ZATCA Phase 2 (Saudi Arabia)
Clearance, reporting and the hash chain handled for every invoice.
Saudi Arabia · ZATCA Phase 2 (FATOORA)
ZATCA Phase 2, handled for you.
Phase 2 turned every Saudi invoice into a live exchange with ZATCA. TamilAccounting does that exchange as part of issuing the invoice — builds the UBL 2.1 XML, signs and stamps it, links it to the invoice before it, clears or reports it, and prints the QR — so your team just raises invoices.
B2B invoices cleared
B2C invoices reported
Hash chain kept for you
QR on every print
Credit notes
Onboarding built in
Cleared (B2B)128
Reported (B2C)1,940
Needs attention1
INV-0041 · Trading Co. ASAR 11,500.00Cleared · QR
INV-0042 · Counter saleSAR 230.00Reported · QR
CN-0007 · Credit note to Buyer BSAR 1,150.00Cleared · QR
INV-0043 · Contractor CSAR 46,000.00Rejected · fix address
INV-0044 · Contractor CSAR 46,000.00Cleared with warnings
Who must comply
Phase 2 reaches every VAT-registered business — wave by wave
ZATCA brings VAT-registered businesses into the Integration phase in waves and tells each business ahead of its date. Once your wave is called, invoices must flow through FATOORA — a PDF with a QR code is no longer enough.
Phase 1 · Generation
Electronic invoices with a QR
Invoices issued from a system, not by hand, with the basic QR code on simplified invoices.
- Seller name and VAT number in the QR
- Invoice time, total and VAT amount
- TamilAccounting prints this QR on every Saudi invoice
Phase 2 · Integration
Connected to ZATCA
Your invoicing system is onboarded with ZATCA and exchanges every document with FATOORA.
- Standard (B2B) invoices cleared before they reach the buyer
- Simplified (B2C) invoices reported within 24 hours
- Signed XML, hash chain and cryptographic QR
When your wave is called
Onboard, rehearse, go live
Do it in the ERP you already invoice from — no middleware, no separate portal for each invoice.
- Generate the OTP on the FATOORA portal
- Rehearse in ZATCA’s simulation environment
- Switch to production when every check passes
Why Phase 2 hurts
Where Saudi businesses get stuck with Phase 2
Phase 1 software printed a QR and stopped there. Phase 2 needs a live, cryptographically linked conversation with ZATCA for every document — and the gaps show up fast.
The buyer is waiting
A standard tax invoice has to be cleared by ZATCA before the buyer receives it. Uploading or retyping it on a separate tool means the invoice sits while someone does the paperwork.
Cost: delayed deliveries and delayed payment.
The 24-hour clock
Every simplified (B2C) invoice handed over the counter must be reported to ZATCA within 24 hours. On a busy day, remembering to send each one by hand is not realistic.
Cost: late reports and penalties you never saw coming.
One broken link breaks the chain
Each invoice carries the hash of the one before it and its own counter. Submit out of order, or count a rejected invoice as sent, and everything after it is rejected too.
Cost: days spent unpicking a chain nobody can see.
Certificates, CSRs and OTPs
Onboarding means a certificate request, an OTP from the FATOORA portal, a compliance certificate, sample documents and then a production certificate. Most teams have never done it.
Cost: consultants, delays and a go-live date that slips.
Not everything is 15%
Exports, zero-rated, exempt and out-of-scope lines each need the right tax category and a reason code on the invoice, or ZATCA rejects the whole document.
Cost: rejected invoices on exactly the deals that matter most.
“Sent” is not “cleared”
ZATCA can answer a submission and still refuse the invoice. Software that treats any reply as success leaves you believing invoices are compliant when they are not.
Cost: non-compliant invoices discovered only at audit.
With TamilAccounting
From invoice to VAT return, in one system
You raise the invoice. Everything ZATCA needs happens behind it — automatically on save, or with one button on the invoice if you prefer to control the moment.
InvoiceRaised as usual — buyer, items, VAT
UBL 2.1 XMLBuilt from the real invoice, line by line
Sign & stampCryptographic stamp with your ZATCA certificate
ChainPrevious invoice hash and the next counter
Clear or reportB2B cleared, B2C reported — chosen for you
QRZATCA’s signed QR placed on the invoice
Print & sharePDF with the QR, emailed to the buyer
VAT returnOutput and input VAT for the period
Watch it in action
ZATCA Phase 2, start to finish — in English and Arabic
Recorded on a demo company: a B2B invoice cleared, a counter sale reported, the hash chain moving forward and the QR on the printed invoice.
Sales types & taxes
Tax-inclusive and tax-exclusive prices, tax groups and how the same item stays correct.
