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)
Philip Cohen on 