VERI*FACTU records and the QR code

What happens when you issue an invoice

With VERI*FACTU on (see Set up VERI*FACTU), clicking Issue invoice does two things at once: the invoice gets its number and becomes final, and Invoice 14 creates its invoice record — the “registro de alta” — and sends it to the AEAT through our provider. Each record carries a hash (“huella”) that chains it to your previous record, which is how the AEAT can tell that nothing was changed or removed afterwards.

The submission never stops the invoice from being issued. If the provider or the AEAT cannot be reached, the invoice is issued anyway, the record waits in a queue and Invoice 14 keeps retrying it. In that case you land on the invoice with a yellow notice saying it was issued but the AEAT record could not be sent yet. You do not need to do anything — just check back later.

Follow the record on the invoice

Open any invoice issued under VERI*FACTU. Under the header you find the AEAT record (VERI*FACTU) card, with one line per record:

• •Invoice record — sent when the invoice was issued.
• •Cancellation record — sent if you voided the invoice.
• •Its status badge, the number of attempts so far, and the start of its Hash (hover over it to see the whole value).
• •If the AEAT or the provider returned an error, its code and message in red.

The invoice record’s status is also shown as a badge next to the invoice status, both at the top of the invoice and in the invoices list, so you can spot a problem without opening every invoice.

What each status means

• •AEAT: pending — the record exists in Invoice 14 but has not reached the provider yet, usually because of a connection problem. It is retried automatically, at growing intervals of up to an hour.
• •AEAT: processing — the provider has the record and is passing it to the AEAT. The answer normally arrives within minutes.
• •AEAT: accepted — the AEAT has registered the record. Nothing more to do.
• •AEAT: accepted with errors — the AEAT registered the record but flagged something in it; the message says what. The invoice stands. If the message points at wrong data (a customer’s tax ID, for example), fix the customer and correct the invoice with a corrective invoice — check with your gestor if you are unsure.
• •AEAT: rejected — the AEAT refused the record. Void the invoice and issue a corrected one; the rejected number cannot be reused.
• •AEAT: not submitted — something is wrong that retrying on its own will not fix, or ten attempts have failed. Read the error, fix the cause if it is on your side, then press Retry submission.

Retry a record that has not gone through

While any record of the invoice is pending, processing or not submitted, the card shows a Retry submission button. Clicking it tries again straight away — or, if the provider already has the record, asks it for the latest answer — and refreshes the status. A record is never sent twice: the provider is always asked first whether it already has it.

You rarely need the button. Records are also retried whenever you open your invoices and by a regular background check. If a record stays stuck after a retry, email hello@invoice14.com with the invoice number.

Why the issue date must be today

With VERI*FACTU on, the record is generated and sent at the moment you issue, so the date on the invoice has to be the day it is issued. Invoice 14 checks this against Spain’s time zone. If the date is different you get: “VERI*FACTU invoices must be issued with today's date (Spain time) — set the issue date to today”. The invoice editor reminds you under the date field.

Forgot to invoice last month’s work? Issue the invoice today and describe the period it covers in Service period (free text) (for example “September 2026”). A draft keeps the date it was created with, so update the date on old drafts before issuing them.

Some other invoices cannot be sent as VERI*FACTU records yet, and are refused before a number is used, with a message that says why. The most common:

• •The customer has no NIF or VAT number — add it on the customer (Customers).
• •A domestic invoice with a 0 % line, which would need an exemption code — use a taxed rate.
• •An out-of-scope invoice — VERI*FACTU only covers invoices under Spanish VAT.
• •More than 12 different VAT rates on one invoice, or a series prefix so long that the invoice number exceeds 60 characters.

Voiding and correcting under VERI*FACTU

An invoice sent to the AEAT can no longer be edited. Voiding it sends a cancellation record, which appears as a second line on the card. You can only void an issued invoice with no payments recorded, and not while its invoice record is still being processed — if you get “AEAT is still processing this invoice — wait a minute and try again”, do exactly that.

Only void an invoice that was issued by mistake and never reached the customer. For a delivered invoice that was wrong, issue a corrective invoice instead: it is a new record that refers to the original. See Corrective invoices and voiding.

The QR code on your PDF

Every invoice issued under VERI*FACTU has the AEAT tax QR code in its top right corner, printed at the size the law requires, with “VERI*FACTU” and the legend “Factura verificable en la sede electrónica de la AEAT” underneath. The legend is a fixed legal text, so it stays in Spanish whatever language the invoice is in. Sandbox invoices also carry “ENTORNO DE PRUEBAS”.

The QR contains your NIF, the invoice number, the issue date and the invoice total (base plus VAT, before any IRPF withholding). Your customer — or their gestor, or a tax inspector — can scan it with a phone camera to open the AEAT’s verification page and check that the invoice matches a record you submitted. Right after you issue an invoice, the record may still be processing, so the check can take a few minutes to succeed.

Invoices issued while VERI*FACTU was off have no QR and no legend. That is deliberate: a QR without a submitted record only leads to a “not found” page at the AEAT, and the legend may only be printed when the record is really sent.