ZATCA e-invoicing (FATOORA): phases, waves and what to automate

Sources: [3] [4] [6]

Earlier waves ran from Wave 1 (revenue above SAR 3 billion, from 1 January 2023) to Wave 16 (above SAR 3 million, from 1 April 2025). Being in a wave is decided by ZATCA's notification to you, so check the email and SMS details registered with ZATCA are current.

Sources: [1] [4] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17]

Sources: [3] [4]

• Resident taxpayers

  Phase 1 applies to all taxpayers except non-residents, and to anyone issuing tax invoices on behalf of a VAT-registered supplier.

• Non-residents

  Not required to issue e-invoices or electronic notes for supplies taxable in Saudi Arabia.

• In-scope supplies

  Standard-rated and zero-rated supplies, exports, intra-GCC supplies, deemed supplies and advance payments.

• Excluded supplies

  Fully VAT-exempt supplies and their advance payments, supplies under the reverse charge, and imports of goods.

• Arabic required

  Invoices must be in Arabic under the VAT Regulations. XML tags stay in English, and other languages can appear alongside.

• Every issuing device

  Each e-invoice generation solution (EGS) unit issuing invoices under your VAT number is registered on FATOORA.

Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4]

1. 1Your team

   Log in to FATOORA

   Use your ERAD credentials on the FATOORA portal and request one-time passwords for your units.

2. 2Solution

   Register each unit

   Enter an OTP in each EGS unit. The unit sends a certificate signing request and receives a compliance CSID.

3. 3Solution

   Pass compliance checks

   The unit submits sample invoices for checking. ZATCA's sandbox, SDK and validator help find errors before this step.

4. 4Solution

   Get a production CSID

   After the checks pass, ZATCA's certificate authority issues the production CSID the unit stamps with.

5. 5Your team

   Go live in your wave

   Standard invoices start clearing and simplified invoices start reporting. Watch rejections closely in the first weeks.

ZATCA says passing its SDK checks does not mean it has approved your invoices, and does not remove liability for penalties.

Sources: [5] [18]

• Automated

  Customer master and Arabic data

  Check buyer VAT numbers, CR numbers and addresses, and flag customers with no Arabic name. Suggested Arabic names and item descriptions are drafted for review.

  A person decides: approving each Arabic name and master data change.

• Automated

  Invoice type routing

  Classify each sale as standard or simplified from the buyer and the amount, using the SAR 1,000 rule for B2B, before the invoice is created.

  A person decides: edge cases such as mixed or unusual supplies.

• Automated

  Clearance rejection queue

  When ZATCA rejects a standard invoice, an agent reads the validation messages, groups them by cause and drafts the correction with the source record attached.

  A person decides: releasing the corrected invoice.

• Automated

  24-hour reporting watch

  Simplified invoices that have not been reported are listed with time remaining and escalated before the 24-hour window closes.

  A person decides: fixing whatever blocked the report.

• Automated

  Credit notes, not edits

  Requests to change an issued invoice are turned into a draft credit note and a replacement invoice, linked to the original.

  A person decides: approving the credit note.

• Automated

  Inbound supplier invoices

  Received invoices are checked for the supplier VAT number and QR code, extracted, and matched to the purchase order and receipt before input VAT is booked.

  A person decides: mismatches above your tolerance.

For example, a retailer with 40 tills has 40 units to keep registered, and a reporting failure on one of them can go unnoticed for days. An inventory of every unit, with an alert when one stops reporting, is often the first thing we build.