Clarification on Reappearing Warnings (e.g., BR-KSA-80) After Correcting and Reposting Invoices

General
1

We have encountered an issue while correcting previously submitted invoices using the credit and reposting strategy.

When we correct an existing invoice (for example, with document reference “INV2405XXXX”) by issuing a credit note and then generating a new invoice with a new uuid and new Invoice Hash, the ZATCA platform still returns the warning BR-KSA-80 (“The invoice reference number is already used in a previous submission”).

If we resend the same corrected invoice with a slightly modified reference (e.g., “INV2405XXXX-202”), the warning disappears, and the invoice is accepted successfully.

We have also noticed similar behavior with other warnings — they sometimes reappear even though the payload is fully corrected, and a new ICV and Previous Hash are generated properly.

We would appreciate clarification on the following points:

  1. Is it expected for ZATCA to return warnings (such as BR-KSA-80 and others) when the same document reference is reused, even if the new invoice is technically distinct (new ICV and Previous Hash)?

  2. What is the recommended way to confirm that the corrected XML payload is valid and compliant if such warnings persist?

  3. Should the document reference always be changed when resending a corrected invoice, even when a credit note has already been issued for the original?

Your guidance will help us ensure our correction and reposting process remains fully compliant with ZATCA’s e-invoicing requirements.

Thank you for your kind assistance and clarification.

2

@mhaba there is no such warning in ZATCA’s Schematrons which says “Invoice reference number is already used in previous submission” this seems to be a customized warning generated by the middleware solution used.

BR-KSA-80 in XML Implementation Standards relates to prepaid amounts and has nothing to do with Invoice Reference Number.

3

Thanks for the reply.

Going to have the middleware checked and see if the issue is occurring from there.