E-invoicing and ZATCA
Fatoora portal
The Fatoora portal is ZATCA's e-invoicing platform and website. Under Phase 2, a taxpayer uses it to onboard an invoicing system, starting with a one-time password and ending with the certificates that let the system connect and send invoices to ZATCA.
What it means
Fatoora is the Arabic word for invoice, and ZATCA uses the name for its e-invoicing platform and the portal that goes with it. The platform is where Phase 2 invoice data is received. The portal is where you, the taxpayer, manage your side: onboarding your system and following the steps ZATCA sets out. The distinction helps when you read ZATCA's guidance, because you can tell whether it is talking about your invoicing system or about your account on the portal.
Phase 1 does not need a connection to ZATCA's systems, so the portal plays no part in daily invoicing at that stage. Phase 2 changes that. Your business needs someone who can reach the portal, request the one-time password and complete the onboarding steps, and that person should be chosen before the wave date, not during the rush that follows it.
Picture a clinic whose owner passes portal access to the office manager. The manager requests the OTP, enters it in the invoicing system, and later reviews the results of the sample invoices. If the manager is on leave when onboarding is due, the whole task waits, so name a back-up as well. That way the work does not hang on one person's absence in the week that matters most.
In practice
- Name the person who holds your Fatoora portal access, and a back-up for that person.
- Test your sign-in well before your wave date, not on the day.
- Practise the onboarding steps in ZATCA's simulation environment before production.
- Keep the one-time password private and enter it only in your own invoicing system.
Questions about Fatoora portal
Do I need the Fatoora portal under Phase 1?
Not to connect, because Phase 1 needs no connection to ZATCA's systems. You issue and store e-invoices, with a QR code on simplified invoices. The portal becomes part of your routine under Phase 2, when your invoicing system has to be onboarded and connected to the platform.
Can my software provider onboard me on the portal?
Onboarding is carried out by the taxpayer, because the one-time password and the certificates belong to your business. A provider such as Fatooraz can guide you through each step, but the portal access sits with you or the person you appoint, so the provider does not carry it out on your behalf.
Issue correct invoices without the guesswork
Try Fatooraz free for 90 days in ZATCA’s simulation environment. No credit card needed.