But it is history itself that has shown that there is nothing riskier than staying in the same place, in the famous "comfort zone".

That is why millions of companies and also small entrepreneurs have chosen to move to a new stage of digitization, which, although it is not easy, because we all find it difficult to change by nature, it has been a good decision.

And speaking of technology, one of the fastest growing in recent years is Electronic Invoicing, which is basically the evolution of traditional or paper invoicing, to a 100% digital one.

This modality, which started with large companies, in the pilot plans implemented by each tax entity, as a validation, was progressively scaled, through the voluntariness of the taxpayers or the regulations in force, which set dates for such businesses to migrate in a mandatory manner.

Electronic Invoicing has had in Latin America its most advanced region in the world. And what started in Mexico, Costa Rica, Chile or Brazil, as its pioneer countries, escalated to others, such as Colombia, Bolivia, Panama and El Salvador, as its predecessors.

In the first mentioned countries, the implementation was a complete success, therefore, the other nations also bet on this virtuous modality, for the modernization of their tax systems.

Electronic Invoicing in El Salvador

This technology has had an unprecedented growth in the country. From its beginnings in the Pilot Plan, back in april 2021, until the first mandatory date, from july 1, 2023, hundreds of taxpayers have migrated to it.

The second group that is already invoicing under this modality started on october 1, 2023 and a third group is coming, which will do so as from january 1, 2024.

The Ministry of Finance, on its website, details some interesting data that graph the magnitude of its progress. Here are the 4 main ones:

• Electronic Tax Documents (ETD) received: 22 million.
• Electronic tax document issuers:000.
• Liters of water saved: more than 14 million.
• Trees saved: more than 2,000.

According to Rafael Montero, CEO of GuruSoft, a salvadoran company specializing in electronic invoicing, "the increase in the generation of DTEs has been incredible, with the increase in the number of DTE issuers. Both factors show the interest of businesses in going digital, in order to be better prepared for current and future customers.

"The trees saved and the water saved are not a minor fact, since, among the benefits provided by electronic invoicing is the care of the environment, which seeks precisely to dispense with these resources, to leave more space to the digital environment", says Montero.

Benefits of electronic invoicing

Among the many virtues of this technology, we mention the following:

• Invoicing cost savings: this is the most visible of all, since now, since there is no need for pre-printed invoice books or paper to print, the cost of stationery and inks decreases considerably.
• Saving of physical space: since the information is stored in the cloud, it is no longer stored in physical filing cabinets, so this type of space is not required.
• Reduction of manual errors: by not needing to fill out information by hand, since it is already stored in the system, you only need to register the customer's data and that's it. The invoice will be issued in their name.
• Improve your customers' shopping experience: did you lose the printed invoice, did you spill coffee on it and it is no longer legible? No problem! With Electronic Invoicing, the electronic tax document will arrive immediately to the taxpayer's email, so he can download it as many times as he wants.
• Invoice from anywhere in the world and at any time: now you can invoice from El Salvador, Costa Rica, Chile, Argentina, Spain or Japan, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

How to choose the right provider?

In El Salvador, just as the demand for this technology is great, so is the supply, that is, the number of suppliers that offer solutions integrated to an ERP or with web applications.

And among so many suppliers, how to choose the right one?

Some tips are:

1. That it has certifications in information security: it is one of the indispensable requirements, because when handling customer information, you must trust someone who not only protects them with zeal, but also guarantees an encrypted storage process.

2. That has experience with large taxpayers: a provider that has already successfully implemented this solution in large companies provides greater security in terms of the robustness that your system will have.

3. It must have ERP integration certifications: large ERPs such as SAP, certify suppliers that offer their AddOn under the highest quality standards. If it has a recognition like this, it is a trustworthy supplier.

4. It must have a high level of transactionality: if after issuing a few dozen DTEs the system hangs, this will hurt your sales, so you will need a supplier that allows you to invoice as many times as you need and as often as your business demands.

5. That has a specialized support team: this is one of the crucial aspects, because if you get a supplier that at the first system failure cannot assist you, you will see your invoicing flow affected, which will result in sales delays, product delivery, among other bad times. You need to have an ally that has an expert team in this system.

"A supplier is an ally for the business. We definitely need by our side those who push us to be better, because if so, our business grows and so do they. We all win. And this applies to e-Invoicing. A supplier with experience and the necessary tools, not only will give us a stable service, but also a reliable one, which will allow us to move forward", said Montero.

A provider that can help in this step towards digitalization

GuruSoft is a salvadoran company with more than 15 years of experience in the field of technology and more than 10 years in the implementation, support and scalability of electronic invoicing systems in the country and 9 more in Latin America.

It has the ISO 27001:2013 certification, which guarantees the highest standards in the management of information security. It also has the SAP Business One Integration, a certification that guarantees the correct implementation of technology in one of the most robust ERP in the market.

eDoc, its Electronic Invoicing AddOn, can be integrated to any ERP, such as the aforementioned or any other version of SAP, Dynamics, Oracle, Quickbooks, Peachtree, Odoo, among others.

If you want to know more about their solutions, please write to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call (+503) 2136 8729.

Translated by: A.M