How to create a series and communicate it to the AT

What is it for?

Each certified document type (invoice, simplified invoice, credit note, receipt, delivery note…) is numbered in its own series, usually one per year. Before the series numbers its first document, it must be communicated to the Tax and Customs Authority (AT), which returns a validation code.

fiscaldoo adds that code to the number of each document to form the ATCUD (unique document code), which is printed on the document and in the QR code. Without a validation code the series does not become active and no document can be issued in it.

When to use it?

• Before issuing the first document of each type, when the company starts invoicing.
• At the start of each year, for the new fiscal year's series.
• When you create a new journal (for example, for another establishment) that needs its own numbering.
• When you need a recovery series, to record documents issued by hand or in another program during an outage.

Where to find it?

Accounting › Configure › Certified invoicing › Fiscal series

Before you start

• Your profile is Certified accountant (the administrator can also communicate). The Administrative and Accountant profiles do not see this menu.
• The company has Portugal as its fiscal country and its tax number (NIF) filled in.
• The journal where this series' documents will be issued exists, and that journal issues the series' document type (an invoice journal issues [FT] Invoice and its credit notes [NC] Credit note).
• The journal does not yet have an active series of the same type for the same fiscal year. If it does, the AT accepts the new series but fiscaldoo does not activate it (see “Common problems”). Do not finish the series you are using just to make room for the new one: first read the warning “Finishing a series cannot be undone”.
• The company has its AT communication credentials configured. If not, communicate the series on the Portal das Finanças and register the code here (see “If you communicated the series on the Portal das Finanças”).

How to use it

1. Open Fiscal series and click Create and communicate, next to New.

2. Check the Company: it is filled in with the company you are working in. Only change it if you work with several companies.

3. In Series identifier, type the name of the series, for example A27. Use only letters and digits.

4. In SAF-T document type, choose the type, for example [NC] Credit note. Be careful with the list: several types have similar names; check the code in square brackets.

5. In Journal, choose the journal where the documents will be issued and that does not yet have an active series of this type for the fiscal year. In the example, Vendas (Sales), which has active 2026 series but none for 2027.

6. In Fiscal Year, type the series' year; check the Initial number (usually 1) and, in Planned start date, the date from which you will use the series (for next year's series, 1 January). Leave Recovery series unticked, unless that is the case.

7. Tick I confirm that these data are correct and can be communicated. The Request key is filled in by fiscaldoo and cannot be changed: it identifies this request, so that repeating the operation after a failure continues the same series.

8. Click Create and communicate and wait for the response.

9. Read the Result of the communication. Communicated and active means the series is ready for 2027, the fiscal year it was created for (it starts on 01/01/2027). Click Open the series to see it.

   Note: under What to do next, the screen says “Nothing else to do: documents can now be issued with this series.” For a series of a fiscal year that has not started yet, like this 2027 one, that only applies from the start of the series, 01/01/2027.

The screenshots come from the demo database, where the AT is replaced by a simulator: the validation code shown is fictitious.

If the series already exists as a draft

1. Open the series (state Draft) and click Communicate to the AT.
2. In the Communicate the series to the Tax Authority window, check the data under “What will be sent”, tick I confirm that these data are correct and can be communicated and click Communicate.
3. With the response accepted, the series becomes Active, with the Validation code and AT communication: Accepted. If the journal already has an active series of the same type for the fiscal year, the result is “Accepted, not yet applied” (see “Common problems”).

If you communicated the series on the Portal das Finanças

1. In the list, click New, fill in the series with the same data you communicated (identifier, document type, journal, fiscal year) and save.
2. Click Register validation code (Portal). In the Register validation code window, type the Validation code exactly as the AT returned it and check Communicated at. Proof (PDF) is optional: the list only shows PDFs already stored in fiscaldoo. Click Register.
3. Click Activate. The window asks “Activate this series? Its identity can no longer be changed.”; click Confirm.

The series becomes Active, with the code you registered and the communication made via the Portal das Finanças (PF).

Expected result

• The series is in the Active state, with the Validation code filled in, AT communication: Accepted and the date and user of the communication.
• Above the form appears “This series is already in use: its identification, its numbering and its validation code can no longer be changed.”
• On the form, the Actions menu now has Finalize at the AT, Cancel at the AT, Finish, Cancel and Check numbering (see “Finishing a series cannot be undone”).
• The series' first document carries the ATCUD in the format código de validação-número (validation code-number), for example 4J3PMHN5-1.

Demo video

No telemóvel, rode-o para a horizontal e veja o vídeo em ecrã inteiro: o texto do ecrã fica legível.

Create a series and communicate it to the AT · 31 s · sem som, com legendas · legendas (WebVTT)

Transcrição

Important notes

Finishing a series cannot be undone

On the form of an active series, the Actions menu has three options that end the series. None of them can be undone:

• Cancel at the AT tells the AT that the series was never used. It is only possible if it was communicated today or yesterday and has not yet numbered any document.
• Finalize at the AT tells the AT the last number issued and finishes the series, here and at the AT: the numbering ends and the series never becomes active again. It is only possible after the series has numbered at least one document.
• Finish finishes the series only in fiscaldoo and does not communicate anything to the AT: for the AT the series is still active. Cancel is also local only. To close a series you will no longer use, use Finalize at the AT.

Do not finish a series you are still using just to create another; for next year's series, create them for the new fiscal year, as in the example, without finishing the current year's. If you are not sure which series to create or finish (per year, per establishment, recovery), decide with your certified accountant before communicating. Pending validation by a certified accountant: number of series and when to finish a series.

• Once active, the series' identification (identifier, document type, journal, fiscal year, initial number) can no longer be changed; the screen itself says so.
• Training series are not communicated to the AT and their documents have no tax value.

Common problems

“The series … numbers [FR] Invoice-receipt, but journal … does not issue that type”

• Cause: the document type chosen is not the one the journal issues.
• What to do: close the message and choose the right type (for example [FT] Invoice) or another journal. Nothing was communicated.

The result says “Accepted, not yet applied”

• Cause: the AT accepted the series, but fiscaldoo could not activate it. The explanation is in the series' message history; the most common case is “Journal … already has an active series for [FT] Invoice in 2026”.
• What to do: if you chose the wrong journal, leave this series and create another in the right journal. If the old active series really is no longer used, the Certified accountant profile can close it with Actions › Finalize at the AT, which also finishes it at the AT (first read “Finishing a series cannot be undone”), and then click Repeat the operation on the new series: the stored response is applied without communicating a second time.

The AT refused the series or did not respond

• What to do: read the result message, fix the data indicated and click Repeat the operation. Repeating continues the same series and never communicates it twice. Pending on-screen validation: the AT simulator in the demo database only replies “accepted”; a real refusal cannot be provoked.

The validation code is refused

• Symptom: when you click Register: “The validation code of series "FT REG2026" ("AB-12 34") contains characters that are not letters or digits: AT codes are alphanumeric, and a hyphen or a space would break the ATCUD of every document in the series. Copy the code exactly as the AT returned it, without spaces, hyphens or other symbols.”
• What to do: copy the code exactly as the AT returned it, without spaces or hyphens.