Quick takes · under a minute or two
How it works
Everything Phase 2 asks for, done from the invoice
No separate e-invoicing tool, no file uploads, no retyping. The same invoice your team already raises is the one ZATCA receives.
Clearance & reporting
The right route for every invoice, chosen for you
When the buyer has a Saudi VAT number, the invoice is a standard tax invoice and goes for clearance: ZATCA checks it and returns it cleared, and that is the version your buyer gets. For walk-in and consumer sales the invoice is simplified: it is stamped, handed over at once and reported to ZATCA as soon as it is saved — well inside the 24-hour window.
- Standard or simplified decided from the buyer, not by the cashier
- Credit notes carry a reference to the original invoice and follow the same route
- Zero-rated, exempt and out-of-scope lines carry their tax category and reason code
- Tax-inclusive prices handled, so the taxable amount on the XML is the true net
Tax Invoice · buyer VAT 3xxxxxxxxxxxxx3SAR 23,000.00Cleared
Simplified · walk-in customerSAR 172.50Reported
Export · zero-rated lineSAR 8,400.00Cleared
Credit Note · ref INV-0038SAR 575.00Cleared
Hash chain
A hash chain that does not break on a bad day
Every invoice is signed with the hash of the previous accepted invoice and its own sequential counter. TamilAccounting moves the chain forward only when ZATCA accepts a document — a rejected invoice never takes a place in it, so fixing and resending one invoice does not poison the ones after it.
- Previous invoice hash and invoice counter maintained automatically
- A document already accepted is never sent twice
- Simulation and production each keep their own chain — rehearsals never touch live numbering
#41 · previous hash 9c1e…INV-0041Cleared
#42 · previous hash 4b7a…INV-0042Reported
Not chainedINV-0043Rejected
#43 · previous hash e02d…INV-0044Cleared
Onboarding
Onboarding is a four-step wizard, not a project
Enter your VAT number and seller national address, generate the certificate request, and paste the OTP you create on the FATOORA portal. TamilAccounting obtains the compliance certificate, submits a sample of every document type your certificate covers — invoices, credit notes and debit notes — and, once they all pass, requests the production certificate.
- Certificate request generated for you — nothing to upload
- Compliance checks run and shown pass by pass
- Rehearse in ZATCA’s simulation environment, then go live in production
- Nothing changes for your users until an admin switches e-invoicing on
1 · Company & national addressVAT 3xxxxxxxxxxxxx3Done
2 · Certificate requestSimulationGenerated
3 · OTP from FATOORACompliance certificateIssued
4 · Compliance check6 of 6 documentsPassed
Production certificateReady to requestNext
Rejections, warnings & audit
When ZATCA says no, you see why — at once
An invoice counts as done only when ZATCA actually clears or reports it. If ZATCA refuses it, the invoice is marked failed with ZATCA’s own error codes and messages, and it moves to the front of the overview under Needs attention. Fix the cause — usually a missing buyer address detail — and send it again. Failed submissions are also retried automatically.
- “Cleared with warnings” accepted, with the warning codes kept for follow-up
- Buyer building number, district and CR number captured on the customer, so address warnings disappear
- Overview: issued, cleared, reported, acceptance rate and recent e-invoices
- Audit trail of every exchange with ZATCA — what was sent, what came back, when
Issued2,069
Accepted2,068
Failed1
INV-0043 · buyer address incompleteSAR 46,000.00Failed
INV-0044 · resent after fixSAR 46,000.00Cleared
INV-0039 · postal code warningSAR 3,450.00Warnings kept
The details
The small things that get invoices rejected elsewhere
Phase 2 is strict about details. These are handled once, in setup, and then on every invoice.
01
The QR the inspector scans
Once an invoice is cleared or reported, its signed Phase 2 QR (TLV encoded) prints on the invoice automatically. Before that, the Phase 1 QR — seller, VAT number, time, total and VAT — is printed, so a Saudi invoice never goes out without one.
02
Tax categories with reasons
Map each item tax type once to standard, zero-rated, exempt or out-of-scope with its exemption reason. Mixed invoices carry a separate VAT subtotal per category.
03
National address, both sides
Your seller national address is set in the wizard; each customer’s building number, additional number, district and CR number sit on the customer record.
04
Corrections by credit note
A cleared invoice is corrected with a credit note that references the original — signed, chained and cleared or reported like any other document.
05
Arabic and English
Work in an Arabic, right-to-left interface or in English. Arabic customer and item names print correctly on the PDF, and the invoice layout designer lets you add Arabic headings beside the English ones.
06
Saudi rules for Saudi companies
The ZATCA logic loads only for companies set up in Saudi Arabia. Run entities in other countries from the same account and they never collide.
