How to invoice in Argentina with Cord
In Argentina every invoice must be authorized by ARCA, which assigns its number and its CAE. Cord has the direct rail with ARCA built (electronic invoicing web services, without an intermediary), but it is being turned on: today your invoices are issued as a commercial invoice without tax validity. If you need to invoice with ARCA from Cord, write to us to enable it on your account.
In short:
- Today: commercial invoice and commercial credit note, on every plan (10 per month on Free, unlimited from Starter). They are not submitted to ARCA.
- Being turned on: invoice A, B or C with CAE, credit note and the ARCA QR code on the PDF. Under Settings › Invoicing › Tax profile › Electronic invoicing with ARCA it reads Coming soon.
- What you will need: Starter or above, your CUIT, an ARCA digital certificate associated with the electronic invoicing service and a “Factura electrónica - Web services” point of sale.
- Cord decides the class from your VAT status and your client’s: monotributo and exempt businesses issue C, without itemized VAT.
- Void: a document with a CAE is not voided: it is adjusted with a credit note of the same class.
- Collect: in Argentina online payment is through Mercado Pago; Cord Payments is not available.
Which document Cord issues
| Situation | Document |
|---|---|
| Today, any plan | Commercial invoice (no tax validity). |
| With ARCA active (Starter or above) | Invoice A, B or C with CAE, its expiry and the ARCA QR code. |
| With ARCA active, on Free or choosing Commercial invoice | Pro forma with the PRO series: it is used to collect, but it is not a valid document before ARCA. |
| Correction | Credit note of the same class, associated with the invoice. |
On a B invoice the PDF prints the tax transparency legend; to a final consumer, “A CONSUMIDOR FINAL”; on an A to a monotributista, the legend about their tax credit.
What you will need
- Your business CUIT under Invoice identity.
- ARCA digital certificate. You generate it with your clave fiscal in ARCA’s digital certificate administration, from a private key of your own, and associate it with the electronic invoicing service (
wsfe). ARCA does not charge for it. Cord accepts the certificate plus key (.crtand.key) or a.p12/.pfxfile. - A point of sale created in ARCA as “Factura electrónica - Web services”, exclusive to Cord.
- Your VAT status and what you sell (products, services or both).
Set up your account (once it is turned on)
- Under Invoice identity, enter your legal name and your CUIT.
- Under Electronic invoicing with ARCA: Point of sale (web service), VAT status, What you sell and, optionally, Gross income tax number (optional) and Start of activities (optional). Click Save ARCA settings.
- Under ARCA certificate, choose the format (Certificate + private key or .p12 / .pfx file), upload the files, enter the Key password (if it has one) and click Upload certificate. The certificate must be issued to your CUIT and valid.
- On each Argentine client’s profile, complete Customer’s VAT status. Without it, a client with no CUIT is treated as a final consumer; one with a CUIT needs the status entered.
- Review your catalog under Settings › Quotes › Taxes: your account starts with IVA 21%, 10.5%, 27% and Exempt.
How Cord picks the class and the recipient
- Class A, B or C from your status and your client’s (table of RG 5616/2024). Monotributo and exempt issue C.
- Recipient: with CUIT, with DNI or as an unidentified final consumer. The unidentified final consumer only applies to B and C and below ARS 10,000,000.
- Services: the invoice reports the billed period and the payment due date.
- Another currency: the document’s locked rate is used if your ledger currency is ARS; otherwise ARCA’s official rate. Without a rate, it is not sent.
- Document discount: it travels as a bonus, with the net and VAT already discounted.
How you see the status
The invoice detail has an ARCA panel:
- Authorized by ARCA, with the number, the CAE and its expiry.
- Waiting for ARCA to confirm: if the response was lost, Cord queries ARCA for the last authorized document; it never requests another CAE for the same invoice.
- ARCA did not authorize the invoice, with the reason.
In the test environment (homologación) the number carries the H- prefix and the PDF says it has no tax validity.
Void or correct
- Void: a document with a CAE is not voided. Use More actions › Credit note: it is issued with the same class, recipient, status, concept and currency as the invoice, and cites it as the associated document.
- A draft without a CAE is corrected in the editor.
Common issues
- “Missing: a certificate issued to your CUIT”. The certificate belongs to another CUIT. Generate one for yours.
- “Missing: a valid certificate”. The certificate expired. Generate another one in ARCA and upload it.
- ARCA rejects the point of sale. Check that it is of the “Factura electrónica - Web services” type and that no other system uses it.
- The client with a CUIT has no status. Enter it on their profile; Cord does not guess it.
Not covered yet
- Export invoice E (client outside Argentina) and MiPyME Electronic Credit Invoice.
- Uncategorized recipient, withholdings, perceptions and other taxes, CAEA and M documents.