Import documents from a file

Use this page to send e-invoices from a spreadsheet. You fill in the Excel template, import the file in the Wafeq ASP portal, and approve the documents that are ready. You do not need to write code.

Watch a 4-minute video of a full import in Sandbox:

This page uses these terms:

Wafeq ASP portal: the website where you manage your organization, at einvoicing.wafeq.com.
Taxpayer: a business from which your organization has an active grant. The portal uses the Taxpayer ID (txpay_…) to identify it.
Draft: a document that the portal saved from your file. The portal does not send a draft until you approve it.
Peppol: the network that UAE businesses use to exchange e-invoices.

Before you start

You must be an owner or an admin of your organization.
The business that issues the documents must be a taxpayer of your organization. Refer to Connect a taxpayer.
Try your first file in Sandbox. In Sandbox, nothing goes to a buyer or to the FTA. Refer to Sandbox.

1. Get the template

In the portal, go to Files, then click New import.
Select the Document type: invoices, credit notes, self-billed invoices or self-billed credit notes.
Click Download Excel template. Each document type has its own template.

The template has four sheets:

Import: the sheet that you fill in. The portal reads only this sheet.
Instructions: the rules for each part of the file.
Examples: two sample rows. The portal never imports them.
Dropdown values: each code that a column accepts, with its meaning.

Each column header on Import and Examples has a note. Put the pointer on a header to read what the column needs and what each code means.

2. Fill in the template

Use one row for each line of a document. Rows with the same taxpayer_id and document number make one document.
Start each row with the Taxpayer ID of the business that issues the document. You can find it on the taxpayer's page, under Taxpayers.
Put the document details on the first row of each document: dates, currency and the buyer's details. The next rows of the same document can leave them blank.
Select coded values from the dropdowns, for example the emirate (DXB) and the tax category (S, Z, E, O, AE or N).
Write the tax rate as a number: 5 for 5%, not 0.05.
Leave the special scenario columns blank for a normal invoice. Select Yes in free_zone, margin_scheme or disclosed_agent_billing only when that scenario applies. Refer to Special scenarios.

You do not choose the document type code. Wafeq ASP issues a commercial invoice when the seller has no TRN or when each line is exempt (E) or outside scope (O). It issues a tax invoice for all other documents. A seller without a TRN can use only the categories E, O and Z, on each line, discount and charge.

A file can have a maximum of 50,000 rows, 5,000 documents and 25 MiB.

3. Import the file

On New import, click the upload area and select your file. You can also drop the file on it.
Your browser checks the file before it uploads it. If a row has a problem, the portal shows the row number and the column to correct. Correct the file and select it again.
When the checks pass, the portal shows a preview of each document. Click Save drafts and validate.

The portal saves your documents as drafts. Then, in the background, it validates each document against the UAE rules and finds each buyer on the Peppol network. You can close the page while it works.

4. Approve and send

Open the file from Files to see the status of each document:

Ready to send: the document is valid and the portal found the buyer on Peppol.
Needs attention: the document has a problem, for example a validation error, or the buyer is not on Peppol. Click Download errors to get each problem in a spreadsheet.

To send, select the documents that are ready, then click Approve and send. Each document goes to the access point of its buyer. Each sent document is also in Sales or Purchases, with the documents that your organization sends through the API.

To correct a document that needs attention:

A validation error: correct the document in your file, and import a file with that document only.
A buyer that is not on Peppol: when the buyer registers, select the document and click Retry selected.