The advancement in technology is changing the landscape of how the government tax authorities track and reconcile tax invoices. Bahrain’s National Bureau for Revenue has floated a tender through Bahrain Tender Board seeking vendor’s support to review the existing legal framework and instruments in light of future digitization opportunities. We expect to have e-invoicing in Bahrain shortly, maybe in next 18-24 months.

We can safely assume that Bahrain will follow Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) in launching e-invoicing (Fatoora). KSA e-invoicing is being rolled out in two phases. The 1st phase got underway on 4th December 2021 which will be followed by 2nd phase on 1st Jan 2023. We have been fortunate to work with KSA companies to provide them with ZATCA (Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority) compliant software. We have completed the phase 1 installation and are ready to deliver the phase 2 updates to our ERP software for B2B and B2C businesses. In 1st phase businesses were to:

1. Stop issuing manual invoices: handwritten invoices and invoices written using text editing tools are not considered e-invoices.
2. Use a compliant electronic invoicing solution that generates e-invoices with the required elements including QR codes.
3. Controlled access to the system.
4. No tampering or invoices or logs.
5. Multiple invoice sequences.
6. Tax Invoices (B2B): The VAT registration number of the buyer if the buyer is a registered VAT taxpayer in addition to the invoice type (description as a title). QR code can be added (Optional).
7. Simplified Tax Invoices (B2C): A mandatory QR code generated by the taxpayer’s E-Invoicing solution based on ZATCA’s specifications, in addition to the invoice type (description as a title).

Phase 2 requirements will be in addition to 1st phase. Major points that a business needs to ensure are
1. The electronic solution must be integrated with ZATCA’s systems.
2. E-invoices should be generated in the required format.
3. Generate Signed Properties Hash the property tag using SHA-256 (output)
4. Report live every invoice to ZATCA portal.

After our successful experiences with KSA VAT we aver that our ERP should be able to cater to any e-invoicing in Bahrain set by Bahrain NBR authority. E-invoicing in Bahrain will usher in a radical change to how business run their system and will surely require upgrading of systems. Businesses can rely on us to deliver an NBR compliant system for e-invoicing in Bahrain that will bring added value and high return on investment.