# Sequence — Billing & Invoicing

Sequence by Sequence HQ Ltd holds a panel rating of 3/5 from 6 AI judges (category median 3/5), as of 2026-10-28. Provenance: UK / wider Europe; sovereignty: 1 of 4 dimensions proven.

- Vendor: Sequence HQ Ltd (https://www.sequencehq.com)
- Category: [Billing & Invoicing](https://whats-best.ai/software/billing.md)
- Provenance (editorial classification): UK / wider Europe
- Canonical page: https://whats-best.ai/software/billing/sequence
- Alternatives: https://whats-best.ai/software/billing/sequence/alternatives ([markdown](https://whats-best.ai/software/billing/sequence/alternatives.md))
- Data as of: 2026-10-29 · evaluated 2026-10-28 · oldest source captured 2026-10-26

**AI-generated.** Every score, rationale and verdict here is written by a panel of AI judges from public evidence — an analysis, not a hands-on test. Every fact quotes the vendor page it was read from. No score can be bought. How scores are made: https://whats-best.ai/methodology

## At a glance

- Vendor: Sequence HQ Ltd
- Headquarters: Not stated on the vendor’s pages as of 26 Oct 2026
- Data hosting: Not stated on the vendor’s pages as of 26 Oct 2026
- Free plan: Not stated on the vendor’s pages as of 26 Oct 2026

## The panel's verdict

Sequence, a billing and revenue platform from Sequence HQ Ltd of England and Wales, scores highest on the subscription engine and revenue and handoff: usage, seat, hybrid and credit pricing with proration and amendments, quotes that become contracts, and revenue recognition to ASC 606 and IFRS 15 with journals exportable to Xero, QuickBooks, NetSuite or a generic ledger. Invoicing compliance is the weakest criterion at 4 to 4: credit notes are well built, but we found no public information on sequential numbering, retention or structured e-invoices such as XRechnung, ZUGFeRD or Peppol. Pricing transparency and sovereignty sit low too: above the Growth tier at $799 per month for startups with less than $1m in annual revenue, both remaining tiers are bespoke; processing is described as limited to the EU and US, the captured pages give different figures on ISO 27001, and an agreement to be acquired by Intuit is signed but not stated as completed. Judges part narrowly on tax handling, on VIES validation and who maintains the rate tables.

**Speaks for it:**
- Subscription engine scores 8-9, covering usage, seat, hybrid and credit-based pricing with proration, amendments and quotes that become contracts.
- Revenue recognition runs to ASC 606 and IFRS 15 in a dedicated sub-ledger, with journal exports for direct import into Xero, QuickBooks, NetSuite or a generic ledger.
- Dunning workflows time reminders to the due date, branch on customer or invoice total, stop automatically when an invoice is paid, voided or written off, and keep a full audit trail.
- Credit notes can be created against issued invoices or from scratch, adjusted until finalized, voided rather than edited, and tracked with ledger balances and an audit trail.
- The API is versioned with a sandbox, and webhooks arrive HMAC-signed with 24-hour retries.

**Held against it:**
- Invoicing compliance scores 4 to 4, and we found no public information on sequential numbering, mandatory invoice content, retention or structured e-invoices such as XRechnung, ZUGFeRD or Peppol.
- Above $1m in annual revenue, the Core and Scale tiers are both bespoke, with a monthly platform fee assessed on projected billed revenue and required features.
- Tax handling scores 6-7, with no public information on VIES validation of VAT IDs or OSS reporting data, and rate tables maintained by the seller.
- Collections and dunning scores 6 to 6, and we found no public information on automatic retries of failed payments, card updaters, SEPA direct-debit mandates, or moving subscriptions and payment tokens to another provider.
- Sovereignty scores 4-5, with no public information on hosting infrastructure or subprocessor locations, processing described as limited to the EU and US, and the captured pages giving different figures on ISO 27001.

