__"

curl --location --request PUT "$LAGO_URL/api/v1/billing_entities/{code}" \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer $API_KEY" \
  --header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  --data-raw '{
    "billing_entity": {
      "country": "US",
      "finalize_zero_amount_invoice": true
    }
  }'

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Customer level

By default, new customers inherit the finalize_zero_amount_invoice setting from the organization. You can override this setting for individual customers to meet specific needs.

The available options are:

• inherit: Follows the billing entity setting;
• skip: Skips finalizing empty invoices; or
• finalize: Always finalizes invoices, even if empty.

LAGO_URL="https://api.getlago.com"
API_KEY="__YOUR_API_KEY__"

curl --location --request POST "$LAGO_URL/api/v1/customers" \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer $API_KEY" \
  --header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  --data-raw '{
    "customer": {
      "external_id": "hooli_12345",
      "address_line1": "100 Fintech Devcon Street",
      "city": "Austin",
      "country": "US",
      "email": "hooli@fintech.com",
      "legal_number": "54321",
      "name": "Hooli 12345",
      "state": "Texas",
      "tax_identification_number": "1234",
      "zipcode": "9399",
      "finalize_zero_amount_invoice": "skip"
    }
  }'