BR-KSA-F-04 Rejects the invoice

Negative amount or quantity

Every amount and quantity in the document must be positive, except where the specification says otherwise. The negative line that systems use to handle returns is the most common way to hit this — and the right answer is a separate credit note, not a minus line.

The message text as the Authority sends it in English, unedited

All the document amounts and quantities must be positive, unless specified otherwise.

What does this mean?

The rule applies across the document: line quantities, line prices and totals — a negative value is rejected in all of them.

A discount is not an exception that needs a minus sign: it has its own allowance fields and is written there as a positive value, and the system subtracts it for you.

A correction after issuing is not a negative line on a later invoice; it is a separate document of type credit note that references the original invoice.

Why does it happen?

Ordered from the most common to the least — your cause is most likely the first or the second.

  • A store integration that passes a return as a negative line inside a new invoice instead of creating a credit note.
  • A discount written as a negative price on a line of its own (Discount: -50) instead of the dedicated discount fields.
  • A settlement or rounding entry keyed in as a negative quantity to balance the total.

How to fix it

2 steps, then send the invoice again.

  1. 1
    Turn the return into a credit note

    Create a credit note that references the original invoice, with the returned value as a positive number and a reason for issuing. The steps are in how to issue a credit note for an electronic invoice.

  2. 2
    Move the discount into its own fields

    Write the discount in the discount fields at line or document level as a positive value, and remove the negative discount lines from the template and from the integration.

Once corrected, send the invoice again. A rejected invoice was never recorded with the Authority, so it needs no credit note — send the corrected invoice itself.

Does ZATCA Tools prevent it?

Yes. Lines whose quantity or price is not positive never enter an invoice in ZATCA Tools, and returns from connected stores become credit notes automatically.

Related codes

BR-KSA-17 Rejects the invoice
Note issued with no reason
BR-KSA-56 Warning
Credit or debit note with no reference to the original invoice

Frequently asked questions

How do I record a partial return, then? +
With a credit note for the value of the returned part alone, as a positive number, referencing the original invoice and the reason for the return. The difference between the note types is in credit and debit notes.
What about the end-of-invoice discount I used to write as a negative line? +
It has a document-level discount field, written as a positive value and subtracted from the total automatically — so it needs neither a line nor a minus sign.
You fixed this one — now avoid the next

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