AFIP-Integrated e-Invoicing Solution for SAP Customers in Argentina

I saw today that the global e-invoicing and B2B integration provider Crossgate (a company co-owned by SAP and developers of the SAP Information Interchange), are expanding their e-invoicing services to address the new deadlines in Argentina.  This is interesting news as there are some deadlines coming up fast in Argentina. These new regulations require you to register with a number of different organizations and to customize SAP to accept data back from this process.  Your SAP system needs to connect with several different kinds of web services depending on the type of invoice you are using.  SAP users are going to need to quickly decide if they want to learn and support all of these requirements in-house, or outsource to a managed services provider.

Details:

Crossgate (a global e-invoicing services company co-owned by SAP) now supports real-time integration with Argentina’s Administración Federal de Ingresos Públicos (AFIP). This cloud-based e-Invoicing solutions allows customers to connect to the AFIP in real-time, straight from their SAP application.

Regulatory compliance laws for electronic invoicing are changing in Argentina, with mandates beginning for some industries on April 1, 2011, and launch dates for other industries scheduled throughout the remainder of the year. While many companies are still adapting to major changes that went into effect in 2010 regulating electronic invoicing for Type E export invoices, the new regulations will begin to apply to domestic (Type A and Type B) invoices as well.

Businesses in Argentina must obtain a valid digital certificate and register it for use through one of the certification channels provided by the Argentinian tax authority (AFIP). To do this, companies must first obtain a Clave Fiscal password to gain access to the AFIP web site and then link the certificate to their Clave Única de Identificación Tributaria (CUIT) on file with the government.

The new regulations will continue to take effect for different industries throughout the rest of the 2011, but companies need to start planning for how they will meet the new requirements in a timely and cost-effective manner.

Preparation and Considerations:

I had the chance to spend some time with several e-invoicing experts this week and we discussed the new Argentinian e-invoicing requirements.  My impression is that there is a lot of work involved.  Here are some of the items companies need to think about and remember when preparing to support and meet Argentina’s e-invoicing 2011 deadlines:

1. Different industries have different deadlines for supporting these requirements.  Some industries have deadlines starting April 1, 2011.  Make sure you find out about your industry’s deadline.
2. Businesses in Argentina must obtain a valid digital certificate and register it for use through one of the certification channels provided by the Argentinian tax authority (AFIP).
3. In order to receive a valid digital certificate companies must first obtain a Clave Fiscal password.
4. Remember to obtain all the required certificates, and be sure to register for online e-invoicing.
5. There are different requirements for each of the different invoice types (A, B and E), so your IT and business teams need to study these requirements.
6. You will be receiving data back from the AFIP that you will need to integrate with your SAP system.  Make sure your IT department plans for this work, or you understand how your managed services provider will integrate with SAP.
7. If you are going to support these requirements yourself, make sure you develop a contingency mode that preserves invoice sequencing even if a problem arises.  The AFIP requires that official document numbers be issued in sequence, so if there is a problem with one particular invoice, subsequent invoices must be placed on hold until the problem is corrected.   
8. Attention if you are an SAP user!!! SAP users can comply with AFIP regulations, register for web services, and connect to the AFIP in real time through their SAP applications (click here  for more details).