Conservation
How long issued invoices and their records are kept, by whom, and what to export before changing systems.
Keeping invoices is the issuing business's duty. Under VERI*FACTU AEAT keeps the billing records, but not the invoices themselves.
4 rules: 3 from the law, 1 AEAT criterion. How to read a rule.
Keep copies of issued invoices for the limitation period
The issuing business keeps copies of the invoices it issues, with their original content and in order, for the limitation period of the General Tax Law, four years, and for the six years the Commercial Code sets for a business's documents.
- Why
- AEAT can ask for any invoice within that period. Keeping copies is the issuer's duty even when someone else keeps them materially.
- Responsibility
- Responsibility: the issuing business.
- Applies to
- Every issued invoice.
Legal basisRD 1619/2012 (Reglamento de facturación), art. 19.2 · Ley 37/1992 del IVA, art. 165.Uno · Ley 58/2003 General Tributaria, art. 66 · Código de Comercio, art. 30.1
«Los documentos deben conservarse con su contenido original, ordenadamente y en los plazos y con las condiciones fijados por este Reglamento.»«las copias de las facturas expedidas, deberán conservarse, incluso por medios electrónicos, durante el plazo de prescripción del Impuesto.»«Prescribirán a los cuatro años los siguientes derechos:»«Los empresarios conservarán los libros, correspondencia, documentación y justificantes concernientes a su negocio, debidamente ordenados, durante seis años»Assuming invoices can be discarded once the quarter is filed.
Keeping every issued invoice, PDF and data, for the whole period, in order.
AEAT keeps the records, not your invoices
Under VERI*FACTU AEAT keeps the billing records, but a record does not contain the whole invoice: its lines, for one, are not in it. Keep the full invoices yourself.
- Why
- Relying on AEAT's copy leaves you without the detail of each invoice when you are asked for it.
- Responsibility
- Responsibility: the issuing business.
- Applies to
- Invoices of a company under VeriFactu.
Legal basisAEAT, Aclaraciones a dudas de los desarrolladores (v1.3), 13. Conservación de registros en VERI*FACTU y libros registros
«Por lo que se refiere a las Facturas Completas, estas deben conservarse en la [...] medida en que el Registro no contiene la totalidad del detalle de las facturas (por ejemplo las líneas de facturación).»Keeping only the AEAT registration numbers and discarding the invoices.
Keeping each invoice's PDF and data, lines included.
Export your invoices before leaving
The issuing business keeps its invoices for the whole conservation period, also after it stops using a billing system. Export the invoices and their PDFs before closing the account; keeping their billing records as well is advisable.
- Why
- The duty to keep the invoices does not end with the use of a system. Under VERI*FACTU the regulation sets no duty to keep the records, which AEAT keeps, but having them makes each invoice easier to trace.
- Responsibility
- Responsibility: the issuing business.
- Applies to
- Operations
createCompanyInvoiceExportcreateCompanyInvoicePdfArchive
Legal basisRD 1619/2012 (Reglamento de facturación), art. 19.1 y 19.2 · AEAT, Aclaraciones a dudas de los desarrolladores (v1.3), 13. Conservación de registros en VERI*FACTU y libros registros
«Los empresarios o profesionales deberán conservar, durante el plazo previsto en la Ley 58/2003, de 17 de diciembre, General Tributaria, los siguientes documentos: [...] 2. Los documentos deben conservarse con su contenido original, ordenadamente y en los plazos y con las condiciones fijados por este Reglamento.»«Cuando se utilicen sistemas VERI*FACTU, las obligaciones de conservación de los registros NO aparecen reguladas en la normativa [...] No obstante, por razones de funcionalidad del sistema (no por obligación reglamentaria), parece lógico que dichos sistemas también conserven esos mismos registros.»Closing the account at the end of the year with no copy of that year's invoices.
Exporting the invoices and downloading their PDFs first.
curl -X POST "https://app.beel.es/api/v1/companies/{company_id}/invoices/exports" \ -H "Authorization: Bearer $BEEL_API_KEY" \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -d '{ "format": "ITEMS", "filters": { "date_from": "2026-01-01", "date_to": "2026-12-31" } }' \ -o invoices-2026.xlsxExplained inBulk operations and exports › Exports
Invoices kept electronically are reachable on request
Invoices kept electronically must be available online, so that AEAT can view, download and use them on request without undue delay.
- Why
- Copies you cannot produce when AEAT asks count as copies you do not have.
- Responsibility
- Responsibility: the issuing business.
- Applies to
- Invoices kept by electronic means.
Legal basisRD 1619/2012 (Reglamento de facturación), art. 21.2
«Los documentos conservados por medios electrónicos deberán ser gestionados y conservados por medios que garanticen un acceso en línea a los datos así como su carga remota y utilización por parte de la Administración tributaria ante cualquier solicitud de esta y sin demora injustificada.»Archiving the invoices on a disk nobody can reach remotely.
Keeping them where they can be searched and downloaded when AEAT asks.
Explained inBulk operations and exports › Exports