Electronic invoicing

It can be used for both public procurement and the private sector. It is an e-invoicing distribution platform for the remittance of invoices between subcontractors and public sector contractors.

Invoices can also be sent through FACeB2B between clients and private sector providers that are not connected to public procurement.   

We’d be happy to answer any additional questions you may have, so feel free to contact us.

It became mandatory on July 1, 2018. This affects all invoices issued after that date by vendors of public administration contractors in contracts signed after March 1, the date Law 9/2017 on Public Sector Contracts entered into force. 

The sending and receiving of invoices must be done through the e-invoicing services of a “Billing Services Company” like Docuten, since there is no web portal from the Ministry itself that allows for sending and receiving invoices, or managing statements.

Docuten is an eInvoicing Conformant Solution in the EU. Feel free to contact us if you have further questions.

DIRe is an alphanumeric code that uniquely identifies each company receiving invoices and each “Billing Services Company.” Its structure is as follows:

1. Country code in ISO3166-1 alpha-2 format.
2. Entity ID (NIF).
3. 4-digit code with numbers and consonants.

For example, Docuten’s DIRe is: ESB856309780000

To issue an invoice, it is mandatory to indicate the DIRe of the recipient. This means the DIRe of the company that the invoice is ultimately being sent to, not the “Billing Services Company.”

Search for any DIRe and associated  information in the “Directory of Entities” (DIRe).

To receive invoices, the company receiving invoices must be registered in the “Directory of Entities” (DIRe) to then be able to register in FACeB2B.   

We explain how in this video:

We’d be happy to answer any additional questions on e-invoicing you may have, so feel free to contact us.

All invoices issued after July 1, 2018 by vendors of public administration contractors are affected, provided the contract was signed after March 1 (the entry into force of  Law 9/2017 on Public Sector Contracts).

DIRe is a system similar to DIR3 coding. While the latter is exclusively aimed at organising public administration entities in a common registry, DIRe coding is geared towards both public and private entities that can act under private law.

We’d be happy to answer any additional questions on e-invoicing you may have, so feel free to contact us.

Learn more about how Docuten is an eInvoicing Conformant Solution in the EU.

To send invoices, it is not necessary to register in FACeB2B or do any other sign up procedures with public administration entities. However, it is necessary for receiving invoices.

The only thing needed to send invoices through FACeB2B is to use a “Billing Services Company” with electronic invoicing services, such as Docuten.

We’d be happy to answer any additional questions you may have, so feel free to contact us.

Using an electronic billing system? Here’s what you need to do to receive invoices from FACeB2B:

The company receiving invoices must be registered in the “Directory of Entities” (DIRe) to then be able to register in FACeB2B. You must authorise a “Billing Services Company” to connect on your behalf to FACeB2B to download the invoices sent to your DIRe.

Here is the step-by-step process:

If you are interested in an electronic billing system, we’d be happy to answer any additional questions on e-invoicing you may have. Feel free to contact us.

In order to issue an invoice to FACeB2B, you must indicate the DIRe in your client’s preferences. Click on “Manage” > “Clients” in the side menu and then select your client. Click on “Sending preferences” in the upper right corner and, after indicating FACeB2B as the delivery method, indicate your client’s DIRe code.

Search for any DIRe and associated  information in the “Directory of Entities” (DIRe).

Through electronic invoicing services like Docuten you can upload invoices in CSV or XML format, or create an invoice through our form online.

However, the electronic invoicing format supported by FACeB2B is e-invoice (XML) in versions 3.2, 3.2.1 and 3.2.2, with a specific extension for invoices sent through this platform.

Docuten is an eInvoicing Conformant Solution in the EU. Feel free to contact us if you have further questions.

Electronic invoicing is here to stay! if you still have doubts, take a look at 👉 Ley Crea y Crece.

For this reason, companies specialized in this field provide you with different electronic channels through which your suppliers can send you their invoices. 

Docuten offers you the guarantee that once the platform registers them in your account, simultaneously, you and your supplier will receive an email notification with the different status (accepted, received, rejected and paid) of your invoices.

This functionality will allow you to have real-time information on what is happening with your invoices. For example, if any invoice should be rejected, you can proceed thanks to the reason for rejection detailed in each invoice.

The reasons will depend on the configuration you set up, the business rules or any other casuistry you have established.

At Docuten, we have the following channels for the reception of your invoices: 

• PDF invoices (by email)
• Supplier Portal
• Peppol
• FACeB2B

Within companies, department heads often have to go through lengthy processes to validate invoices from their suppliers. 

Hence the importance of using approval workflows by department or business area. 