**Best for:**
- You run usage-based or hybrid B2B SaaS pricing with credits, minimums and frequent contract amendments and want quotes turned into contracts in the platform.
- Your finance team closes on ASC 606 or IFRS 15 and needs journals that reconcile to deferred-revenue and waterfall reports and import into Xero, QuickBooks or NetSuite.
- You are a startup with less than $1m in annual revenue and want a publicly priced tier at $799 per month.
- You chase overdue invoices manually today and want reminder workflows with human approval checkpoints and a per-reminder audit trail.

**Avoid if:**
- You must issue structured e-invoices such as XRechnung, ZUGFeRD or Peppol — invoicing compliance is the lowest score at 4 to 4, and the captured pages show a PDF invoice.
- Your revenue is above $1m and you need to compute your annual cost from public pages — the Core and Scale tiers above Growth are both bespoke pricing.
- You need processing confined to Europe — processing is described as limited to the EU and US under standard contract clauses, and an agreement to be acquired by Intuit has been signed.
- You expect the vendor to maintain tax rates — the rate tables are maintained by the seller, and the product prompts you when a region has none configured.

## Scores by judge and criterion

Scores out of 5, each judge scoring independently against the published rubric (v1). "n/r" = not rated: the vendor publishes no price, or the judge found no public information on that criterion.

| Criterion | The SaaS Founder | The Finance Lead | The Billing Engineer | The Service-Business Owner | The Tax Adviser | The Skeptic |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Plans, pricing models & subscription lifecycle | 4/5 | 4.5/5 | 4/5 | 4/5 | 4.5/5 | 4/5 |
| Invoices & e-invoicing compliance | 2/5 | 2/5 | 2/5 | 2/5 | 2/5 | 2/5 |
| Cross-border VAT & tax handling | 3.5/5 | 3.5/5 | 3.5/5 | 3/5 | 3/5 | 3/5 |
| Payment collection, dunning & portability | 3/5 | 3/5 | 3/5 | 3/5 | 3/5 | 3/5 |
| Revenue reporting & accounting handoff | 4/5 | 4.5/5 | 4/5 | 3.5/5 | 4/5 | 4/5 |
| European sovereignty | 2/5 | 2.5/5 | 2/5 | 2/5 | 2.5/5 | 2/5 |
| Pricing transparency | 2.5/5 | 2/5 | 2/5 | 2.5/5 | 2/5 | 2/5 |
| **Weighted verdict** | **3/5** | **3.5/5** | **3.5/5** | **3/5** | **3/5** | **3/5** |

### The judges

- **The SaaS Founder** (v1.0): Runs a twelve-person SaaS that sells to companies in nine EU countries and is about to add a usage-based tier. Wants plans, trials and price changes without a developer sprint, reverse charge that is right without thinking about it, failed cards retried before they turn into churn, and a billing bill that does not grow faster than revenue.
- **The Finance Lead** (v1.0): Closes the month for a software company with eight million euros of recurring revenue. Wants MRR that reconciles with the ledger, deferred revenue scheduled rather than estimated in a spreadsheet, a journal or DATEV export the accountants can book without retyping, and dunning that stops before it reaches a key account.
- **The Billing Engineer** (v1.0): Wires billing into the product and gets paged when a webhook goes missing. Wants a documented API for usage events, idempotent webhooks, entitlements the app can read, a sandbox that behaves like production, and a migration path that moves subscriptions and payment tokens out again if the company outgrows the tool.
- **The Service-Business Owner** (v1.0): Runs an IT service company with two hundred maintenance contracts, hosting packages and monthly retainers, all billed to German businesses. Wants contract terms and price increases handled by the system, SEPA direct debit with mandates, e-invoices that public-sector customers accept, a DATEV export for the tax adviser, and customer data kept in Europe.
- **The Tax Adviser** (v1.0): Advises software and subscription businesses and sees what their billing tools get wrong at the year-end audit. Wants sequential numbering and credit notes instead of edited invoices, XRechnung and ZUGFeRD now that the B2B e-invoice is mandatory, VAT IDs checked before reverse charge is applied, and a merchant of record that says in writing which tax it owes.
- **The Skeptic** (v1.0): Has seen "automated recurring revenue" turn into a tool that takes a percentage of every euro billed and keeps the payment tokens when the customer leaves. Reads "e-invoicing ready" that means a PDF, "global tax compliance" with no word on who is liable, merchant-of-record terms that let the vendor change fees at will, and subprocessor lists that stop at the hosting provider — and asks what leaving would cost.

