Electronic Consumer Invoice
Find out below the full history, timeline, and advantages of using the Electronic Consumer Invoice (NFC-e).
The Project
The Electronic Consumer Invoice emerged as a standard option that organized the various tax document choices in effect under the legislation at the time.
Initially, the use of the NF-e was seen as a long shot. Since 2011, meetings had been held with SEFAZ (the State Treasury Department) aiming to get the program off the ground. In 2012, a proposal was made to expand the project, which began with the formation of a "pilot group" that essentially tested the system, the relationship with tax authorities, and taxpayer adherence to the project.
The group was made up of 32 businesses and still exists today.
In November 2013, the system was officially launched, and since then we can see the positive results of its rollout. What was once a project came to be seen as a promising institution.
As pioneers, the states of Amazonas and Mato Grosso were the first to release their mandatory-compliance timelines. Followed by other states, growth was steady (we posted a detailed summary on our blog to help readers keep track of the deadlines to meet — click here to see it). In less than a year, more than 2.3 million invoices were issued across Amazonas, Mato Grosso, Sergipe, Rio Grande do Norte, Acre, and Rio Grande do Sul. This is an extremely positive result, since the Electronic Invoice, which was already considered a success, took 2 years to reach one million invoices issued.
Optimized data transmission
As noted, the Electronic Consumer Invoice (NF-e) was very well received, and its issuance ratio compared to the Electronic Invoice is eight to one.
This is a concerning volume of issuances, since there could be failures in how quickly authorizations happen, making the sales process slower.
To avoid this chaotic scenario, SEFAZ, together with the "pilot businesses", implemented new features in the system:
- Transmission batch compression: this removes the need for the business owner to have large-scale internet for data transmission;
- Synchronous submission: reduces the number of steps needed to authorize the Electronic Consumer Invoice.
Benefits of the Electronic Consumer Invoice
The project brings benefits to both the issuer and the end consumer, since they gain the ability to check the validity and authenticity of the tax document through the State Treasury Department (SEFAZ) website.
Other Advantages
- The Electronic Consumer Invoice reduces the cost of tax obligations and improves tax control.
- No need to own fiscal equipment to issue it.
- No hardware or software certification is required.
- You can use any printer, removing the requirement to use a fiscal printer.
- Use of QR Code, which offers reading advantages similar to barcodes for EAN8, EAN13, Code128, etc. It also has a greater capacity for storing information.
- Lower paper costs.
- Real-time transmission and lookup.
- No need for a technician's intervention to manage the system.
- Integration with tax-citizenship programs.
- Ancillary obligations became much simpler: exemption from Z-reduction, X-reading, cash-register maps, seal placement, intervention certificate records, and many others.
- Ability to print a reduced auxiliary document.
- Integration of physical and virtual platforms.
- Security in validation.
Positive results of the Electronic Consumer Invoice
The changes don't stop there! Several other requirements must still be met this year. Many businesses also became subject to the program's mandatory-compliance requirement starting January 1, 2016. The results of this transition, together with new rules, will bring new prospects for the Electronic Consumer Invoice.
There is no doubt the system brought countless advantages, but of course there is an adjustment period for the final product to work correctly — all in favor of benefits for users.