Dates and deadlines
The dates an invoice carries and the deadlines for issuing it, sending it and charging its VAT.
An invoice has two dates: the issue date, which BeeL. sets when you issue, and the operation date, which you send when the sale happened on another day. The law also sets when an invoice has to be issued and delivered; those deadlines are the issuer's to keep.
14 rules: 11 from the law, 2 AEAT criteria, 1 BeeL. rule. How to read a rule.
Do not send an issue date
The API has no writable issue date: an invoice is dated the day it is issued, and a scheduled one the day it is scheduled for. To record when the sale happened, send operation_date.
- Why
- Backdating or postdating an invoice is not possible: the issue date is the day its billing record is generated. An integration that tries to set it ends up with invoices dated differently from what it expects.
- Responsibility
- Checked by the API: BeeL. applies it.
- Applies to
- Operations
createCompanyInvoiceissueCompanyInvoicepatchCompanyInvoice
Trying to send an issue date set to the last day of the previous month to close the month's invoicing.
Issuing today, with the date the service was provided as operation_date.
{ "operation_date": "2026-08-31", "lines": [{ "description": "August maintenance", "quantity": 1, "unit_price": 300, "main_tax": { "type": "IVA", "percentage": 21 } }] }Explained inInvoice lifecycle › Dates
The issue date is the day the billing record is generated
An invoice's issue date is the date its billing record is generated, which is also, as a rule, the day the record is sent: it cannot be later than today nor set to an earlier day. BeeL. dates the invoice when you issue it.
- Why
- An issue date that does not match the record's makes the record inconsistent; AEAT rejects an issue date in the future.
- Responsibility
- Checked by the API: BeeL. applies it.
- Applies to
- Statuses
ISSUEDInvoices under VeriFactu.
Legal basisAEAT, Preguntas frecuentes SIF y VERI*FACTU, Sistemas VERI*FACTU · AEAT, Validaciones y errores VERI*FACTU (v1.2.2), 3.1.3.1 Agrupación IDFactura · RD 1007/2023 (RRSIF), art. 9
«La fecha de expedición de la factura debe coincidir con la de generación del registro de facturación. Ambas fechas, generalmente deben corresponderse con la fecha en que se remite el Registro de facturación.»«La FechaExpedicionFactura no podrá ser superior a la fecha actual.»«deberán generar automáticamente un registro de facturación de alta de forma simultánea o inmediatamente anterior a la expedición de cada factura.»Keeping a month of invoices as drafts and expecting them to carry the dates of each sale when you issue them at month end.
Issuing each invoice when the sale happens, or issuing later with each sale's date as operation_date and within the deadlines.
The operation date is never after the issue date nor over twenty years old
operation_date is the day the operation took place or the advance payment was received, so it cannot be later than the issue date. It cannot be more than twenty years before the issue date either. To bill before delivering, invoice the advance payment with the day you received it.
- Why
- AEAT does not accept an operation dated in the future except in two special regimes, nor one dated more than twenty years back; an invoice dated before the operation it documents is not consistent.
- Responsibility
- Checked by the API: a request that breaks it is rejected with the error codes listed.
- Applies to
- Operations
createCompanyInvoicepatchCompanyInvoiceissueCompanyInvoice - Error codes
OPERATION_DATE_AFTER_ISSUE_DATE422,OPERATION_DATE_TOO_OLD
Legal basisAEAT, Validaciones y errores VERI*FACTU (v1.2.2), 3.1.3.7 FechaOperacion · AEAT, Validaciones y errores VERI*FACTU (v1.2.2), 3.1.3.7 FechaOperacion
«el campo FechaOperacion solo podrá ser superior a la fecha actual, si ClaveRegimen= "14" o "15”.»«La FechaOperacion no debe ser inferior a la fecha actual menos veinte años y no debe ser superior al año siguiente de la fecha actual.»Issuing today an invoice for next week's delivery with that date as operation_date: the API answers OPERATION_DATE_AFTER_ISSUE_DATE.
Issuing the invoice on the delivery day, or invoicing now the advance payment you already received.
Explained inInvoice lifecycle › Dates
Send the operation date when it differs from the issue date
When the goods were delivered, the service provided or the advance received on a day other than the issue date, send that day as operation_date. Omitted, the invoice takes the issue date as the operation date.
- Why
- The operation date decides the VAT rate and the tax period. Without it, an invoice issued in October for a September sale says the sale happened in October.
- Responsibility
- Responsibility: your integration.
- Applies to
- Operations
createCompanyInvoicepatchCompanyInvoice
Legal basisRD 1619/2012 (Reglamento de facturación), art. 6.1.i)
«La fecha en que se hayan efectuado las operaciones que se documentan o en la que, en su caso, se haya recibido el pago anticipado, siempre que se trate de una fecha distinta a la de expedición de la factura.»Issuing on 2 October the invoice for work finished on 30 September without operation_date.
Sending the day the work was finished.
{ "operation_date": "2026-09-30", "lines": [{ "description": "Website redesign", "quantity": 1, "unit_price": 2400, "main_tax": { "type": "IVA", "percentage": 21 } }] }Explained inInvoice lifecycle › Dates
Invoice consumers when the operation takes place
When the customer is a consumer, issue the invoice at the moment the operation is performed.
