Three step e-invoicing evolution in South America

November 1, 2011  |  Electronic Invoicing, Legal, South America

Kevin Benedict is one of those that write a lot about e-invoicing. He has a particular focus on SAP, Crossgate (now owned by SAP) and Latin America. In one of his latest posts he showed the three-step-evolution of e-invoicing in Latin America. Therefore expanding the Trustweaver whitepaper on global country requirements.

The three-step-evolution of e-invoicing in Latin America

Taking Argentina as an example Kevin discusses the three steps in electronic invoicing evolution

Step 1: Traditional Paper Invoice

In this step, the paper invoice:

  • closes the commercial transaction
  • describes products and services, including costs for taxes & freight
  • includes accounting codes used for matching, assigning costs within an organization
  • is auditable by Tax Authorities for Value Added Tax compliance

Step 2: Basic Electronic e-Invoice

In this second step, the e-invoice:

  • is an electronic version of paper document – contains the same basic information
  • digitally signed by the emitter for non-repudiation, integrity and authentication to receiver
  • is the legal invoice – the paper invoice is a visualization for human comfort only

Step 3: Real time e-Invoicing

  • Multiple document types (export invoice, credit memo, debit memo, etc.)
  • Real-time integration of CFD Summary with Argentina Tax Authority (AFIP)
  • Export Invoices – you cannot release a truck for shipment without a CAE number
  • All Invoices, CAE Code and Expiration Date required on a printed output.

E-invoicing status in the rest of Latin America?

According to Kevin Benedict, it is something like this (click the image to enlarge)


Leave a Reply