In 2018, we wrote a blog post about the CFDI 3.3 regulation and the SAP solution in Mexico. Although CFDI 3.3 is still active and the rules have not changed much, SAP has shifted its focus to a different solution. SAP is providing all new features and fixes only to the SAP Document Compliance solution for E-Invoicing in Mexico. This means that the IDOC solution that was presented in the 2018 blog post is not advised anymore. Here, not all scenarios are covered, and no changes will be made for future law changes. This means the solution no longer guarantees compliance with the legal requirement.
The reason for the change of solution is the roll-out of SAP Document Compliance to countries with new but also older electronic regulations to unify the approach to all e-requirements worldwide. With the introduction of CFDI 3.3 and making the payment receipt a mandatory part of CFDI, SAP decided it was the right time to create a solution for CFDI in SAP Document Compliance.
SAP Document Compliance provides a solution for the E-Invoicing requirement but also for the payment receipt (complemento de Pago or payment complement). Recently, SAP has built a solution for the Transfer CFDI (CFDI Traslado). As all those CFDI types (comprobantes) have the same XML structure and process, they can be easily implemented together which lowers the average implementation time per CFDI comprobante.
SAP Document Compliance for E-Invoicing in Mexico
As mentioned before, the business process stays the same, only the SAP approach has changed. The new solution to achieve compliance to CFDI 3.3 is the following:
- In SAP ERP, the billing document and related accounting document are posted.
- This automatically triggers an eDocument in the eDocument Cockpit.
- When submitting the eDocument, it is converted into the CFDI 3.3 XML format within SAP ERP and forwarded to SAP CPI (Cloud Platform Integration).
- In SAP CPI, the document is digitally signed and forwarded to the PAC.
- The PAC is responsible for a first data check of the XML and the forwarding of the document to the Mexican tax authority (SAT).
- The SAT approves or rejects the XML and communicates this feedback to the PAC. For every approval, the SAT provides a UUID which can be seen as a unique approval code.
- The PAC sends the feedback to CPI who forwards it to SAP ERP. The feedback can then be found in the eDocument cockpit.
- The last step is to send the XML and PDF of the e-invoice to the customer. This happens from the SAP ERP system.
In case of updates to the CFDI 3.3 regulation, SAP will provide OSS notes with an update of the mapping and/or technical components. This means that the effort for updating the requirement is limited and compliance in the long term is guaranteed.
Advantages of SAP Document Compliance
- SAP standard solution
- 100% integrated with SAP ECC and SAP S/4HANA, easy migration
- fully automated end-to-end solution
- compliance with many country-specific legal requirements worldwide
- Centralized built-in Cockpit
- XML is created within SAP ERP for better control of your electronic documents
- Long run compliance through SAP updates