An approval workflow consists of establishing a chain of participants, so that depending on the order of priority established, they are responsible for validating or invalidating the invoices.  

For example, the process that governs within Docuten is the sequential sending of a notification email to the participants of workflow “x” to validate whether the content of the invoice is correct or if, on the contrary, it has to reject it, being able to specify a reason for rejection. 

If this situation occurs, a notification e-mail is sent to the persons involved in the workflow with the reason for rejection. In addition, a rejection message would be sent to the supplier.

Let’s look at a practical example. In this case, a workflow has been created for Docuten’s administration area, in which 4 people participate.

On September 12, 2022, supplier “x” sends us an invoice by e-mail in pdf format. In the first instance, the data would be extracted thanks to OCR (Optical Character Recognition), then stored on the Docuten platform and, if the invoice in question complies with the parameters that identify it with the administration workflow, an e-mail would be sent to the first workflow participant requesting validation of the invoice. If the invoice in question complies with the parameters that identify it with the administration workflow, an e-mail requesting validation of the invoice will have been sent to the first workflow participant. The process is delegated in the order that has been established, until the validated number 4 is reached.

Here we will see how status changes work for e-invoices sent in pdf and those sent through the Supplier Portal ✍.

Finally, we will mention what happens with status notifications in case you integrate Docuten with your ERP.

For invoices that arrive by mail in pdf format, your supplier will be notified of the following statuses:

• Received: invoice that has already been processed by the system and is pending management by the receiver.
• Rejected: occurs when the invoice that has been sent does not comply with the business rules established by the receiver, it can also occur because the CIF/NIF or receiver or issuer are incorrect. In other cases, it is usually because the amount of the invoice does not match the registered patterns, etc.

In case the invoice is rejected, a reason for rejection shall be specified ❌.

For invoices that are sent through the supplier portal, as in this case the supplier accesses with a username and password, you are given more detail of the status of the invoices that have been uploaded to the portal.

The status changes that can be displayed by your supplier would be as follows:

• Open: if the invoice recipient opens the link in the email to view it on the platform, the invoice status becomes “open”.
• Accepted: the invoice recipient can modify the invoice status to reflect that the invoice has been accepted. Docuten will automatically send an email to the supplier that sent the request to inform them of this status change.
• Rejected: the invoice recipient can modify the invoice status to reflect that the invoice has been rejected because it contains an error or we are not satisfied with it.
• Collected: when the receiver has proceeded with the payment of the invoice.
• Cancelled: the invoice recipient can modify the invoice status to reflect that the invoice has been cancelled. The invoice can be cancelled when the supplier and the receiver have realized that the invoice is not correct.

If the receiver is integrated with your ERP, you can configure the sending of notifications so that the supplier receives a notification for each change of status of the invoices. Among those that could be configured (ad hoc) so that the supplier receives a notification of status changes that are of interest to you.

It is evident that for the correct functioning of your company one of the pillars that you cannot neglect is everything related to invoicing, and given the current times, why not talk about electronic invoicing.

For this reason, Docuten allows you to register different statuses in the reception of your invoices, among the most used ones would be: accepted, received, pending approval, under management, paid, etc.

However, it should be noted that as a customer you will not see the same statuses that your suppliers can receive or view. In addition, such status notifications will also depend on the channel through which your suppliers send you invoices, which may be the following:

• PDF invoices (by email)
• Supplier Portal
• Peppol
• FACeB2B

The most frequent notifications correspond to the following statuses: accepted, received, rejected, paid and processed. However, here are some extra notifications.

• Accepted: the invoice recipient, our customer, can modify the invoice status to reflect that the invoice has been accepted. Docuten will automatically send an email to the supplier that sent the request to inform them of this status change.
• Received: the invoice has already been processed by the system and is pending management by the receiver.
• Rejected: the receiver of the invoice, our client, can modify the status of the invoice to reflect that it has been rejected because it contains an error or we are not satisfied with it. 
• In processing: the invoice recipient, our customer, can change the status when the invoice is in process or in processing.
• Pending: this status is given to invoices received by e-mail and which must be processed by OCR. When they have this status it means that the OCR reader has not been able to automatically extract all the data from the PDF of the invoice and the invoice must be manually reviewed by Docuten.
• Processed: means that the OCR reader has already extracted the data from the PDF of the invoice and it is ready for processing. 
• Paid: when the receiver, our customer, has confirmed payment of the invoice.

If you decide to integrate your ERP with Docuten you will be able to configure the sending of notifications so that your suppliers receive a notification for each change of status of the invoices.  In addition, if necessary, you can configure (ad hoc) your system so that your supplier receives a notification of the status changes that interest you the most.