ZATCA: the invoice a quotation becomes

ZATCA, the Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority in Saudi Arabia, runs e-invoicing in two phases. Phase 1, since December 2021, ended handwritten and unstructured invoices; Phase 2 integrates each taxpayer's invoicing system with the authority's platform in waves assigned by annual VAT-taxable revenue. The waves have reached firms whose revenue passed the threshold set for 2022, 2023 or 2024, with integration due by the end of June 2026, and the threshold keeps falling with each wave. For a contractor or a supplier the practical chain is quotation to purchase order to invoice, and a quotation that lacks the fields the invoice needs is retyped at the end. A current ZATCA certificate is also one of the documents the procurement platform demands.

What it requires

• Issue invoices and simplified invoices electronically, in the structured XML format the authority specifies, with a QR code on simplified invoices
• Include the mandatory fields: seller VAT number, buyer details on standard invoices, invoice type, timestamp, unique identifier, a cryptographic stamp and a hash chain linking each invoice to the previous one
• Integrate the invoicing system with the authority's platform once your wave is called: clearance for standard invoices, reporting for simplified ones
• Keep credit and debit notes, for variation orders and returns, linked to the invoice they correct
• Store invoices for the retention period the regulation sets, unaltered

What the system provides

• A quotation template whose items table already carries what the invoice will need: line description, unit, quantity, unit price, VAT rate and total, plus your VAT number in the header
• Quote and invoice extraction into your accounting or e-invoicing tool, with a person confirming anything the extractor was unsure of
• The RFQ follow-up automation records the request, the quotation and the order in the CRM, so the invoice has a source
• Invoicing with the Phase 2 fields, the QR code and the hash chain where we build the invoicing module for you

What we do not claim yet

• Integration with the authority's platform is buildable against the published specification, but it is built and tested per firm, and no certification is claimed until a firm's integration is live
• Your wave, your VAT registration and your mix of standard and simplified invoices are confirmed with your accountant, not assumed

Sources

• EY tax alert: ZATCA Phase 2 integration waves

These pages are engineering notes, not legal advice. Confirm your obligations with the authority, the portal or a licensed adviser before you rely on them.