- Why
- An invoice to a consumer issued days later breaks the issuing deadline, and under VeriFactu its record reaches AEAT late too.
- Responsibility
- Responsibility: the issuing business.
- Applies to
- Operations with a recipient that is not a business or professional acting as such.
Legal basisRD 1619/2012 (Reglamento de facturación), art. 11.1
«Las facturas deberán ser expedidas en el momento de realizarse la operación.»An online shop collects the day's orders and issues their invoices the following week.
The shop issues each invoice when the order is completed.
Invoice businesses before day 16 of the following month
When the customer is a business or professional, issue the invoice before day 16 of the month after the one in which the VAT accrued.
- Why
- An invoice issued after the deadline breaches the invoicing obligations and can be sanctioned, even though the sale was declared.
- Responsibility
- Responsibility: the issuing business.
- Applies to
- Operations with a business or professional acting as such.
Legal basisRD 1619/2012 (Reglamento de facturación), art. 11.1
«No obstante, cuando el destinatario de la operación sea un empresario o profesional que actúe como tal, las facturas deberán expedirse antes del día 16 del mes siguiente a aquél en que se haya producido el devengo del Impuesto correspondiente a la citada operación.»Invoicing on 20 October a service to a company that was completed on 25 September.
Issuing that invoice by 15 October, with operation_date set to 25 September.
One invoice for a month of operations, issued in time
You may put several operations for the same customer in one invoice only if they all took place in the same calendar month. Issue it by the last day of that month or, when the customer is a business, before day 16 of the next one.
- Why
- Grouping operations from different months in one invoice, or issuing it late, breaches the invoicing rules even when every operation is on it.
- Responsibility
- Responsibility: the issuing business.
- Applies to
- Recapitulative invoices: several operations for the same customer in one invoice.
Legal basisRD 1619/2012 (Reglamento de facturación), art. 13.1 y 13.2
«Podrán incluirse en una sola factura distintas operaciones realizadas en distintas fechas para un mismo destinatario, siempre que las mismas se hayan efectuado dentro de un mismo mes natural. 2. Estas facturas deberán ser expedidas como máximo el último día del mes natural en el que se hayan efectuado las operaciones que se documenten en ellas.»One invoice to a company for deliveries made between 20 August and 10 September.
One invoice for the August deliveries and another for the September ones, each issued in time.
Deliver the invoice to the customer in time
Send the original invoice to the customer when you issue it or, when the customer is a business, before day 16 of the month after the accrual. BeeL. can email it for you.
- Why
- An invoice the customer never receives cannot be deducted by them, and delivering it is an obligation of the issuer.
- Responsibility
- Responsibility: the issuing business.
- Applies to
- Statuses
ISSUEDOperationssendCompanyInvoicecreateCompanyInvoiceDelivery
Legal basisRD 1619/2012 (Reglamento de facturación), art. 18
«La obligación de remisión de las facturas que se establece en el artículo 17 deberá cumplirse en el mismo momento de su expedición o bien, cuando el destinatario sea un empresario o profesional que actúe como tal, antes del día 16 del mes siguiente a aquél en que se haya producido el devengo del Impuesto»Issuing invoices through the API and never delivering them, assuming AEAT's record reaches the customer.
Emailing the PDF from BeeL. once it is ready, or delivering it through your own channel.
Explained inSending email
VAT is charged by invoice within 1 year of accrual
VAT is passed on to the customer through an invoice, and the right to charge it is lost 1 year after the VAT accrued. The duty to invoice the operation remains after that.
- Why
- Invoicing or correcting upwards after that window leaves the issuer paying a VAT it can no longer charge to the customer.
- Responsibility
- Responsibility: the issuing business.
- Applies to
- Every operation that accrues VAT.
Legal basisLey 37/1992 del IVA, art. 88.Cuatro
«Se perderá el derecho a la repercusión cuando haya transcurrido un año desde la fecha del devengo.»Leaving an operation uninvoiced for more than a year, so the VAT on it can no longer be charged to the customer.
Reconciling unbilled operations every month, so each is invoiced within the deadlines.
Invoice advance payments when you receive them
A payment received before the operation is invoiced too, with the day you received it as operation_date; the final invoice then covers the rest. Exempt intra-EU supplies of goods are the exception.
- Why
- VAT accrues when an advance is received, so an advance without its invoice leaves VAT accrued and never charged.
- Responsibility
- Responsibility: the issuing business.
- Applies to
- Payments received before the goods are delivered or the service is provided.
Legal basisRD 1619/2012 (Reglamento de facturación), art. 2.1, párrafo segundo
«También deberá expedirse factura y copia de esta por los pagos recibidos con anterioridad a la realización de las entregas de bienes o prestaciones de servicios por las que deba asimismo cumplirse esta obligación conforme al párrafo anterior, a excepción de las entregas de bienes exentas del Impuesto sobre el Valor Añadido por aplicación de lo dispuesto en el artículo 25 de la Ley del Impuesto.»Collecting a 30 % deposit on a kitchen installation and invoicing everything only when the work is finished.