Side by side
Phase 1 software vs. TamilAccounting on Phase 2
| Generic or Phase 1 software | TamilAccounting | |
|---|---|---|
| B2B invoices | Printed and sent; clearance done elsewhere, if at all | Cleared with ZATCA from the invoice itself |
| B2C invoices | Uploaded by hand, hoping it is within 24 hours | Reported as soon as the invoice is saved |
| Invoice format | PDF only | UBL 2.1 XML with cryptographic stamp, plus the PDF |
| Hash chain | Not kept, or broken by a single rejection | Previous hash and counter advanced only on acceptance |
| QR code | Phase 1 QR only | ZATCA’s signed Phase 2 QR once cleared or reported |
| Onboarding | Certificates and OTPs handled by a consultant | Wizard: certificate request, OTP, compliance checks, production certificate |
| Rejections | “Sent” even when ZATCA refused it | ZATCA’s error codes shown; failed invoices retried and flagged |
| VAT return | Rebuilt from a separate system | Output and input VAT straight from the same books |
Built for Saudi businesses
Around ZATCA: the rest of the books
e-Invoicing is one part of running a Saudi business on TamilAccounting. The same system keeps the VAT figures, the sales ledger, the counter and the payroll.
Taxes & FilingsVAT on every sale and purchase, and a tax report with output and input VAT for your return.Explore Sales & ReceivablesQuotations, invoices and credit notes, customer balances, ageing and payment reminders.Explore Point of SaleFast counter billing on the same books, with walk-in sales recorded as sales invoices.Explore HR & PayrollPayroll with GOSI contribution rates by nationality and end-of-service benefit calculation.Explore
Why businesses stay
Bring your data. We’ll keep it right — and keep making it better.
Switching software is the hard part. We help you move, keep your records sound, and keep improving the system with you.
Data migration & opening balances
Move across from Tally, Zoho, QuickBooks, Xero, Sage 50 or SMACC, or from Excel templates for items, customers, suppliers, employees, chart of accounts and opening balances. You preview every row before it is saved — and our team helps you through it.
Your data, kept right
Your database is backed up three times a day — every 8 hours — and your files are backed up too. Each company keeps its own separate database; roles decide who can see, enter, approve or void; every change is on the audit trail; and everything exports to Excel or PDF whenever you want it.
Always improving, with you
We follow up regularly with the businesses that use it, and their requests become features. Updates arrive on your account automatically — nothing to download or reinstall.
Connected to what comes next
GST e-invoice and e-way bill, ZATCA, WooCommerce, WhatsApp, biometric devices, online payment gateways, mobile apps and an AI assistant — and new connections are added as the market moves.
FAQ
ZATCA Phase 2: common questions
Invoices to a buyer with a valid Saudi VAT number are standard tax invoices and are sent for clearance — ZATCA validates them and returns them cleared before the buyer receives them. Invoices to consumers and walk-in customers are simplified invoices: they are given to the customer immediately and reported to ZATCA. TamilAccounting decides the route from the buyer, so nobody has to choose.
Only once per environment, to generate the OTP during onboarding: on the portal you choose to onboard a new solution unit or device and create an OTP, then paste it into the setup wizard. The certificate request is sent for you. After that, every invoice is exchanged with ZATCA from inside TamilAccounting.
Yes. Onboard in ZATCA’s simulation environment first, run the compliance checks and issue test invoices, then onboard for production. Each environment has its own certificate and its own hash chain, so rehearsals never affect your live invoice numbering.
The invoice is marked failed with ZATCA’s own error codes and messages, and it appears under Needs attention on the overview. It does not take a place in the hash chain, so the invoices after it are unaffected. Correct the cause — for example the buyer’s national address — and send it again; failed submissions are also retried automatically.
A cleared invoice cannot be withdrawn from ZATCA. Raise a credit note against it: the credit note references the original invoice and is signed, chained and cleared or reported in the same way.
Yes, once the invoice has been cleared or reported, the cryptographically signed QR returned for that invoice prints on it automatically. Until then the invoice carries the Phase 1 QR with the seller, VAT number, time, total and VAT amount.
Yes. Each item tax type is mapped once to standard, zero-rated, exempt or out-of-scope with its exemption reason, and every invoice line carries the right category. Invoices that mix categories show a separate VAT subtotal for each.
No. Onboarding can be finished while e-invoicing is still switched off, and nothing changes for users until an admin turns it on. After that they raise invoices exactly as before — automatically on save, or with a button on the invoice if you choose manual mode. There is a 1-month free trial to try it first.
Be ready before your wave is called.
Onboard with ZATCA, rehearse in simulation and go live from the same system you invoice from.