Saudi Arabia has run e-invoicing in two phases. Phase 1, in force since 4 December 2021, made electronic issue compulsory: no more handwritten or scanned invoices, and a QR code on every simplified invoice. Phase 2 — Integration — is the part that connects your accounting system directly to ZATCA, and it arrives business by business, in waves.
The distinction that governs everything else is between the two kinds of document. Get this right and the rest of phase 2 follows; get it wrong and you will either be handing customers invoices you were not yet entitled to issue, or filing late on documents you thought were done.
Clearance and reporting are not the same thing
| Tax invoice (B2B / B2G) | Simplified tax invoice (B2C) | |
|---|---|---|
| Who it is for | A registered business or a government body | A final consumer |
| Goes to ZATCA | BEFORE the customer receives it | AFTER issue, within 24 hours |
| Called | Clearance | Reporting |
| Who signs it | ZATCA stamps and returns it | You sign it with your certificate |
| Buyer VAT number | Mandatory where the buyer is registered | Not required |
| QR code carries | The invoice facts and its hash | The same, plus the signature and public key |
Which wave you are in
ZATCA calls businesses into phase 2 in waves, by VAT-taxable revenue, and notifies each wave at least six months before its date. Two waves matter to most small and medium businesses reading this.
| Wave | Revenue test | Integrate from |
|---|---|---|
| 24 | Above SAR 375,000 in 2022, 2023 or 2024 | 30 June 2026 |
| 25 | Above SAR 187,500 in 2022–2025 | 1 February 2027 |
The revenue test looks at years that have already closed, so you can work out your own position today rather than waiting to be told. If you were above SAR 187,500 of taxable revenue in any year from 2022 onward, assume you are in scope and plan for it.
What a compliant document has to carry
Six things, all of them produced by the software rather than by a person:
- UBL 2.1 XML built to the Saudi implementation standard — not a PDF, and not any XML.
- A cryptographic stamp made with a certificate ZATCA issued to your specific solution unit.
- An invoice counter that only ever increases and is never reset.
- The hash of the previous document, so the documents form an unbroken chain.
- A QR code carrying the seller, the VAT number, the timestamp, the totals and the hash.
- A UUID unique to the document, and the Arabic document title on the printed copy.
The counter and the chain are why "we will export the invoices and upload them later" is not a plan. Each document is signed in sequence, linked to the one before it, and the sequence cannot be reconstructed after the fact.
What changes in your day
Less than people fear, if the software is doing its job. You still raise an invoice the way you always did. What changes is the order of two steps and the finality of one of them.
-
Approve, then send — in that order
A draft is not a document. Approving is what fixes the number, the date and the totals; sending is what puts it in front of ZATCA. For a standard invoice the customer copy waits for the answer.
Check the document before you send it. The check runs the same rules without consuming a position in the chain.
-
Corrections become documents of their own
Once a document is cleared or reported it cannot be edited or voided. To reduce it you issue a credit note; to increase it, a debit note. Both carry a reason and a reference to the invoice they correct, and both are themselves documents that go to ZATCA on the same journey as the original.
-
Customer data becomes invoice data
A missing buyer VAT number or an incomplete national address used to be untidy. Now it is a rejected invoice. The fix belongs in the customer record, once, not on every document.
Questions people actually ask
Do I need a separate e-invoicing provider?
No. Saudi Arabia does not route invoices through an accredited service provider the way the UAE does. Your system talks to ZATCA directly, using a certificate issued in your own name.
What happens if a simplified invoice is reported late?
Late reporting is a breach in its own right, assessed per document. It is why reporting should be automatic rather than a task somebody remembers at the end of the day.
Can I still give the customer a paper copy?
Yes — of the cleared document, with its QR code. The paper is a rendering of the electronic invoice, not the invoice itself.
Where these facts come from
Checked against the following on 12 September 2026. Rules and dates change — if you are reading this long after that date, verify before you act on it.
WisoBooks is a bookkeeping and business-management tool, not an accounting, tax or legal advisor. Nothing on this page is tax advice, and tax rules change. Confirm your own obligations with the relevant authority or a qualified advisor.
