Understanding invoicing requirements for a foreign company in Ecuador means your billing will be in accordance with local legal norms, which will help you maintain healthy working relationships with clients and local tax authorities.
Invoices indicate outstanding payment due for goods or services, and represent a type of legal protection to both parties involved in a business transaction, promising the client the service and the contractor their payment.
Invoices are also a critical component of tax and invoicing requirements for a foreign company in Ecuador, offering documented proof of ingoings and outgoings.
Invoicing requirements for a foreign company in Ecuador: who issues an invoice?
An invoice provides valuable information that describes a commercial agreement between a seller and a buyer. Likewise, invoices are crucial for accounting activities and can also be useful to identify individuals involved in a transaction between two entities.
Who issues an invoive can depend on the type of company involved. If the company has a permanent legal presence, anyone legally authorised to sign documents on behalf of that company will be able to issue an invoice.
Where the company does not have a legal entity constituted in Ecuador, but instead has an appointed legal representative in the country, that representative can manage invoices on the company’s behalf.
What should companies include in an invoice?
In line with invoicing requirements for a foreign company in Ecuador, companies doing business in the country must issue invoices that include the following information:
- Date of the authorization to issue invoices, granted by the Internal Revenue Service (SRI), expressed in “day/month/year” format
- Unique Taxpayer Registry number (RUC)
- Full names and surnames of people involved, denomination or company name of the issuer
- The invoice may include the commercial name
- Address of issuing establishment, only if applicable
- Expiration date of the document, expressed in “day/month/year” format
- Number of the unique registry of taxpayers, denomination or company name and authorization number granted by the SRI
- A 15-digit unique invoice number (see below)
Unique invoice number: Invoices in Ecuador must include a fifteen-digit number, in which the first three digits represent the number of the establishment as recorded in the single taxpayer registry. The following three digits must correspond to a code assigned by the taxpayer. Finally, a nine-digit invoice ID number must be included.
Understand invoicing requirements for a foreign company in Ecuador with expert support
At Biz Latin Hub, we offer a full suite of customized back-office services, including company formation in Ecuador, accounting and taxation services. Our team of multilingual specialists can assist you with invoice management, bookkeeping services, audit and tax filing while you focus on growing your core business.
Reach out to us now for personalized assistance.
Learn more about our team and expert authors.
