Atlanta, GA, May 24, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- With Mexico's Servicio de Administracion Tributaria (SAT) expected to announce - perhaps in the next weeks - expansion of an electronic invoicing mandate, companies need to begin planning for transition now to avoid non-compliance and costly fines, says Scott Lewin, CEO of Invoiceware International, a leading Latin American eInvoicing provider.
The SAT, the Mexican internal revenue service, first introduced the Comprobante Fiscal Digital por Internet (CFDI) business process in January 2011, requiring real-time filing of electronic invoices via the Internet. Over the past 2 years, additional mandates have transitioned approximately 10 percent of invoices to the CFDI XML format. In a move to further the adoption of the einvoicing process, the SAT released a government run CFDI portal for small businesses with low invoice volume in September 2012. And in December 2012, the SAT started requiring domestic buyers to collect and archive their supplier CFDI XML invoices.
The continued enhancements and rollout of CFDI einvoicing served as a warning bell for other businesses that further change was coming. With approximately 90 percent of commerce still being transacted under older rules that allow for looser reporting of transactions in batches, the SAT is expected to sunset the use of the older CFD process as well as lower the transaction compliance threshold - a move that could affect an estimated 500,000 companies, Lewin said.
Based on past practices, government watchers expect the SAT to set a year-end compliance deadline - a short fuse likely to create a bottleneck as companies scramble to contract with one of a few service providers.
"At this point, it's really a question of when, not if," Lewin said. "The window of opportunity is closing fast and companies, if they don't act now, could face an inability to implement the new processes in time."
Invoiceware, anticipating the change, recently launched a new offering, the "Mexico eInvoice FastTrack," to help companies migrate to the CFDI format and guarantee a systems compliance testing slot on the government-approved systems before the year-end deadline. FastTrack provides:
- Turn-key einvoicing Platform & ERP Engines: The majority of ERP and accounting systems are not designed for Mexico's new einvoicing requirements. With specialized solutions for ERP systems, including SAP® ERP, FastTrack eliminates configuration issues that are often the biggest hurdle during an e-invoice transition.
- Accounts Receivable and Accounts Payable Best Practices: The new legislation is expected to affect receivables and payables processes. Invoiceware packages both into a single deployment to ensure full compliance.
- Multilingual Project Management: As a CFDI migration requires adjustments to the ERP system, logistics processes and end-customer integration, multinational organizations require implementation teams to speak both Spanish and English.
- Guaranteed Compliance: As with all rollouts of government-mandated einvoicing, companies can expect additional changes and adjustments. Invoiceware guarantees upgrades as part of its ongoing service, so that multinationals won't find themselves in these fire drills every year.
To learn more about Mexico's CFDI compliance rules and Mexico eInvoice FastTrack, go to Invoiceware International Mexico CFDI Mandates
About Invoiceware International
Invoiceware International is the leader in Latin American eInvoicing and operates The Compliance Network, a cloud-based platform that delivers financial and supply chain managers the regulatory processes that they need while eliminating ERP configurations and customizations for the IT staff. A single connection to the network simplifies the mandates, the implementation and the ongoing change management associated with regulations in the Americas, including Brazil Nota Fiscal, Mexico SAT, Argentina AFIP and Chilean DTE. Invoiceware International is headquartered in Atlanta with operations worldwide. For more information, visit: www.invoicewareint.com