Colombia
Electronic sales invoice with prior validation by the DIAN, sent by Cord as your own software.
What it is
In Colombia each invoice must be validated by the DIAN before it is delivered (Technical Annex 1.9). Cord signs each invoice and credit note with your certificate, sends it to the DIAN as your own software, and, once the DIAN validates it, prints the CUFE and the QR code on the PDF. Cord is not a technology provider and does not use one: you enable yourself as an issuer with your own software and register Cord as that software.
Electronic invoicing with the DIAN is built and being activated: Cord turns it on country by country. Meanwhile, Settings › Tax profile says Coming soon and your invoices are issued as commercial invoices without tax validity. This feature is new and may not be enabled on your account yet. If you don’t see it, contact us.
| In Colombia | |
|---|---|
| Default currency | COP (also another currency, with the document’s rate to COP) |
| Tax | IVA 19% and 5%; ReteIVA and ReteFuente withholdings |
| Tax ID | NIT, with its check digit |
| Document | Commercial invoice today; electronic sales invoice and credit note validated once activated |
| Authority | DIAN |
| PDF language | Your client’s or, if they have none, your account’s; DIAN data and legends, in Spanish |
| Online payments | Mercado Pago |
Requirements
- Plan: Starter or higher to issue with the DIAN. On Free, commercial invoice (10 per month).
- Enablement in the DIAN portal as an issuer with your own software: the software’s name and a five-digit PIN. The DIAN assigns you the software ID and a test set.
- A digital signing certificate for e-invoicing in your NIT’s name, issued by a certification authority endorsed by the ONAC, with its full chain. You pay its cost directly to them.
- For production, a numbering resolution requested from the DIAN and associated with your software.
- Permissions: Settings for the tax profile; Quotes to issue; Collections for the credit note.
Set up your account
- In Settings › Tax profile, complete your legal name, your NIT with its check digit, and your address under Invoice identity.
- Under Your business in the RUT, choose the person type, your IVA responsibility, the municipality of your tax address, and your tax responsibilities (box 53 of the RUT).
- Under Software and numbering, enter the software ID and its PIN, and the numbering: during enablement, the test set’s range with its technical key; in production, your resolution (number, prefix, range, and validity). Get from the DIAN checks the ranges the DIAN reports for your NIT and stores the technical key.
- Choose the credit note prefix and whether your 0% sales are exempt or excluded from IVA.
- Upload your signing certificate (
.p12, or certificate and key) with its chain. - During enablement, click Send test set with the quantities your set’s detail indicates, then Check result. When the DIAN accepts it, switch to production from its portal.
Taxes and withholdings
- IVA 19% (default) and 5%, per line item.
- Exempt or excluded: 0% line items are reported as exempt (IVA 0.00) or excluded (no IVA) according to what you choose in Settings. Without that decision, an invoice with 0% line items is not sent.
- ReteIVA 15% is calculated on the IVA, not on the subtotal, and is reported to the DIAN. ReteFuente 2.5% is reported as an income tax withholding. A withholding on the subtotal that could be of another kind (ReteICA, for example) is not reported, but it still subtracts from your total.
- The DIAN receives the total without withholdings; Cord’s total is that amount minus the withholdings.
Documents and numbering
- Electronic sales invoice and credit note, with a voiding concept if it credits the total or a reduction concept if it credits part of it. The debit note is only used in the test set.
- Cord assigns each number within your resolution (prefix, range, and validity). Outside the range or the validity period it is not sent. Settings warns you when fewer than 50 numbers (or 5%) or fewer than 30 days of validity are left.
- A rejection frees its number.
- The signed XML is stored before it is sent; once validated, the DIAN’s response is joined to it and it is delivered as a container (
AttachedDocument) that travels in the email in a single.zipwith the PDF.
Status before the DIAN
| Status | What it means |
|---|---|
| Validated by the DIAN | With its CUFE (or CUDE on a note) and the validation’s notifications. |
| Waiting for the DIAN to confirm | Cord checks by CUFE before doing anything. |
| The DIAN rejected the document | With the reason; the number is freed. |
| Enablement environment | Without tax validity. |
The PDF prints the CUFE in the footer of every page and the QR code on the first one, with the numbering authorization, the payment method, and the rate to COP when applicable.
Client data
On each Colombian client’s profile, in the DIAN section, enter what Cord cannot infer: document type, whether they are a natural or legal person, their IVA responsibility, and their responsibilities. Without an ID, the client is invoiced as an end consumer. A client abroad is reported with their country’s tax ID.
Void or correct
A validated invoice is not voided: it is adjusted with a credit note that carries the invoice’s buyer, currency, and rate.
Get paid online
Cord Payments does not open accounts in Colombia: online collection is with Mercado Pago, on the quote link and the invoice link. You can also record a transfer by hand.
Plan limits
| Plan | Commercial invoices per month | Validated invoices included per month |
|---|---|---|
| Free | 10 | No tax issuance included |
| Starter | Unlimited | 30 |
| Pro | Unlimited | 200 |
| Scale | Unlimited | 500 |
| Developer | Unlimited | 1,000 |
Enablement documents do not count.
What Cord does not cover yet
- Export and contingency invoices.
- INC, ICUI, ICA, and health taxes; reported ReteICA.
- AIU, mandates, tips, and document charges.
- Support document (documento soporte), electronic payroll, and RADIAN events (receipt, acceptance).
Cord rejects them or says so before sending.
Common problems
Settings says Coming soon. Electronic invoicing with the DIAN is being activated.
An invoice with 0% line items is not sent. Choose in Settings whether your 0% sales are exempt or excluded.
Settings says the range ran out or the resolution expired. Request a new resolution from the DIAN, associate it with your software, and register it in Settings.
The DIAN rejects everything because of the certificate. The certificate must be endorsed by the ONAC, be in your NIT’s name, and include its full chain.