Credit and debit note builder for Saudi e-invoices

Credit or debit?

One question settles it: does what the customer owes go down or up? A return, a discount after issue or a cancellation lowers it, so it is a credit note, type 381. Missed charges or a price increase raise it, so it is a debit note, type 383. There is no third type for cancelling.

What the note must carry

Reason for issuing: Text the customer and an auditor understand. Its absence rejects the note (BR-KSA-17).
Original invoice number: As issued, in field BT-25. Its absence comes back as warning BR-KSA-56 with acceptance, so always write it.
Positive amounts: The note type says whether the amount goes down or up; a negative value rejects it (BR-KSA-F-04).
VAT on the note's own value: Not on the original invoice. A note of 100 SAR before VAT carries 15 SAR, whatever the invoice total was.

And a note is a full electronic document: signed, given a new counter value and sent to ZATCA. One note points to one invoice, so three invoices mean three notes.

The full guide, with the rejection codes and when a note is the wrong document: Credit and debit notes in Saudi e-invoicing.

Frequently asked questions

A credit note (type 381) lowers what the customer owes after the invoice was issued: a return, a discount or a cancellation. A debit note (type 383) raises it: missed charges or a price increase. Both point to the original invoice and carry the reason they were issued.

No. Amounts and quantities on a note are always positive; the document type is what says the amount goes down. A negative amount rejects the note under rule BR-KSA-F-04.

ZATCA accepts it and returns warning BR-KSA-56 with it, but it is a correction that does not say what it corrects, of no use to the customer or an auditor. Always write the invoice number as issued. A missing reason, on the other hand, rejects the note (BR-KSA-17).

No. A rejected invoice never entered ZATCA's records, so there is nothing for a note to correct. Read the rejection code, fix the field it names, then send the invoice again.

No. A note is an electronic document, digitally signed, given a new counter value and sent to ZATCA from the invoicing system. The builder prepares its figures and reason and shows the fields it must carry before you issue it.