diff --git a/bindings/python/example_scripts/Invoice.tex.tmpl b/bindings/python/example_scripts/Invoice.tex.tmpl
index a5248cca9f..a16b03743a 100644
--- a/bindings/python/example_scripts/Invoice.tex.tmpl
+++ b/bindings/python/example_scripts/Invoice.tex.tmpl
@@ -130,13 +130,13 @@
 \Euro
 %---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 \begin{letter}{% {% endraw %}
-{{ invoice.GetOwner().GetName().decode("UTF-8") }} \\ 
-{{ invoice.GetOwner().GetAddr().GetAddr1().decode("UTF-8") }} \\ 
-{{ invoice.GetOwner().GetAddr().GetAddr2().decode("UTF-8") }} \\ 
-{{ invoice.GetOwner().GetAddr().GetAddr3().decode("UTF-8") }} 
+{{ invoice.GetOwner().GetName() }} \\ 
+{{ invoice.GetOwner().GetAddr().GetAddr1() }} \\ 
+{{ invoice.GetOwner().GetAddr().GetAddr2() }} \\ 
+{{ invoice.GetOwner().GetAddr().GetAddr3() }} 
 {# if Addr4 is declared put a linebreak here #}
 {% if invoice.GetOwner().GetAddr().GetAddr4() %} \\ {% endif %} 
-{{ invoice.GetOwner().GetAddr().GetAddr4().decode("UTF-8") }} {% raw %}
+{{ invoice.GetOwner().GetAddr().GetAddr4() }} {% raw %}
 }
 %---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 % Weitere Optionen
@@ -156,7 +156,7 @@ Ich erlaube mir, Ihnen folgende Beträge in Rechnung zu stellen:
 {%- for ent in invoice.GetEntries() -%}
  {{- '\Artikel' -}} 
  {{- '{' -}} {{- ent.GetQuantity() -}} {{- '}' -}} 
- {{- '{' -}} {{- ent.GetDescription().decode("UTF-8") -}} {{- '}' -}} 
+ {{- '{' -}} {{- ent.GetDescription() -}} {{- '}' -}} 
  {{- '{' -}} {{- ent.GetInvPrice().to_double() -}} {{- '}' -}}
 {%- endfor -%}
 {#- **************** JINJA2 Entries END ********************** -#}
diff --git a/bindings/python/example_scripts/Invoice_2.tex.tmpl b/bindings/python/example_scripts/Invoice_2.tex.tmpl
index 0c94fc7e17..ea2e7e33ef 100644
--- a/bindings/python/example_scripts/Invoice_2.tex.tmpl
+++ b/bindings/python/example_scripts/Invoice_2.tex.tmpl
@@ -134,13 +134,13 @@
 \Euro
 %---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 \begin{letter}{ {%- endraw -%}
-{{- invoice.GetOwner().GetName().decode("UTF-8") -}} \\ 
-{{- invoice.GetOwner().GetAddr().GetAddr1().decode("UTF-8") -}} \\ 
-{{- invoice.GetOwner().GetAddr().GetAddr2().decode("UTF-8") -}} \\ 
-{{- invoice.GetOwner().GetAddr().GetAddr3().decode("UTF-8") -}} 
+{{- invoice.GetOwner().GetName() -}} \\ 
+{{- invoice.GetOwner().GetAddr().GetAddr1() -}} \\ 
+{{- invoice.GetOwner().GetAddr().GetAddr2() -}} \\ 
+{{- invoice.GetOwner().GetAddr().GetAddr3() -}} 
 {# if Addr4 is declared put a linebreak here #}
 {%- if invoice.GetOwner().GetAddr().GetAddr4() -%} \\ {%- endif -%} 
-{{- invoice.GetOwner().GetAddr().GetAddr4().decode("UTF-8") -}} {%- raw -%}
+{{- invoice.GetOwner().GetAddr().GetAddr4() -}} {%- raw -%}
 }
 %---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 % Weitere Optionen
@@ -167,7 +167,7 @@ Ich erlaube mir, Ihnen folgende Beträge in Rechnung zu stellen:
  {%- for ent in invoice.GetEntries() %}
  {{ loop.index }} & 
  {{- locale.format("%.2f", ent.GetQuantity().to_double()) -}} & 
- {{- ent.GetDescription().decode("UTF-8") -}} &
+ {{- ent.GetDescription() -}} &
  \EUR{ {{- locale.format("%.2f", ent.GetInvPrice().to_double()) -}} } &
  \EUR{ {{- locale.format("%.2f", ent.GetInvPrice().to_double() * ent.GetQuantity().to_double()) -}} } \\ \hline
  {%- endfor -%}
diff --git a/bindings/python/example_scripts/latex_invoices.py b/bindings/python/example_scripts/latex_invoices.py
index 829021adfc..f494fb1318 100644
--- a/bindings/python/example_scripts/latex_invoices.py
+++ b/bindings/python/example_scripts/latex_invoices.py
@@ -115,19 +115,19 @@ def invoice_to_lco(invoice):
     add_str = u""
     owner = invoice.GetOwner()
     if owner.GetName() != "":
-        add_str += owner.GetName().decode("UTF-8") + "\n"
+        add_str += owner.GetName() + "\n"
 
     addr = owner.GetAddr()
     if addr.GetName() != "":
-        add_str += addr.GetName().decode("UTF-8") + "\n"
+        add_str += addr.GetName() + "\n"
     if addr.GetAddr1() != "":
-        add_str += addr.GetAddr1().decode("UTF-8") + "\n"
+        add_str += addr.GetAddr1() + "\n"
     if addr.GetAddr2() != "":
-        add_str += addr.GetAddr2().decode("UTF-8") + "\n"
+        add_str += addr.GetAddr2() + "\n"
     if addr.GetAddr3() != "":
-        add_str += addr.GetAddr3().decode("UTF-8") + "\n"
+        add_str += addr.GetAddr3() + "\n"
     if addr.GetAddr4() != "":
-        add_str += addr.GetAddr4().decode("UTF-8") + "\n"
+        add_str += addr.GetAddr4() + "\n"
 
     lco_out += write_variable("toaddress2", add_str)
 
@@ -147,7 +147,7 @@ def invoice_to_lco(invoice):
 
     # Write the entries
     ent_str = u""
-    locale.setlocale(locale.LC_ALL, "de_DE")
+    locale.setlocale(locale.LC_ALL, "")
     for n, ent in enumerate(invoice.GetEntries()):
 
         line_str = u""
@@ -160,14 +160,14 @@ def invoice_to_lco(invoice):
         n = ent.GetQuantity()
 
         uprice = locale.currency(price).rstrip(" EUR")
-        un = unicode(
+        un = str(
             int(float(n.num()) / n.denom())
         )  # choose best way to format numbers according to locale
 
         line_str = u"\Artikel{"
         line_str += un
         line_str += u"}{"
-        line_str += descr.decode("UTF-8")
+        line_str += descr
         line_str += u"}{"
         line_str += uprice
         line_str += u"}"
@@ -288,7 +288,6 @@ def main(argv=None):
 
         # Opening output file
         f = open(output_file_name, "w")
-        lco_str = lco_str.encode("latin1")
         f.write(lco_str)
         f.close()