Mexico eInvoicing - September 2012 Updates to CFDI

As always, there are constant changes and alterations to the laws for Latin America electronic invoicing.  And, well we expect to see more out of Mexico towards the end of the year -- 

Here are some of the key amendments to the 2012 legislation that came out in September of 2012.

1. Regimen fiscal to be mentioned in the “comprobantes” is repealed.  The field still needs to be in the XML, but value can be N/A or any other word that means the same (Example: No Applica).
2. Unit of measure.  It will be possible to use any unit of measure in the “comprobante” based on the commercial needs.  No particular value is required.
3. Method of payment and the last 4 digits of account number are no longer required.  (if not available or if the customer does not want to disclose they can use N/A or any word with the same meaning “No Applica”, “No Disponible” etc)
4. The SAT will have a free solution for the emission of CFDI documents that will work without a PAC intervention. (available starting 10/1/2012)
5. Partial payments:  This rule remains the same for CFDI.
6. Shipping requirements still the same.  Shipments still need to be accompanied by the printed CFDI.  
7. The legacy CFD process is still allowed for the time being.  

There are two take aways that I see here: the validations are being loosened and the government is moving more towards CFDI.  In past blogs, we have discussed that the Mexico SAT seems to be on a similar path taken by the Brazilian SEFAZ.  So in all of this information, I think it is key to note the availability of a free portal for CFDI production.  The government is approaching the smaller invoice producing community in a similar fashion as Brazil did by releasing a government run solution. This will help to transition out the CBB which have been used by companies under 4 million pesos annually, and it sets a precedent of the government desiring and working towards further adoption of CFDI. With less than 10% of invoices transitioned to CFDI, your organization should understand the implementation plan when the government makes the transition mandatory. It is never a bad idea to have a back up plan when it comes to real-time and constantly evolving government compliance.