## European sovereignty — proven facts

Built only from facts on the vendor's own pages; a dimension we could not prove is left open, never scored as zero. Headline: 1 of 4 dimensions proven.

| Dimension | Finding | Points | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Legal entity | Not determined | — | — |
| Ownership | Foreign-controlled | 0/2 | [S1] |
| Data residency | Not determined | — | — |
| Subprocessors | Not determined | — | — |

## Key facts

Each fact is the vendor's own statement, cited to the source page it was read from ([S*n*] → Sources).

**Compliance**
- Audit trails: yes [S1]
- Certifications: SOC 2 · GDPR · ISO 27001:2022 [S1]
- Complaint channel: Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) [S3]
- DPA: yes [S4]
- GDPR: yes [S2]
- GDPR: EU GDPR (2016/679/EC) · Data Protection Act 2018 · yes [S4]
- GDPR framework: UK GDPR · Data Protection Act 2018 [S3]
- Ico registration: ZB304614 [S3]
- ISO 27001: yes · yes [S2]
- Privacy contact: compliance@sequencehq.com [S3]
- Privacy policy last updated: 2026-02 [S3]
- Rbac: yes [S1]
- Security incident contact: security@sequencehq.com [S3]
- SOC 2: pending · yes [S3]
- SOC 2: yes · yes [S2]
- SSO: yes · Okta · Microsoft Entra ID [S1]

**Data**
- Anonymization: yes [S3]
- Retention policy: retain only as long as necessary for collected purposes and legal requirements [S3]
- Rights requests channel: access · delete · control · Data Requests form [S3]

**Hosting**
- Processing regions: EU · US · yes [S3]
- Transfer mechanism: standard contract clauses (SCC) [S3]

**Integrations**
- API: REST · yes · yes [S1]
- Connectors: yes · CRMs · ERPs · accounting tools · data warehouses [S1]
- CRM source: Salesforce [S1]
- Linked services: Amazon_Redshift · GoCardless · Google_BigQuery · Google_Sheets · HubSpot · NetSuite · QuickBooks_Online · Salesforce · Slack · Snowflake · Stripe · Xero · Avalara · Anrok · Attio · Numeral · Rillet · Sphere [S8]
- Payment processors: yes [S12]
- Portal embed API: Portal link can be embedded using the Sequence API Customers endpoint [S5]
- Reminder webhooks: INVOICE_REMINDER_SENT · WATCHTOWER_TASK_ASSIGNED [S11]
- Stripe portal payments: yes [S5]
- Third party services: yes · no [S4]
- Webhook dashboard config: yes [S14]
- Webhook delivery method: POST [S14]
- Webhook destinations: CRM · Slack · own dashboards [S11]
- Webhook events: webhook events cover customers, invoices, billing schedules, credit notes, quotes [S14]
- Webhook idempotency: yes [S14]
- Webhook retries: 24 [S14]
- Webhook signature: Sequence-Signature · HMAC-SHA-256 [S14]
- Webhook unknown events: yes [S14]
- Webhooks: Webhooks listed in API reference navigation · yes [S8]
- Webhooks: yes [S14]
- Xero push: yes · re-pushing only posts what has changed [S13]

**Legal**
- Acquisition: agreement signed · Intuit [S1]
- Address: 27 New Dover Road, Canterbury, England, CT1 3DN [S3]
- Confidentiality term: 2 [S4]
- Entity: Sequence HQ Ltd · England and Wales · 13585168 [S3]
- Entity: Sequence HQ Ltd · 27 New Dover Road, Canterbury, England, CT1 3DN · England and Wales · 13585168 [S4]
- Founded: Andreessen Horowitz · Salesforce Ventures · 2021 [S12]
- Governing law: England and Wales · England and Wales courts [S4]
- Minimum age: 18 [S3]

