TL;DR

Saudi e-invoicing runs in two phases. Phase 1 ended paper and PDF-only invoices. Phase 2 requires your billing system to integrate with ZATCA's Fatoora platform, stamp invoices cryptographically, and either clear them before sharing (B2B) or report them shortly after issue (B2C). Your store or ERP does the work — but your support team lives with the consequences.

Read this as orientation, not as tax advice

This guide explains how Saudi e-invoicing is structured so that commerce and support teams can ask their finance function the right questions. Obligations depend on your entity, registration status, revenue, and the wave ZATCA has assigned you to. Rates, thresholds and deadlines change. Confirm anything that carries a compliance consequence against current ZATCA publications at zatca.gov.sa and with a qualified tax adviser.

What ZATCA is, and what Fatoora means

ZATCA — the Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority — administers zakat, VAT, excise and customs in Saudi Arabia. It was formed by merging the former General Authority of Zakat and Tax with the General Authority of Customs. Fatoora (فاتورة) is the e-invoicing programme and also the name of the platform your billing system integrates with. E-invoicing applies to VAT-registered persons resident in Saudi Arabia, and to third parties issuing invoices on their behalf.

Phase 1 — Generation

Phase 1 began on 4 December 2021 and applies to everyone in scope. It ended handwritten and scanned invoices: invoices must be issued from a compliant electronic system in a structured format, stored electronically, and carry the required fields. Simplified invoices — the B2C receipts most online stores issue — must include a QR code encoding the seller name, VAT registration number, timestamp, total with VAT, and VAT amount.

  • No handwritten invoices, and no invoices that exist only as a typed PDF from a word processor
  • Invoices issued from a compliant system, with tamper-resistant storage
  • QR code mandatory on simplified (B2C) invoices
  • Arabic is required on the invoice; other languages may be added alongside it

Phase 2 — Integration

Phase 2 began on 1 January 2023 and is being rolled out in waves determined by annual revenue, largest taxpayers first. ZATCA notifies each taxpayer of their wave in advance — historically at least six months' notice. Phase 2 is the demanding one: your system must connect to Fatoora over an API and produce invoices in a specific technical format rather than merely a tidy PDF.

  • Invoices in XML, or PDF/A-3 with the XML embedded inside it
  • A UUID and a cryptographic stamp on every invoice
  • A hash chain linking each invoice to the previous one, so gaps and edits are detectable
  • A cryptographic stamp identifier obtained through onboarding with the platform
  • Anti-tampering controls, and no ability to delete or silently alter an issued invoice

Standard vs simplified: two different timings

The distinction matters operationally more than most merchants expect. A standard tax invoice — typically B2B, where the buyer is VAT-registered — must be cleared with ZATCA before you send it to the buyer. The platform validates it and returns it stamped. A simplified tax invoice — typically B2C — is issued to the customer immediately and reported to ZATCA afterwards, historically within 24 hours. If you sell to both consumers and businesses, your store has to produce both kinds and handle two different flows.

Where this touches customer conversations

E-invoicing is a finance-system obligation, but the questions land in support. Customers ask for a tax invoice for reimbursement, ask why the invoice shows a different total after a partial refund, or send a screenshot of a QR code that will not scan. Credit and debit notes are the sharp edge: a refund or price correction is not an edit to the original invoice — it is a separate document that must reference the original and go through the same process. Teams that treat a refund as 'just change the invoice' create compliance problems that surface much later.

  • Agree who can issue a credit note, and make sure agents cannot promise one they cannot produce
  • Keep the invoice number and the order reference visible to agents, so a customer request can be matched quickly
  • Decide how a customer asks for a standard invoice when they checked out as a consumer but need a VAT invoice for their employer
  • Write down what an agent should say when an invoice is delayed by a clearance failure, rather than improvising

If you sell through Salla, Zid, or your own store

Hosted platforms generally provide e-invoicing as a feature or through an approved integration, and handle the stamping and transmission for you. That does not transfer the obligation: the VAT-registered seller remains responsible for what is issued under their registration. If you run a custom store, you are choosing between building against the Fatoora API and buying a certified solution — and the certification status of whatever you pick is worth verifying directly rather than taking from a sales page.

Questions to put to your finance team

  • Which wave were we notified for, and what is the integration date?
  • Which system of record issues invoices today, and is it the same one for every sales channel?
  • Do we issue standard invoices at all, or only simplified ones?
  • How are refunds and partial refunds represented — credit notes, and who can raise them?
  • Where are invoices archived, for how long, and who can retrieve one when a customer asks?
  • Who monitors clearance and reporting failures, and what happens to an order when one occurs?