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Every sales-tax registered business must report invoices to FBR in real time. How you do it is a choice — and it affects your costs, your control over data and the effort your team spends each day.
The four routes
| Route | How it works | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Your own system through PRAL | Your invoicing software or ERP calls FBR's DI API directly with your own security token. PRAL acts as the licensed integrator free of cost. | Most businesses that want control and no per-invoice fees |
| Licensed integrator | A firm licensed by FBR operates the integration for you, for a fee within the limits FBR sets. | Businesses that prefer a managed service |
| ERP vendor connector | Your existing ERP adds a module that reports invoices to FBR. | Companies already on a major ERP |
| IRIS web portal | Invoices entered manually on FBR's portal. | Very low invoice volumes only |
What to compare
- Total cost — licence, per-invoice or monthly fees, hardware and staff time.
- Data control — does your sales data pass through a third party, or go straight from your system to FBR?
- Validation — does the system check HS codes, units, sale types, rates, SROs and buyer status before reporting?
- Resilience — what happens during an FBR or internet outage? Are invoices queued, never duplicated, and uploaded within 24 hours?
- Compliance features — digital signatures, daily/weekly/monthly closings, audit logs, the 72-hour rule, incident reporting, signboards and stock transfer notes.
- Reconciliation — can it tie your books, FBR and Annex-C?
- Integration — an API for your ERP or POS, and imports from Excel.
- Support — who helps with IRIS registration, sandbox scenarios and FBR error codes?
Questions to ask any vendor
- Which version of FBR's DI technical specification do you support, and how quickly do you update when it changes?
- How do you prevent the same invoice being reported twice after a timeout?
- Where is my data stored, and who can see it?
- Show me a printed invoice with every rule 150R(13) particular, including FED particulars.
- How do you handle the 72-hour cancellation window and Commissioner approvals?
- What does a monthly Annex-C reconciliation look like in your system?
Our approach
Our IT consulting practice helps you compare these routes, integrate your ERP or POS and get through registration and go-live. Our own solution, Veridian E-invoicing Pakistan, is installed on your own computer or server and reports directly to FBR with your own token through PRAL — no third party sees your sales — and includes a REST API for ERPs and POS systems.
This guide is general information based on the law as we understand it on the date shown, not advice for your situation. Tax rules change often — please speak to us before acting on it. See our disclaimer.