Invoicing the deposit the day it is received, and the remaining 70 % when the installation is completed.
Adapted billing systems are mandatory from 1 January 2027 or 1 July 2027
Corporate-tax payers must invoice with a billing system adapted to the regulation before 1 January 2027, and the other taxpayers of its art. 3.1 before 1 July 2027.
- Why
- These dates were set by the RD-ley 15/2025, which amended the RD 1007/2023; from them on, these taxpayers invoice through an adapted billing system.
- Responsibility
- Responsibility: the issuing business.
- Applies to
- Taxpayers under the billing-systems regulation; those keeping their VAT books through the SII are outside it.
Legal basisRD 1007/2023 (RRSIF), disposición final cuarta · Real Decreto-ley 15/2025, disposición final primera
«los obligados tributarios a que se refiere el artículo 3.1.a) deberán tener adaptados los sistemas informáticos a las características y requisitos establecidos en este reglamento y en su normativa de desarrollo antes del 1 de enero de 2027. El resto de obligados tributarios mencionados en el artículo 3.1 deberán tener operativos los citados sistemas informáticos antes del 1 de julio de 2027.»«Disposición final primera. Modificación del Real Decreto 1007/2023, de 5 de diciembre. La disposición final cuarta queda redactada en los siguientes términos:»A company subject to corporate tax plans its switch to an adapted billing system for spring 2027.
The company enables VeriFactu and tests its integration in the sandbox during 2026.
Explained inOverview › At a glance
Plan for mandatory B2B electronic invoices
Once the ministerial order that RD 238/2026 depends on is in force, businesses will have to issue structured electronic invoices to other Spanish businesses, first the largest ones and later the rest. Until that order is published the obligation does not apply; watch for it.
- Why
- The deadline starts counting from an order that has not been published yet, and adapting invoicing to structured formats takes time.
- Responsibility
- Responsibility: the issuing business.
- Applies to
- Invoices to businesses and professionals established in Spain, once RD 238/2026 applies.
Legal basisRD 1619/2012 (Reglamento de facturación), art. 8 bis.1 · RD 238/2026, disposición final cuarta
«Será obligatoria la factura electrónica en las condiciones establecidas en la Ley 56/2007, de 28 de diciembre, de Medidas de Impulso de la sociedad de la Información, y en su normativa de desarrollo cuando el destinatario de la operación sea un empresario o profesional que tenga en España la sede de su actividad económica»«la aplicación efectiva de este real decreto quedará diferida en los siguientes términos, contados desde la entrada en vigor de la orden ministerial prevista en el apartado 1 de la disposición final tercera»Assuming a PDF sent by email will keep being enough for every business customer indefinitely.
Tracking the publication of the ministerial order and planning a structured format for invoices to Spanish businesses.
Intra-EU supplies of goods are invoiced by the month after transport starts
Invoice an intra-EU supply of goods before day 16 of the month after the one in which the goods start to be shipped or transported to the buyer, also when several supplies go on one recapitulative invoice.
- Why
- For these supplies the deadline runs from the start of the transport, not from the general rule of the month after accrual.
- Responsibility
- Responsibility: the issuing business.
- Applies to
- Intra-EU supplies of goods exempt under art. 25 LIVA.
Legal basisRD 1619/2012 (Reglamento de facturación), art. 11.2 · RD 1619/2012 (Reglamento de facturación), art. 13.3
«En las entregas de bienes comprendidas en el artículo 75.Uno.8.º de la Ley del Impuesto, las facturas deberán expedirse antes del día 16 del mes siguiente a aquél en que se inicie la expedición o el transporte de los bienes con destino al adquirente.»«En las entregas de bienes comprendidas en el artículo 75.Uno.8.º de la Ley del Impuesto, las facturas deberán expedirse antes del día 16 del mes siguiente a aquél en que se inicie la expedición o el transporte de los bienes con destino al adquirente.»Goods leave for a buyer in Germany on 28 September and the invoice is issued on 20 October.
The same invoice issued by 15 October.
Under the cash-basis regime, the deadline runs from the operation, not the payment
Under the special cash-basis regime, issue the invoice when the operation takes place or, when the customer is a business or professional acting as such, before day 16 of the month after the one in which the operation took place, even though the VAT accrues on payment.
- Why
- Under this regime the VAT accrues later, but the invoicing deadline does not move with it.
- Responsibility
- Responsibility: the issuing business.
- Applies to
- Operations under the special cash-basis regime (regime key
07).
Legal basisRD 1619/2012 (Reglamento de facturación), art. 11.3
«En las operaciones acogidas al régimen especial del criterio de caja regulado en el Capítulo X del Título IX de la Ley del Impuesto, la expedición de la factura deberá realizarse en el momento de la realización de tales operaciones, salvo cuando el destinatario de la operación sea un empresario o profesional que actúe como tal, en cuyo caso deberán expedirse antes del día 16 del mes siguiente a aquel en que se haya realizado la operación.»A cash-basis business waits for a client's payment in November to invoice a service delivered in August.
It invoices the service by 15 September, with regime key 07.