Invoicing Engine Legal and Fiscal IssuesSeries Communication
Legal and Fiscal IssuesSeries Communication
Series Communication

Series Communication

Last changed in 04/01/2023

The communication of document series is a legal requirement that comes into force on 01/01/2023. In this sense, you can only issue documents in series communicated to the Portuguese Tax Authority (AT) and, therefore, you must communicate them to continue invoicing.

Legal Framework

The introduction of ATCUD in documents and the mandatory communication of document series are legal measures that come into effect in 2023 with the aim of:

  • simplifying the communication of invoices by individuals to determine their deductible expenses for IRS purposes;
  • controlling the operations carried out by taxpayers to tackling the informal economy.

According to Ordinance no. 195/2020, o August 13, ATCUD must be included in all invoices and other tax relevant documents. Regarding the series communication, you can only issue documents in series communicated to the Portuguese Tax Authority (AT).

Series communication has the goal of standardize the unique document identification based on a coding returned by the AT. This unique code is called ATCUD. Thus, the ATCUD is the Unique Document Code and is the concatenation of the following elements, separated by a hyphen (-):

  • Validation code of the series created by the AT;
  • Sequential number of the document within the series.

ATCUD is already printed on documents issued on the Invoicing Engine.

The following questions are intended to clarify all questions about ATCUD and series communication:

1. How does the communication of document series take place?

Each issuer must communicate, for each type of document and means of processing, the series they want to use to obtain a validation code with which the respective ATCUD will be composed.

For example, if you communicate a series for use in the Invoicing Engine to issue Simplified Invoices you will receive a validation code. If you want to use a series for issuing Credit Notes, you must communicate this series for this document type, which will have a separate validation code assigned.

2. Which documents should have the unique code?

Ordinance no. 28/2019 determines that the unique document code (ATCUD) must be included in invoices and other tax relevant documents. It also defines that transport documents, receipts and any other documents issued are tax relevant documents, regardless of their designation, which are susceptible to presentation to the customer and which allow to check goods or the provision of services, in which order notes are included.

Thus, no type of document is excluded, and all document series must be communicated by type of tax relevant document being used.

3. Can I use one validation code per series identifier for the different document types?

No. The validation code to assign to the series is specific for each set composed of the series identifier and the document type.

For example, if you use the series identifier "ABCD" on Invoices and Credit Notes, you must request two separate validation codes to always generate separate unique document codes (ATCUD).

4. For commercial reasons, I use multi-year series. Do I have to communicate them every year?

No. The communication of a series identifier by document type can only be done once. Thus, a series and its validation code can be used more than one year, as long as its sequential numbering is maintained throughout its use.

5. Am I required to communicate the ending of a series?

No. The communication of a series ending is not an obligation. It is a feature made available to assist in the visualization and management of the series used and the finalized ones, as well as to increase the usability when presenting the information on the Portal das Finanças.

It is also an additional security control in case of misuse, including by third parties, of a series validation code that is no longer in use.

6. At what point should ATCUD be inserted on the documents?

An unique document code (ATCUD) shall appear on invoices and other tax relevant documents when the document is issued by the Invoicing Engine or other electronic means, such as cash registers, electronic terminals or electronic scales.

In pre-printed documents in an authorized printer, it must be printed by the authorized printer.

7. As of January 2023, can I create documents in series that are not communicated?

No. As of 01/01/2023, all tax relevant documents must be issued in a series communicated to the AT.

The Invoicing Engine will validate if the series has been communicated and, if not, will prevent the creation/issue of tax relevant documents.

8. I created a series and communicated it, but I noticed that it was created improperly. Can I cancel the communication of that series?

Yes, you can cancel the communication of the series from the Invoicing Engine.

Please note that this procedure is irreversible, must occur within two days after the communication, and the series cannot have any documents issued. If you have documents issued, you must communicate the series as finished.

Series Nomenclature

The AT does not foresee the use of a series in several types of documents nor series with the same designation. Therefore, when communicating a series, the type of document used is also communicated, which implies an automatic change of the series nomenclature. For example, when creating and communicating the series 2023, Jasmin will automatically change the designation in the document type, i.e., the series 2023 associated with a document type:

  • Cash Invoice of the type “FR” will be designated as FR2023
  • Debit Note of the type “ND” will be designated as ND2023
  • Goods Issue of the type “DR” will be designated as GR2023

These designations are examples only. You do not need to create the "FR2023", "ND2023" or "GR2023" series. You will only need to create one series, for example the "2023" series. Jasmin will automatically change the nomenclature and communicate it to comply with the AT series communication rules. This change has no impact on the use of the series, it only changes the nomenclature in the documents and printing.

Communicate Series

It is possible to automatically communicate the series to make this process fast and efficient. For this, the Communicate Series operation is available, which allows you to select the desired series and communicate them all at once to the AT. However, it is also possible to communicate series manually, i.e., obtain the series validation code from the AT and enter it into the application.

To communicate series, follow these steps:

Communicate Series Automatically

  1. Go to Taxes | Setup Taxes | Tax Settings;
  2. In the intended company, check that the User and Password fields are properly filled out;
  3. Go to Taxes | Communicate Series;
  4. Select the option Register;
  5. Set the filters you consider relevant and click Apply;
  6. All series not communicated will be displayed. Select the desired series and click Communicate.

You will be notified of the success of this operation, but you can check the status of the communication at any time under Taxes | Communication Requests.

Communicate Series Manually

If you want to communicate series manually, you must obtain the code from the AT and insert it in the type of document you want.

To insert the validation code of the series, for example, in the Simplified Invoice document type, follow these steps:

  1. Access Configuration | Documents | Invoice Typo;
  2. Edit the Simplified Invoice type;
  3. On the Series area, select the context operations (“”) and click the option Additional Fields;
  4. Activate the option Manual Communication and insert the corresponding AT validation code;
  5. Click Save.

Cancel or Finish Series

The Portuguese Tax Authority allows, in certain situations, to communicate the ending or cancellation of a series when you stop using it or have communicated it by mistake, respectively. However, there are criteria that you must take into consideration when using these types of communications:

Finish Series

When you stop using a series, you can communicate it to the AT as finished. However, if the series in question has no documents issued, you cannot communicate it as finished. You must communicate it as cancelled.

This feature is not mandatory, it is just an additional security control in case of misuse, including by third-parties, of a series validation code that is no longer in use.

Cancel Series

If you created a series by mistake and mistakenly communicatec it to the AT, you can cancel it. However, you can only do so if:

  • the series has no documents issued. If there is a document issued, you must communicate it as finished;
  • within two days after being communicated.

To finish or cancel series, follow these steps:

  1. Access Taxes | Communicate Series;
  2. Select the desired option: Finish (to finish a series) or Cancel (to cancel a series);
  3. Set the filters you consider relevant and click Apply;
  4. All the series already communicated will be displayed. Select the desired series and click Communicate.

Note: If all series have documents issued, when you select the Cancel option no data will be shown in the grid.

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