E-invoicing

E-invoicing is the law in some countries: each invoice must carry a QR code, and be signed and sent to the tax authority’s e-invoicing platform. Axon Suite does this as part of posting, for customer invoices and customer credit notes, wherever they are raised: in Receivables, at the till, from a sales order or in the rep app.

Axon Suite e-invoices in Saudi Arabia, in two stages:

Stage	When it applies	What a posted invoice gets
QR code only	Every subsidiary registered in Saudi Arabia, from the day it starts posting	A QR code holding your name, VAT number, the date and time, the total and the VAT. Nothing is sent.
Signed and sent	Once the subsidiary has a connected device and E-Invoicing switched on	A signed invoice and a QR code. An invoice to a customer with a Tax ID is cleared by the authority before it posts; one to a customer without is posted and then reported to the authority.

Note

E-invoicing is built for Saudi Arabia only. For a subsidiary in any other country, leave E-Invoicing off: switched on, its invoices cannot post.

Prepare the subsidiary

The tax authority certifies the subsidiary by its name, VAT number and registered address, and every invoice carries them. Fill them in before the first invoice of a Saudi subsidiary.

1. Go to Finance ‣ Setup ‣ Subsidiaries and open the subsidiary.
2. On the Tax tab, enter the Tax ID: the VAT registration number.
3. On the Address tab, fill in the Registered address, with Building number, Street 1, District, City and Postal code.
4. Click Save.

Posted invoices now carry the QR code. To sign and send them as well, connect a device, then switch e-invoicing on. See Subsidiaries for the other fields.

Connect a device

A device is the certificate your subsidiary signs its invoices with, registered with the tax authority. Connecting it takes four steps in one wizard. Start in the subsidiary you are working in: the device signs for that subsidiary only.

Before you start, log in to the tax authority’s e-invoicing portal for the environment you will use, and generate a one-time password for a new solution unit. It expires quickly, so finish the first step within a few minutes.

1. Go to Tax ‣ Compliance, open the list of devices, and click New device.
2. On the Identity step, enter the Organization unit (the branch or department, such as Finance) and a Device serial of your choice.
3. Tick the invoice types the device signs: Standard tax invoice (B2B), Simplified invoice (B2C / POS), or both.
4. Pick the Industry and the Environment, and paste the one-time password from the portal.
5. Click Submit CSR. The step shows Compliance CSID issued when the authority accepts the request.
6. Click Run compliance check. Axon Suite sends six test invoices, and the Compliance step lists each one as PASS or FAIL.
7. When every invoice shows PASS, click Activate device.

The device shows Active. The first active device of a subsidiary becomes its Primary: the one that signs every invoice from then on.

Field	What it sets
Environment	Sandbox and Simulation are the authority’s test platforms; their invoices are not legally valid. Production is the live platform.
Standard tax invoice (B2B)	The device may sign invoices to customers with a tax registration.
Simplified invoice (B2C / POS)	The device may sign invoices to customers without one, such as till sales.
Common name	The signing solution, filled in for you and locked.

Caution

Activating a device in Production cannot be undone. Its certificate is issued for a year and cannot be renewed without connecting a device again. Check the subsidiary’s name, VAT number and address match the authority’s records first.

When a test invoice fails, read the reason in Details, correct it, and click Retry compliance check. Back returns to the first step.

Switch e-invoicing on

Switch it on once the subsidiary has an active device, so its invoices are signed and sent from then on.

1. Go to Finance ‣ Setup ‣ Subsidiaries and open the subsidiary.
2. On the Tax tab, switch on E-Invoicing.
3. Click Save.

Issue an e-invoice

There is nothing extra to do: post the invoice or credit note as usual, for example from Receivables, at the till or in the rep app.

• For a customer with a Tax ID, the invoice is signed and cleared by the authority before it posts. If the authority refuses it, the invoice is not posted.
• For a customer without a Tax ID, the invoice is signed and posts at once, and Axon Suite reports it to the authority straight after, trying again if the platform does not answer.

The QR code prints on the till receipt, on the invoice and credit note PDF, and on the rep app’s invoice. Whether a customer gets a clearance or a report depends only on the Tax ID on their record, so fill it in for every business customer.

Example

A medical supplier invoices a hospital with a VAT number and sells to walk-in customers at its counter. The hospital’s invoice is cleared by the authority before it is printed; each counter sale prints its receipt at once and is reported a moment later.

Correct an e-invoice

Once an invoice has been signed or sent, it cannot be voided. Correct it with a credit note against it, with a Reason. The credit note is e-invoiced in turn, naming the invoice it corrects and your reason.

Keep a device valid

A device’s certificate expires. The device list shows the days left in Expiry, and the device page shows Expiring soon as Yes — renew within 30 days. Axon Suite also sends a notification 30 days before, in the final week, and once it has expired.

1. Before the date in Expires at, connect a new device.
2. Open the new device and click Set as primary.

Danger

Once the primary device has expired or been revoked, the subsidiary’s invoices, credit notes and till sales cannot post until another active device is made the primary. Another device is not picked for you.

To retire a device, open the device list, click Revoke on its row, enter why, and confirm. Revoke it in the authority’s portal as well.

Messages you may meet

Message	What to do
The subsidiary states no tax registration, and a VAT document is issued under one.	Prepare the subsidiary: enter its Tax ID. A Saudi subsidiary needs one to post any invoice.
E-invoicing needs the subsidiary’s tax ID and registered address: building number, street, district, city, postal code.	Fill in the Tax ID and every part of the Registered address, then switch E-Invoicing on.
The subsidiary states no registered address, and the country requires one on every document.	Fill in the subsidiary’s Registered address.
This country requires e-invoicing and the platform has no provider for it.	The subsidiary is outside Saudi Arabia. Switch E-Invoicing off for it.
The line’s unit of measure has no UN/ECE code, so its quantity cannot be declared.	Give the line’s unit of measure a standard Code, such as PCS, EA, CTN, BOX, PACK, KG, G, L, ML or M.
A declared invoice line carries exactly one VAT category, and this one does not.	The line’s tax group mixes codes of different Category. Use a group whose codes share one.
The document was declared to the tax authority; issue a credit note instead of voiding it.	Correct it with a credit note.
The device could not be activated. Complete the compliance check first.	Run the compliance check until every test invoice passes.
The device could not be made primary. Only an active, non-expired device qualifies.	Pick a device that shows Active and has not expired.

When the authority refuses an invoice, or does not answer, posting stops with a message saying which, and nothing is posted. If it did not answer, post again later. If it refused, check the customer’s Tax ID and address and the subsidiary’s details, then post again. A message saying the subsidiary has no active device means its primary device has expired or been revoked: keep a device valid.