The summary invoice: when may you use it?

A summary invoice is one document covering several supplies to one customer over a period, instead of an invoice for each supply. It looks like a convenient answer for any business that sells a lot, which is why it is sometimes used where it should not be. The Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority lists using the summary invoice template outside authorised cases among the most common mistakes, and states that its use is limited to specified cases, such as financial services from banks and insurance companies, or in accordance with the Authority's decisions on the matter.

How is a summary invoice marked in the document?

The e-invoice type carries a seven-position flag string (BR-KSA-06): the first two positions give the invoice type (tax or simplified), then come the third-party, nominal and export flags, then the summary flag in the sixth position, then self-billing. When the sixth position is 1, you are telling the Authority this document summarises a period's supplies, and the document states the start and end dates of the supply period.

The structure is in the standard, but its presence does not mean every business may use it. Permission depends on the nature of the activity or a decision by the Authority, not on the system offering the option.

Where does the mistake usually happen?

• Rolling a day's sales into one invoice: a shop or restaurant issues a summary invoice at the end of the day instead of a simplified invoice for each sale. Every consumer sale has its own invoice, reported to Fatoora within 24 hours of issue.
• Bundling a business customer's invoices monthly with the summary flag, because the customer prefers one statement, when the business's activity is not an authorised case.
• Switching the flag on by mistake: an option in the billing system left on by default, so ordinary invoices go out marked as summaries.

In each case the document tells the Authority something that does not match reality, and can hide the detail of supplies that should each have been documented at the time.

What to do instead

If what you really need is one invoice to a business customer for several transactions, there are lawful ways that need no summary flag:

• Several deliveries, one invoice: a tax invoice covering what was actually delivered, with references to the delivery notes — see many deliveries, one invoice for the customer.
• A large order in instalments: partial invoicing from the sales order — see sales orders.
• Continuous or periodic supplies: when to issue the invoice for continuous supplies is covered in when to issue invoices.
• A customer statement: a monthly statement is not an invoice, and can be sent alongside the invoices without replacing them.

If you are an authorised case

Banks and insurance companies, or businesses the Authority has decided on, use the summary invoice on its terms: a supply period with a clear start and end, one customer, and lines that reflect the actual supplies. Keep proof of the basis for using it — the nature of the activity or the decision — with your records, because the first question in any review will be: why is this document a summary?

How this looks in alFatora

In the alFatora app the summary invoice flag is a manual option in the invoice editor, never switched on automatically for any document. Choose it only if your activity is an authorised case. For what most businesses actually need — one invoice for several deliveries, or a sales order invoiced in instalments — the app provides delivery notes, sales orders and the combined invoice, all ordinary tax invoices the Authority accepts.

See also e-invoicing violations and penalties.