Invoices in your customer's language

Use this guide if you sell to customers who speak different languages. By the end, your invoices show their labels, such as Subtotal, Total and Bill To, in the language you choose or in each customer’s own language.

Before you begin

• Invoice Falcon documents support 26 languages: English, Azerbaijani, Bulgarian, Chinese (Simplified), Czech, Danish, Dutch, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Latvian, Lithuanian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish, Mexican Spanish and Swedish.
• The language settings are on every plan. Changing the language of a single invoice by hand needs the Pro plan, because it’s part of editing an invoice.
• A language is set when the invoice is created. Changing the settings affects new invoices. To update an existing one, regenerate it.
• Product names are translated only if you’ve translated them in Shopify with the Translate & Adapt app.

Choose your setup

Use this	When
Invoice language only	All your invoices should be in one language, for example German for a German store.
Auto-detect customer language	Customers shop in different languages and should get invoices in theirs. Invoice language is then the fallback.
Translate product names	You’ve translated your products in Shopify and want those names on the invoice too.

What customers will see

• The invoice labels and document title in the invoice’s language, for example “Rechnung” instead of “Invoice” in German.
• With Translate product names on, product names in that language where a Shopify translation exists. Other products keep their original name.
• Text you or your customer typed, such as notes, addresses and your footer, stays as written. To show your footer in several languages, add translations to it (see below).

Set it up

1. Open your Shopify admin and click Invoice Falcon in the left menu.
2. Click Settings in the app’s menu.
3. Click the Document defaults tab.
4. In the Language & currency section, open the Invoice language dropdown and choose your main language.
5. Optional: tick Auto-detect customer language to use each customer’s Shopify language when it’s one of the supported languages.
6. Optional: tick Translate product names.
7. Click Save in the bar at the top of the page.

You can also reach these settings from the visual editor: in the editor’s sidebar, under Language & currency, click Language, then click Go to Settings.

Translate your footer note

The footer note is the only free text on a template with its own translations.

1. Click Templates in the app’s menu and open your template.
2. Click Open visual editor.
3. In the editor’s sidebar, under Content, click Extra information.
4. Make sure Footer notes is on and the default text is filled in.
5. Under the footer text box, open the Add a language… dropdown and pick a language.
6. Type the footer text for that language. The preview switches to it so you can check it.
7. Click Save changes.

Each invoice shows the footer in its own language, and the default text when there’s no translation for that language. See Add notes, a footer and social links.

Change the language of one invoice

On the Pro plan, you can set a different language for a single invoice:

1. Click Orders in the app’s menu and open the order.
2. Click Edit invoice.
3. Click the Language button at the top of the page and pick a language. The preview updates.
4. Click Save in the bar at the top of the page.

This translates the invoice labels only. Product names, notes and addresses stay as entered.

Check your setup

1. Open an order on the Orders page and look at the invoice preview. The labels should be in your Invoice language.
2. If you turned on Auto-detect customer language, open an order placed by a customer who shopped in another supported language. Its labels should be in that language. For an order placed before you changed the setting, click Other, then Regenerate first.

Troubleshooting

An existing invoice is still in the old language

The language is set when the invoice is created. Open the order, click Other, then click Regenerate. If the invoice has manual edits, regenerating removes them. See Regenerate an invoice.

A customer got an invoice in the store language, not theirs

Check these in order:

1. Auto-detect customer language is ticked in Settings > Document defaults.
2. The customer’s language in Shopify is one of the 26 supported languages. Other languages fall back to your Invoice language.
3. The invoice was created after you turned auto-detect on. Regenerate older invoices.

A label is in English on a translated invoice

You’ve probably renamed that label on the template. A renamed label shows your wording in every language. Clear the label so the built-in translation is used: in the visual editor, under Language & currency, click Labels, delete your text, and click Save changes. See Change labels and the date format.

Product names aren't translated

Tick Translate product names, and make sure the product has a translation for that language in Shopify’s Translate & Adapt app. Then regenerate the invoice.

FAQ

Does changing the language change invoices I've already sent?

No. Existing invoices keep their language until you regenerate them. Emails already sent are not changed.

How does Invoice Falcon know my customer's language?

It uses the language the customer shopped in, as Shopify records it on the order. Only the main language is used, so a customer shopping in Mexican Spanish gets Spanish. To use Mexican Spanish, pick it as your Invoice language.

Can I add a language that isn't in the list?

No. Invoices with an unsupported language use your Invoice language. You can still rename every label to your own wording on the template. See Change labels and the date format.

Will my customer see the rest of the invoice in their language?

The labels and document title, yes. Your business details, notes and addresses show exactly as they were entered.

Related guides

• Invoices in your customer’s currency, the other half of selling internationally.
• Change labels and the date format, to word labels your own way.
• Add notes, a footer and social links, for the footer note.
• Regenerate an invoice, to update existing invoices.