The first rule of e-invoicing: an issued invoice is never edited and never deleted, whatever the mistake. The only lawful correction is a new document that references the original — a credit note when the correction reduces the amount, a debit note when it increases it.
When does a credit note apply?
Any case that reduces the value of an issued invoice:
- goods returned, in full or in part;
- a service cancelled after it was invoiced;
- a discount granted after the invoice was issued;
- an error that overstated the amount — a higher price than agreed, a duplicated quantity, an item counted twice.
And a debit note?
The mirror cases — anything that increases the original invoice's value: an additional cost agreed after issue, or an error that understated the amount.
What makes a note lawful?
- An explicit reference to the original invoice — a note detached from its original is not valid.
- Its type follows the original's type: a note against a standard invoice takes the clearance-before-sharing path; a note against a simplified invoice takes the report-within-24-hours path.
- Its fields are invoice-grade: amounts, taxes, signature, stamp, a position in the counter and the hash chain — a note is a full document, not a marginal remark.
Why so strict?
Because the tax record is built to be tamper-evident: the counter and the hash chain make any deletion or edit visible to an auditor. Notes preserve the full history — the mistake and its correction together — so the record stays truthful about everything that happened. That works in your favour in any examination: you have a documented answer for every adjustment.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Issuing a "new corrected invoice" instead of a note — this leaves the wrong invoice standing with no lawful correction.
- One lumped note against several invoices without proper reference to each original.
- Settling differences "outside the system", in cash or by agreement — an undocumented difference is a gap between your records and your reality.
In alFatora a note is built from the original invoice directly: you pick the invoice, and the note inherits its data, its reference and its path to the Authority, starting from what is left after earlier notes and never going past it, per line or in total. Once valid, a credit note is applied to its invoice automatically, so what the customer owes goes down. To cancel a whole invoice, "Cancel invoice" issues the note for what is left in one step and the invoice shows as Cancelled (cancelling an issued invoice). No "edit" path exists in the system at all.
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