More and more tax authorities require invoices to be validated electronically. The details differ from country to country, but the pattern is similar: each invoice is sent to the authority’s system, checked, and returned with a control number or signature that must appear on the document the customer receives.
What the rules usually require
- Every sales invoice and credit note is transmitted, usually as it is raised
- The invoice carries a control number, signature or QR code from the authority
- Items are classified with the codes the authority uses
- Credit notes reference the original invoice
- Records are kept for a set number of years
What your ERP must do
- Send invoices automatically, so staff never re-enter them in a portal
- Keep selling when the connection drops, and send the queue when it returns
- Store the authority’s response against each invoice for audit
- Block edits to invoices once they are validated, and correct them only by credit note
- Report on any invoice that failed to transmit
Questions to ask a supplier
- Is the connection direct, or through a certified device or middleware?
- What happens at the till when the internet is down?
- How are failed transmissions shown and retried?
- Who updates the integration when the authority changes its rules?