Electronic invoicing glossary

Extra commercial data some customers require inside the XML.

Mostly requested by retail chains and large companies to process your invoices: purchase order number, supplier number or delivery store. It has no tax effect and the SAT does not validate it; each customer defines its own format.

Complement that covers the transport of goods within Mexico.

It proves the legal possession of goods while they are in transit. It is attached to an income or transfer CFDI and includes origin, destination, goods, means of transport and transport parties. The current version is 3.1.

Comprobante Fiscal Digital por Internet: Mexico's electronic invoice.

It is an XML file with the structure defined by the SAT, sealed with the issuer's CSD and stamped by a PAC. The current version is 4.0. Besides income invoices, there are expense (credit note), payment, payroll and transfer CFDIs.

An additional section of the CFDI with data the SAT requires for certain operations.

Each complement has its own schema published by the SAT. The most common are payments (REP), payroll, Carta Porte and foreign trade. Unlike an addenda, a complement is part of the tax document and is validated when stamping.

Digital Seal Certificate: the .cer and .key files you seal your invoices with.

The SAT issues it at the taxpayer's request, using their e.firma. It consists of a certificate (.cer), a private key (.key) and its password, and it is valid for four years. It is not the same as the e.firma: the CSD seals CFDIs; the e.firma is for filings.

Tax Status Certificate (Constancia de Situación Fiscal): the SAT document with your RFC, name, postal code and tax regime.

In CFDI 4.0 the recipient's name, postal code and tax regime must match their certificate, so it pays to ask customers for it before invoicing them. In Factura Digital you can upload yours when you create your account and your tax data is filled in from it.

Advanced electronic signature: your digital ID before the SAT.

It is used for filings, to request your CSD and to download CFDIs in bulk. It is not used to seal invoices; that is what the CSD is for. It is valid for four years.

Authorized Certification Provider: the company that validates and stamps your CFDIs.

The SAT authorizes PACs to check that each document meets the standard, assign it a tax folio (UUID) and send the SAT a copy. With Factura Digital you stamp with a SAT-authorized PAC: ultra-fast and backed up.

Payment in Installments or Deferred: the payment method when you are not paid at invoicing.

Used when payment arrives after the invoice is issued or in several parts. The payment form is set to “99 Por definir” and, each time you receive a payment, you issue a payment complement (REP).

Payment in a Single Installment: the payment method when the invoice is already paid.

Used when you receive full payment at or before invoicing. You state the actual payment form (cash, transfer, card) and no payment complement is needed.

The SAT classification by the taxpayer's activity or type of income.

Some examples: 601 General Law for Legal Entities, 612 Individuals with Business and Professional Activities, and 626 Simplified Trust Regime (RESICO). In CFDI 4.0 the recipient's regime must match their Tax Status Certificate.

Electronic Payment Receipt: the CFDI that records each payment of a PPD invoice.

It is a type “P” CFDI with the payments complement. It links the payment to the original invoice by its UUID and states how much was paid and how much is outstanding. It must be issued no later than the fifth calendar day of the month after the payment.

Federal Taxpayer Registry: the code the SAT uses to identify each taxpayer.

It has 13 characters for individuals and 12 for legal entities. Sales to the general public use the generic RFC XAXX010101000, and foreigners without an RFC use XEXX010101000.

Servicio de Administración Tributaria: Mexico's tax authority.

It is a decentralized body of the Ministry of Finance (SHCP). It collects taxes, audits taxpayers and defines the technical standard for the CFDI, its catalogs and its complements.

The software that sends your CFDI to a PAC to be stamped and become valid with the SAT.

It takes the invoice data, builds the XML under SAT rules, sends it to an Authorized Certification Provider and returns the stamped CFDI with its fiscal folio (UUID). At Factura Digital stamping is ultra-fast, valid with the SAT and backed up: if a PAC doesn't respond, your CFDI still gets stamped.

The step where the PAC validates your CFDI and adds the Digital Tax Stamp.

The stamp includes the tax folio (UUID), the certification date and the SAT and PAC seals. A document that has not been stamped has no tax validity.

The code that states what the recipient will use the invoice for.

For example: G01 Purchase of goods, G03 General expenses, S01 No tax effects or CN01 Payroll. In CFDI 4.0 the use must be compatible with the recipient's tax regime.

The tax folio: the unique identifier the PAC assigns to each CFDI when stamping it.

It is 36 characters long. With it you can verify an invoice on the SAT portal, cancel it or link it to other documents, such as a payment complement or a credit note.

The CFDI file format. It is the document with tax validity.

The PDF is only a printed representation that is easier to read; for the SAT, the XML is what counts. That is why you should keep both.

The schema that defines the valid structure of a CFDI.

They are XML Schema Definition files the SAT publishes for the CFDI and for each complement. The PAC checks the document against these schemas before stamping it.