Intro
Archiving in the context of E-invoicing is definitely good practice and a mandatory step for all businesses required to comply with ZATCA for Phase Two. This topic rings the alarm for the crucial need to have an archiving procedure for any sensitive data, and by sensitive data we sure are referring to your organization’s issued or received invoices.
Deciding to archive invoices is not an option to consider but rather a decision that should top the list of your security concerns in addition to compatibility requirements. Archiving could be done in several ways so what binds you to follow a certain approach instead of another? Simply, the national legislation enforced in your country and the requirements detailed by the tax authorities in question.
Accordingly, this means businesses with annual taxable revenues mentioned in any of the announced Phase Two waves by ZATCA till this date must adhere to the requirements that have been shared. Doing so not only prevents them from penalties but also gives them the peace of mind they need to avoid worrying about security and data protection issues.
What is Data Archiving?
Data archiving is a process by which data is kept safe and stored to be retained for retrieval upon request and whether the retained data is in use (active) or not. The goal of data archiving is to have long-term access to historical data serving in the organization’s best interest for whatever the future holds and any of the decisions they have to make based on that data. Furthermore, it’s an essential step for businesses to ensure their business is in line with the compliance regulatory legislation and be protected from data loss happening for any reason.
Why is Data Archiving Important in General?
If we’re not talking E-invoicing in specific, data archiving is important for the following reasons:
- Adhering to legal legislation.
- Protection of data in the event of a natural disaster.
- Assisting in legal investigations where historical data may be of help.
- Serves as a solid database to revert to for some critical decisions.
- Space optimization as it replaces the need for physical archiving of data.
E-invoicing Archiving: Why is it Important?
Data archiving is essential but it serves such a pivotal role in the context of E-invoicing archiving. This is due to the intricate nature invoice-associated data holds when compared with other types of data out there. Financial data related to businesses is no laughing matter, therefore, finding ways to keep this data protected and available at all times is something that businesses should invest in at all costs.
Following E-invoicing archiving best practices assists in legal compliance with ZATCA, safeguards financial data, mitigates potential risks, helps detect fraud attempts, provides analysis of historical data, facilitates resolution of disputes via available data, serves as evidence in investigations where such data can be of help, and much more.
E-invoicing archiving is essential for business continuity as it prevents data loss which is the worst case scenario a business could ever face. On top of that, archiving boosts business performance by facilitating the retrieval process of any document needed. Archiving combined with electronic methods of archiving means no physical storage is needed and advanced delegation of user access is given to manage what data is shown and to whom.
Data Storage & Archiving According To ZATCA
According to the requirements of Phase Two rules set by ZATCA for businesses subject to VAT rules in Saudi Arabia, electronic archiving of invoices is a requirement for Phase Two. The archiving process should be via servers on-premise located in Saudi Arabia, or on cloud servers while adhering to the technical requirements of ZATCA and VAT laws.
InvoiceQ provides archiving as per ZATCA’s requirements whether our clients are looking to have their data archived on-premise or on the cloud. It’s advised for this particular reason to have a service provider like InvoiceQ handle the integration process and compliance requirements on behalf of your business.
Worrying about every single update and having to reflect that in real time isn’t possible for all businesses. This is normal as the process consumes time, effort, and resources that can be easily provided with InvoiceQ.
Conclusion
All in all, E-invoicing archiving is not only about complying with ZATCA. While that is true, it’s not the only reason that encourages you to implement archiving strategies for your data. E-invoicing archiving safeguards your critical financial data and helps mitigate risks before they happen.
Want to ensure perfect compliance with ZATCA without worrying about data archiving or integration complexities? Get in touch with our team of experts and have all your answers answered. Get complete control over your invoices with InvoiceQ!
