How to issue training documents

What is it for?

Training documents let you practise invoicing with the certified program without using the numbering of real invoices. They create entries in the accounts, but do not count for any tax purpose (see “Important notes”). They come from a training journal and are numbered in their own training series, which has no validation code and is never communicated to the Tax and Customs Authority (AT).

The lookup screen puts it like this: “The documents issued in a training journal are listed here for consultation only: they are not in the SAF-T of billing and are never communicated to the Tax Authority.”

When to use it?

• To teach a new member of staff how to issue invoices, without touching the company's tax numbering.
• To try out customers, products and taxes before you start invoicing for real.
• Do not use it for a document the customer will receive as an invoice: a training document is for practice only. For that case, issue a certified invoice.

Where to find it?

• Journal: Accounting › Configure › General › Journals.
• Series: Accounting › Configure › Certified invoicing › Fiscal series.
• Documents: Billing › Invoice › Training documents. This item only appears once a training journal exists (see “Common problems”). The Accounting menu does not have it.

Before you start

• The company has Portugal as its fiscal country and already has a certified sales journal.
• Steps 1 to 4 (creating the journal and the series) are done once only, with the Fiscal officer profile.
• Step 5 onwards is done with the Billing profile: the document in this article was issued and printed with that profile.

How to use it

1. Open Accounting › Configure › General › Journals, open the company's Sales journal and, in the gear icon next to the name, choose Duplicate. The copy is saved immediately, named Sales (copy). If you change your mind, archive it from the same icon: do not leave it half-finished.
2. In Journal Name, type Formação and, in Sequence Prefix, FOR.
3. Open the PT Certification tab, tick Journal certified and Training journal, and save.
4. Open Fiscal series and click New (not Create and communicate: the training series is not communicated). Type the Series identifier FOR26, choose [FT] Invoice in SAF-T document type and Formação in Journal, leave the Fiscal Year as 2026 and tick Training series. Save, click Activate and, at the question “Activate this series? Its identity can no longer be changed.”, click Confirm.
5. Open Billing › Invoice › Training documents. While the training journal has no documents yet, the list shows the notice above and no documents. Click New.
6. Choose the Customer and, in Journal, Formação: the screen suggests Sales, so check that it has changed. Add a line (in the example, product DEMO013, €60.00 with 23% VAT) and click Confirm.
7. Check that the document is Posted, with number FT FOR26/1, and that the total is €73.80 (€60.00 plus €13.80 VAT).
8. Click Print. Below the totals, the PDF shows the program producer's name and tax number (NIF) and the sentence “DOCUMENTO EMITIDO PARA FINS DE FORMAÇÃO” (document issued for training purposes).

Expected result

• The document is Posted and appears in Training documents, numbered in series FOR26 (here FT FOR26/1).
• The document's ATCUD field is empty: the training series has no validation code. The PDF does not show an ATCUD.
• The PDF carries the sentence “DOCUMENTO EMITIDO PARA FINS DE FORMAÇÃO”.
• Nothing was communicated to the AT. The series shows Active, on its form and in the Fiscal series list, with no validation code: a training series is not communicated. The document uses the FOR26 series' own numbering, separate from the real invoice series.
• A new invoice in Billing › Invoice › Customer invoices › New still suggests the Sales journal. The training journal is never suggested on its own: it is only used when you choose it.

Important notes

The training document posts to the accounts, but does not count

FT FOR26/1 was posted: 2111 Clientes gerais (General customers) debited €73.80, 721 credited €60.00 and 2433 credited €13.80 of VAT, and it appears as unpaid on the contact. Even so, it does not count in the periodic VAT return, the VAT reports, the SAF-T, the communication to the AT, the Balance sheet, the Income statement, the IES, Form 22 (Modelo 22) or the dashboards. In the example, in November 2026: box 3 of the VAT return stays at €1,420.00 and box 4 at €396.60, with only the real invoices; the Income statement shows the same €1,420.00 in Sales and services; and the Ageing of balances does not show this document on the customer's line.

It looks like an invoice, but it is not

The number FT FOR26/1 looks just like a real invoice. What sets it apart is the series (FOR26) and the sentence on the PDF. Do not send the customer a training PDF as if it were an invoice. If you do so by mistake, do not delete it: talk to your certified accountant. Pending validation by a certified accountant: what to do about a training document delivered by mistake.

• A training journal only has training series, and a training series only belongs to a training journal. Both sides must match.
• The training journal can only be a certified sales journal of a Portuguese company.
• In Training documents, the suggested journal is the sales journal: if you do not choose Formação, you issue a real invoice (it then disappears from this list).

Common problems

“only a certified sales journal of a Portuguese company can be a training journal”

• Symptom: when you save the journal with Training journal ticked, the screen says: “Journal "Formação": only a certified sales journal of a Portuguese company can be a training journal. Untick "Training journal" or certify the journal first.”
• What to do: also tick Journal certified and save again.

“Series "FT FOR26" and journal "Formação" do not match”

• Symptom: when you save the series without Training series ticked, the screen says: “Series "FT FOR26" and journal "Formação" do not match: a training series belongs to a training journal, and a training journal only has training series (Despacho 8632/2014, 1.5). Tick or untick "Training series" on the series, or choose the right journal.”
• What to do: tick Training series on the series (or choose another journal) and save.

I want to correct a detail on a training document

• Issue another training document. Audited data correction is for real documents: see correct certification details. The wrong document stays posted, unpaid on the contact, and the form offers Credit Note and Issue receipt. Pending validation by a certified accountant: how to remove these entries; do not use these buttons until you have that answer.