**Pricing**
- Addon price: quote builder · revenue recognition · 499 [S2]
- Core bespoke: Companies with $1-10m in annual revenue · bespoke [S2]
- Free trial available: yes [S2]
- Growth price: Startups with <$1m in annual revenue · 799 · monthly [S2]
- Late fee: 1 [S4]
- Model: predictable and scalable pricing model; no specific prices stated [S12]
- Payment terms: no · 30 [S4]
- Scale bespoke: Companies with $10m+ annual revenue · bespoke [S2]
- Scale fee model: monthly platform fee based on projected billed revenue and required features [S2]
- Taxes: yes [S4]

**Product**
- Activity log: yes [S13]
- Addons available: Sequence quote builder · Custom reporting dashboard [S2]
- Agents: Watchtower [S1]
- Analysis report: yes [S13]
- API version header: 2024-07-30 [S8]
- Async export email link: yes · yes [S13]
- Billing models: usage · seats · hybrid · minimums · credits · proration · amendments [S1]
- Cash credits auto apply: yes [S7]
- Contract intake: contract intake agent mapping commercial terms to catalogue [S1]
- Cpq: CPQ with quote/contract generation [S1]
- Credit burndowns: Credit grants burned down monthly, unused credits roll over, overages apply after burn-down [S6]
- Credit grants issuance: usage_credits · cash_credits · api · dashboard [S6]
- Credit grants visibility: Available credits visible in credit grant section on customer detail page [S7]
- Credit note application status: UNAPPLIED · PARTIALLY_APPLIED · FULLY_APPLIED · UNKNOWN [S8]
- Credit note apply to invoice: yes [S8]
- Credit note cash credit grant: ENABLED · DISABLED · yes [S8]
- Credit note cash credits: yes [S7]
- Credit note contents: Credit note includes related invoice number, date and credit amount [S7]
- Credit note creation modes: yes · yes [S7]
- Credit note editor: Credit note editor matches invoice editor; credited line items adjustable until finalized [S7]
- Credit note finalize and send: yes [S8]
- Credit note flow: Flow: create credit note from invoice, edit line items, preview PDF, finalize and issue [S7]
- Credit note invoice application: invoiceId · amount · appliedAt · invoiceNumber · yes [S8]
- Credit note ledger balance: yes · yes [S8]
- Credit note pdf download: yes [S8]
- Credit note purpose: Credit notes correct previously issued invoices and maintain an audit trail [S7]
- Credit note statuses: DRAFT · FINAL · IN_PROGRESS · SENT · VOIDED [S8]
- Credit note tax inheritance: inherits original invoice tax rate; from-scratch credit notes require manual rate per line [S9]
- Credit note unpaid invoices: Credit notes can correct issued but unpaid invoices; customer reconciles to pay correct amount [S7]
- Credit note void: yes [S8]
- Credit overview: Credits tab shows credit balances and transactions [S5]
- Credit tab visibility: yes [S5]
- Custom contracts: yes [S12]
- Customers: 1000 [S1]
- DPA: yes [S1]
- Dunning: dunning/collections agent, human in the loop [S1]
- Go live: 4 [S1]
- Graduated percentage pricing: Percentage-based graduated tiers, tiers and flat fees accumulate [S6]
- Graduated pricing: Graduated tiers with accumulating tier fees and optional flat fees [S6]
- Invoice email portal link: yes [S5]
- Invoicing: automated contract-based invoicing with accounting sync [S1]
- Journal report formats: Sequence generic CSV · Xero · QuickBooks · NetSuite [S13]
- Liability cap: fees paid in preceding 12 months [S4]
- Linear fee thresholds: Linear pricing with minimum and maximum fee thresholds per transaction [S6]
- Linear percentage pricing: Percentage-based linear fee with optional min/max fee threshold [S6]
- Manual adjustments: yes · yes · Standalone [S13]
- Metrics: 0.9 · 1 · 0.15 [S1]
- Migration: Chargebee · Maxio · Zuora · Stripe [S1]
- Modification notice: 10 [S4]
- Monthly report granularity: one journal per customer, product, and invoice combination; includes daily entries [S13]
