How to get ready for phase 1 of e-invoicing in KSA?

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) started e-invoicing as one of the initiatives to move the economy towards digitalisation. The Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority (ZATCA) in the KSA intends to implement phase-1 of e-invoicing from 4th December 2021. This article explains actions to be taken by the taxpayers and e-invoicing readiness steps.
e-Invoicing readiness steps

The first phase of the e-invoicing system applies to all the resident taxpayers. It also covers the customers or third-party persons who issue a tax invoice on behalf of the resident taxable person. However, ZATCA excluded non-residents for VAT purposes from e-invoicing.

Actions to be taken by the taxpayers

The following are the actions to be taken by taxpayers from 4th December 2021:

1. Avoid manual invoices: The e-Invoicing Regulations mandated to issue e-invoices from phase 1. Hence, the taxpayer should stop issuing handwritten invoices and invoices written using text editing tools.
2. Adapt a compliant e-invoicing solution: The e-invoicing applicable taxpayer should adopt an e-invoicing solution that complies with the requirements and specifications mentioned in e-Invoicing Regulations. The e-invoicing solution should generate e-invoices with the mandatory fields with QR codes and timestamp the e-invoice copies archived in the solution. Also, the e-invoicing solution should not contain the following  prohibited functionalities:
   • Uncontrolled access
   • Software time change
   • Tampering of e-invoices or logs
   • Multiple invoice sequences​
3. Mention additional fields in invoices: The taxpayer should mention the invoice type as a title in both standard tax invoices and simplified tax invoices. However, the following additional details are to be mentioned mandatorily:
   • In a standard tax invoice: VAT registration number of the buyer if the buyer is a registered VAT taxpayer.
   • In a simplified tax invoice: Mandatory QR code generated by the taxpayer’s e-invoicing solution.

e-Invoicing readiness steps

The taxpayers are suggested to follow the below four steps to ensure timely readiness for e-invoicing:

1. The taxpayers should understand the e-invoicing requirements and familiarise themselves with the e-invoicing process through reading the materials available on the ZATCA website or other reliable websites.
2. Businesses should approach either e-invoicing software providers or internal technical teams to adopt a solution compliant with e-Invoicing Regulations.
3. The businesses should test their e-invoicing solution before 4th December 2021 to check the correctness of e-invoices and ensure smooth implementation of e-invoicing.
4. Businesses should create awareness amongst employees who have to work around e-invoicing. Businesses should conduct workshops with employees at regular intervals to train them through the e-invoicing process.