eFactura, the Argentinian Electronic Invoice method

Argentina is one of the Latin countries that put electronic invoicing into practice. Based on Government rules and regulations, there are many differences between eFactura and for instance Brazil’s Nf-e (Nota Fiscal Eletronica).

The law in Argentina obliges every company that deals with VAT related invoices to generate these documents in the electronically:

• Invoices or equivalent documents class A
• Credit notes and debit notes class A

Companies have the option to create the electronic version of the documents below:

• Invoices or equivalent documents class B
• Credit notes and debit notes class B

This fiscal program has started in 2006, and it it took the Government a great deal of time and effort to make it mandatory. The number of commercial channels and communication methods were other aspects that made the implementation take so long. Moreover, the implementation proves to be a slow growing trend as the level of validation over the XML file sent to AFIP is not high.

In order to issue an electronic invoice (eFactura), the companies must request a digital certification called Fiscal Key. Using this fiscal key, the company is an electronic issuer. Then, the company will request authorization to issue each separate invoice. This authorization is requested to AFIP (Administración Federal de Ingresos Públicos), the Government Tax Entity. An electronic certification number called CAE proves that the authorization is official. Without the CAE number applied to the invoice, it is not possible to release invoices to customers.

This CAE number can be gathered in two ways:

-          Normal: the communication method does not matter, every invoice should have one

-          Anticipated:  the company can ask for a certain number of CAE numbers according to its wish, for 15 days. After this period, the company has to file a report on how many of those numbers were really used. Optionally,they can make a request for more.

Another determining aspect when configuring a company’s scenario in eFactura is the regime. A regime determines the tax contribution model that applies to the company. Two major ones are:

• R.E.C.E. à Regime de Emissión de Comprobantes Electrónicos - http://www.afip.gob.ar/fe/#rece
  This is the most adequate model for large contributors. It is based on web services, with no limits.
• R.E.C.L. à Regime de Emissión de Comprobantes en Línea - http://www.afip.gob.ar/fe/#recl
  This modelv  is very adequate for companies with no more than 100 invoices per month.

By Alexandre Carvalho
APC Solutions