- Notes: yes · yes [S2]
- Packaged pricing: Fixed price per package of units (stair-step pricing) [S6]
- Payment methods merchant: IBAN bank transfer · UK bank transfer · US ACH · US wire · Swedish Bankgiro [S8]
- Payment reminder workflows: yes [S11]
- Portal admin settings location: Portal managed in Settings → Customer Portal by admins [S5]
- Portal authentication: yes · yes [S5]
- Portal description: Branded customer portal with invoice history, usage and credit transactions [S5]
- Portal links unique per customer: Portal links are obscured and unique per customer [S5]
- Portal sent invoices only: yes [S5]
- Portal setting back link: Setting adds link back to vendor application [S5]
- Portal setting enable: Setting enables customer portal and adds portal link to invoice emails [S5]
- Portal setting usage tab: Setting adds usage tab for real-time usage [S5]
- Pricing model range: Supports standard and usage-based pricing models [S6]
- Publicity: yes [S4]
- Reconciliation to other reports: deferred revenue report · waterfall report [S13]
- Reminder attachments: yes [S11]
- Reminder auto stop: paid · voided · written_off_uncollectible [S11]
- Reminder email config: To · CC · BCC · Subject · Body · billing contacts [S11]
- Reminder plain email: no [S11]
- Reminder require approval: yes [S11]
- Reminder switch routing: Customer · Invoice total [S11]
- Reminder template variables: {{contact name}} · {{contact email}} · {{invoice number}} · {{amount}} · {{due date}} · {{days late}} · {{url}} [S11]
- Reminder timing: relative_to_due_date · immediately [S11]
- Reminder trigger: Invoice sent · no [S11]
- Report filters: date range · as-of date · currency (one per report) · journal type (system or manual) · customer · product · invoice · credit note · exclude fully recognized [S13]
- Revenue recognition: ASC 606 · IFRS 15 · yes [S1]
- Reverse charge behavior: yes · yes · yes [S10]
- Reverse charge VAT number: yes [S10]
- Role controller account data: controller · customer account data in Sequence platform [S3]
- Role processor end customer data: processor · yes [S3]
- Row limit mitigation: ~1M rows · narrow to quarter/month · aggregate to monthly · load into database or BI tool (DuckDB, BigQuery, ClickHouse) [S13]
- Scale features: Scale · Dedicated onboarding manager · Migration service from other platforms · Engineer support · Shared slack channel · Custom connectors · Custom pricing scenarios · Support SLAs [S2]
- Security warranty: yes · 30 [S4]
- Sequence platform: integrated billing, quoting and revenue recognition platform for Finance teams at B2B SaaS companies [S12]
- Service level agreement: yes [S4]
- Services: web platform (Platform) and, for certain services, an API · Payment Services · Templates · Billing [S4]
- Sign convention: yes [S13]
- Source field types: Invoice · Billing schedule · Credit note · Standalone · yes [S13]
- Tax applied basis: tax category · customer region · tax status [S9]
- Tax connector anrok: Anrok · calculate, apply and record sales tax, filing-ready records [S9]
- Tax connector avalara: Avalara · calculate tax, built-in address validation [S9]
- Tax connector numeral: Numeral · calculate tax, automated return filing [S9]
- Tax connector sphere: Sphere · calculate and apply tax, two-way customer and product sync [S9]
- Tax exempt behavior: no [S10]

**Subprocessors**
- List available: yes [S3]

**Support**
- Onboarding process: Scale: close support in account setup; Enterprise: onboarding manager creates customers and contracts, dedicated Slack channel [S2]

22 more facts on the canonical page: https://whats-best.ai/software/billing/sequence

## Questions

### Is Sequence European?

Yes, though not from the EU. whats-best.ai classifies Sequence as UK / wider Europe.

