Connecting Odoo to Fatoora: what your business needs for Phase 2

ZATCA rolls out e-invoicing in two phases. Phase 1 is generating and storing invoices electronically; Phase 2 is integration — your system submits invoices to the Fatoora platform directly. Phase 2 is applied in waves, and each business is notified of its wave in advance.

If you run Odoo, the good news is that it ships with a Saudi localization that supports integration. But switching on a setting isn't enough; success depends on the quality of your data and how the system is configured.

Standard vs simplified invoices

• Standard tax invoices are issued to businesses (B2B) and are submitted to the platform for clearance before being shared with the buyer.
• Simplified tax invoices are issued to consumers (B2C), such as POS receipts, and are reported to the platform after issue within the required window.
• Credit and debit notes follow the type of the original invoice and must be linked to it.

Steps to configure Odoo

1. 1Company data: legal name in Arabic and English, VAT number, CR number and the full national address (building number, additional number, district, postal code).
2. 2Business customer data: VAT number and national address for every customer you issue standard invoices to.
3. 3Onboard your sales journals: generate a one-time password (OTP) in the Fatoora portal and enter it in Odoo to register the system with ZATCA.
4. 4Test in the simulation environment: issue standard and simplified invoices and credit notes, and confirm they are accepted.
5. 5Move to production and review submitted invoices daily for the first few weeks.
6. 6Point of sale: configure every POS to issue compliant simplified invoices with a QR code.

Common mistakes that get invoices rejected

• Incomplete national address for the company or customer, especially the additional number or postal code.
• Invalid customer VAT number — Saudi VAT numbers are 15 digits.
• Editing an invoice after submission instead of issuing a linked credit note.
• Ignoring rejected invoices or warnings until they pile up.
• Issuing manual invoices from another system alongside Odoo, breaking the invoice sequence.

Quick checklist before your wave

• Is company data and the national address complete in Odoo?
• Does every business customer have a valid VAT number and address?
• Have you tested in the simulation environment?
• Does your accounting team know how to handle a rejected invoice?
• Are your POS terminals ready to issue compliant simplified invoices?

If you answered “no” to any of these, start now rather than waiting for your wave date. The integration itself is quick — preparing the data is what takes time.