How the digital archive and its integrity check work

What is it for?

Files attached to journal entries (for example the PDF of a supplier invoice) enter the digital archive, each with the date until which it must be kept. When you Archive it, the file gets a number (ARQ/2026/00001). Verify integrity confirms, file by file, that the stored file is still the same as what was recorded; if it changed or disappeared, it warns you and the failure is logged.

When to use it?

• To give an archive number to a supporting document.
• Before an inspection, to confirm that the supporting documents are unchanged: it is done line by line, because the list does not check several files at once.
• The check only reads: it never changes or restores the file.

Where to find it?

Accounting › Configure › Other settings › Archive › Digital archive.

Before you start

• The profile is Accountant (done on 3 November 2026; the Certified accountant has the same menu).
• The file must be attached to a journal entry or invoice. Here, a PDF was attached with the paperclip button (Attach files), in the messages area, to a draft supplier invoice, Energia Norte, SA, €100.00 + 23% VAT.
• Only files of companies whose tax country is Portugal enter the archive.

How to use it

1. Open Accounting › Configure › Other settings › Archive › Digital archive. The list comes with the To review filter and the columns File no., Name, Entry, Created on, File state and Keep until (here, 31/12/2036: it is already filled in before archiving).
2. On the file's line, click Archive. The message gives the number received, and the file leaves the list because it is no longer To review.
3. Remove the To review filter to see it again: it is Associated, with the number (if the invoice is already confirmed, it is straight away Posted).
4. Click Verify integrity on the line, and read the message in the corner of the screen.

Expected result

The green message says “Digital archive. Integrity check completed: all files match the archived hash.”. Although it says “all files”, it only answers for the line you clicked: with another file altered, the message was the same. When the invoice is confirmed (here FTF/2026/00046), the file state changes from Associated to Posted.

Important notes

• There are three states: To review, Associated and Posted, and there is a filter for each.
• The list does not prove that every supporting document was attached: a document that nobody attached does not appear.
• The file form also has the Register as paper scan button. It is for documents scanned from paper and this article does not cover it.
• The check only detects what changed outside the product. It compares the file with what was recorded: it does not say whether the file is readable or has content. For that, open it. Inside the product, an archived file cannot be deleted (see below) and its form is read-only.

Common problems

“Integrity check FAILED for…”

• Symptom: red message, which stays on screen until you close it: “Digital archive. Integrity check FAILED for: fatura-energia-norte-4.pdf. The stored file no longer matches the archived hash; the failure was recorded in the audit log.”
• Cause: the file on the server was changed outside the product, was damaged or disappeared (the message is the same).
• What to do: tell whoever administers the installation to restore it from a backup. The failure is in the audit log, as “Archive: integrity check failed”: the Accountant does not have that menu, so ask the Certified accountant for it. The check does not repair the file.

“…cannot be changed” when replacing or renaming the file

• Symptom: on screen, the file form is read-only and has no place to replace or rename it. The message appears when another program, through an integration, tries to change it: “The file fatura-energia-norte.pdf is a supporting document kept until 31/12/2036 (legal retention of 10 years) and cannot be changed. Keep it; to correct it, attach a new file to the same record.”
• What to do: leave the file as it is and attach a new one to the same journal entry.

“It cannot be deleted before that date”

• Symptom: when deleting the file in the invoice's attachments area (Remove button), even as administrator, the Access Error window: “The file "fatura-energia-norte.pdf" is a supporting document of an accounting entry and must be kept until 31/12/2036 (CIVA art. 52.º, CIRC art. 123.º: 10 years). It cannot be deleted before that date. After it, the fiscal administration profile can purge it with “Purge expired records”.”
• What to do: keep it. You also cannot delete the draft journal entry it is archived to: the message says the file “is evidence of the accounting entry”.

The file disappeared from the list after Archive

• Cause: the list opens with the To review filter and the file is no longer in that state. The message tells you to look in “Lançado” (posted), but the filter is called Posted.
• What to do: remove the To review filter, or choose Associated or Posted in the filters.