### Where does Sequence store data?

Not stated on the vendor’s pages as of 26 Oct 2026.

### Does Sequence have a free plan?

Not stated on the vendor’s pages as of 26 Oct 2026.

### What are the best alternatives to Sequence?

As of 28 Oct 2026, the panel rates [Chargebee (3.5/5)](https://whats-best.ai/software/billing/chargebee), [Younium (3.5/5)](https://whats-best.ai/software/billing/younium) and [Stripe Billing (3.5/5)](https://whats-best.ai/software/billing/stripe-billing) highest among the other 12 Billing & Invoicing products evaluated. Ratings that look equal are rounded to half stars; the order uses the unrounded rating, then the name. The highest-rated European alternative is [Younium](https://whats-best.ai/software/billing/younium) (EU-Made). Ratings are the AI panel’s opinion, formed from public evidence: [how scores are made](https://whats-best.ai/methodology#ordering). The full list, with European products first: [Sequence alternatives](https://whats-best.ai/software/billing/sequence/alternatives).

## What this page leaves out

- 15 product facts could not be confirmed on the vendor’s page as captured and were left out of this page and of the panel’s material.
- 5 integrations facts could not be confirmed on the vendor’s page as captured and were left out of this page and of the panel’s material.
- 4 support facts could not be confirmed on the vendor’s page as captured and were left out of this page and of the panel’s material.
- 1 compliance fact could not be confirmed on the vendor’s page as captured and was left out of this page and of the panel’s material.
- 1 hosting fact could not be confirmed on the vendor’s page as captured and was left out of this page and of the panel’s material.
- 1 legal fact could not be confirmed on the vendor’s page as captured and was left out of this page and of the panel’s material.
- 1 sovereignty dimension could not be confirmed on the vendor’s own pages and is shown as unknown.

## Sources

- [S1] Vendor homepage: https://www.sequencehq.com/ (checked 2026-10-26)
- [S2] Pricing page: https://www.sequencehq.com/pricing (checked 2026-10-26)
- [S3] Privacy policy: https://docs.sequencehq.com/compliance/privacy-policy (checked 2026-10-26)
- [S4] Terms of service: https://docs.sequencehq.com/compliance/terms-of-service (checked 2026-10-26)
- [S5] Plans, pricing models & subscription lifecycle — found from sitemap: https://docs.sequencehq.com/customers/customer-portal (checked 2026-10-26)
- [S6] Plans, pricing models & subscription lifecycle — found from sitemap: https://docs.sequencehq.com/plans-products/usage-based-pricing (checked 2026-10-26)
- [S7] Invoices & e-invoicing compliance — found from sitemap: https://docs.sequencehq.com/invoicing/credit-notes (checked 2026-10-26)
- [S8] Invoices & e-invoicing compliance — found from sitemap: https://docs.sequencehq.com/reference/latest/invoices/send-credit-note (checked 2026-10-26)
- [S9] Cross-border VAT & tax handling — found from sitemap: https://docs.sequencehq.com/tax/manage-sales-tax (checked 2026-10-26)
- [S10] Cross-border VAT & tax handling — found from sitemap: https://docs.sequencehq.com/tax/tax-status (checked 2026-10-26)
- [S11] Payment collection, dunning & portability — found from sitemap: https://docs.sequencehq.com/agents/payment-reminders (checked 2026-10-26)
- [S12] Payment collection, dunning & portability — found from sitemap: https://docs.sequencehq.com/migration/stripe-billing (checked 2026-10-26)
- [S13] Revenue reporting & accounting handoff — found from sitemap: https://docs.sequencehq.com/revenue-recognition/journal-report (checked 2026-10-26)
- [S14] Revenue reporting & accounting handoff — found from sitemap: https://docs.sequencehq.com/reference/webhooks (checked 2026-10-26)

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Cite as: whats-best.ai, "Sequence — Billing & Invoicing", AI panel analysis, as of 2026-10-29. https://whats-best.ai/software/billing/sequence

Corrections: https://whats-best.ai/correct/991?target=page