In a pharmacy, whether an invoice is right is decided long before it is issued — in the item table. The Kingdom zero-rates qualifying medicines and medical goods according to the officially adopted lists, while the rest of the shelf — cosmetics, supplements, personal care — carries the standard rate. A misclassified item does not produce one wrong invoice; it repeats its mistake on every sale until someone notices.
The item table is the first line of defence
- Classify every item as it enters the system: zero-rated per the official lists, or standard-rated — by reference to the published lists, not by judgement calls.
- Re-check classifications when the official lists are updated, and for every new item from a supplier.
- A mixed basket is completely normal: a zero-rated medicine and a standard-rated supplement on one invoice, each line at its own correct rate — exactly what your system should produce automatically.
The counter sale
A consumer sale is a simplified invoice with its QR code, delivered at payment and reported within 24 hours. Multiple tills or branches mean multiple registered invoicing units, each with its own certificate and independent counter.
Insurance prescriptions
A covered prescription splits the document, not just the amount: the patient's co-pay is a simplified invoice issued at the counter when the medicine is dispensed; the insurer's share goes into a periodic standard invoice in the company's name with its VAT number, cleared before it is sent. Mixing the two in one document is the mistake that surfaces at the first claims audit.
Returns
A returned medicine — where health regulations permit its return — does not mean deleting its invoice: a credit note references the original, with the returned line and its value. And if the insurer rejects a line from a claim already invoiced, the settlement is a credit note against the company invoice, never an edit to it.
The pharmacy checklist
- The item table classified against the official qualifying-medicines lists, re-checked when they update.
- Every till and branch a registered invoicing unit with its own counter.
- Patient share and insurer share always two separate documents.
- Credit notes as the standard returns procedure, one tap from the counter.
- Offline behaviour tested before the outage actually happens.
In alFatora every line inherits its tax classification from the item table automatically, and notes are issued from the original invoice in one click — run your pharmacy's full cycle in the free sandbox.
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