The regulations governing electronic invoicing in Latin America are constantly changing and being modified. And, yes, we anticipate hearing more from Mexico before the year is through.

Here are a few of the most significant changes to the 2012 Act, which was released in September 2012.

  1. It is no longer necessary to indicate the fiscal regime in the “comprobantes.” The value can be N/A or any other term that implies the same, but the field must still appear in the XML (Example: No Applica).
  2. The measure unit. Depending on the demands of the business, any unit of measurement can be used in the “comprobante.” No specific value is necessary.
  3. The payment method and the final four account number digits are no longer necessary. (If not offered or if the consumer chooses not to divulge, they may use N/A or any other word with the same meaning, such as “No Applica,” “No Disponible,” etc.)
  4. The SAT will have a free option for CFDI document emission that will function without PAC involvement. (Available as of October 1, 2012)
  5. Partial payments: The CFDI still follows this norm.
  6. The shipping specifications remain the same. The printed CFDI must still be included with shipments.
  7. For the time being, the traditional CFD approach is still permitted.

I see two key takeaways from this: the government is leaning more in the direction of CFDI, and the validations are being loosened. We have previously written about how the Mexican SAT appears to be heading in the same direction as the Brazilian SEFAZ. Therefore, I believe it is essential to mention that a free site for CFDI manufacturing is available in all of this material. By issuing a government-run solution, the government is taking a similar approach to Brazil in dealing with the smaller community of bill producers. This establishes a precedent for the government wanting and working toward greater adoption of CFDI, and it will assist in the transition out of the CBB, which has been utilised by businesses with annual revenues under 4 million pesos. When the government makes the shift required, your organisation should be aware of the implementation strategy since less than 10% of invoices have been converted to CFDI. When it comes to real-time and constantly changing government compliance, it is never a bad idea to have a backup plan.