Facturae? FACe? Let us explain

Facturae is the e-invoice Spanish public administrations require: a signed XML file. FACe is the central government’s entry point, which many regional governments and town councils have joined.

With FacturaDirecta you don’t have to wrestle with either: you create the invoice as usual and we generate the Facturae, sign it, register it in FACe and keep you posted on what happens to it.

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When do you need it?

When do you have to issue Facturae?

E-invoicing to public administrations is regulated by Law 25/2013. Check your case:

You need it if…

  • You invoice a ministry, a regional government, a town council or another public body.
  • You have a company (SL, SA…): the law requires it, although many administrations exempt invoices of up to €5,000.
  • You’re self-employed and the public body asks for it. The law doesn’t require it, but many bodies do.

You don't need it if…

  • Your customers are businesses, freelancers or individuals: for now, your usual invoice is enough.
  • The administration exempts you because of the amount and doesn’t ask for an e-invoice.
Mandatory e-invoicing between businesses and freelancers is a different obligation, with its own timeline: for most, it will arrive in October 2028.

All included

What FacturaDirecta does for you

From the first DIR3 code to payment, without visiting the FACe website.

DIR3 codes without the hunt

Search the public body by name, tax ID or code and we fill in the accounting office, the managing body and the processing unit at once, from the FACe catalogue.

A check before sending

Before sending, the invoice tells you what’s missing: a code, the customer’s tax ID or address. You fix it without leaving it.

Signature included

We sign your Facturae with FacturaDirecta’s certificate, at no cost. If you prefer, you can also sign it with your own.

Registered in FACe in one click

You send it to FACe from the invoice itself and it’s registered, with its registration number saved on it.

Processing status up to date

We check FACe for you and you’ll see whether your invoice is registered, being processed, acknowledged for payment, paid or rejected.

Cancel from the invoice

Made a mistake? Ask FACe to cancel it, with the reason, from the invoice itself and follow the reply.

Corrective invoices too

Send your corrective invoices to FACe like any other: we work out their data from the original invoice.

Other entry points

Does the administration use another portal? Download the signed Facturae in one click and upload it wherever they tell you.

Incoming Facturae, read for you

The Facturae files you receive from your suppliers are read automatically and come in as purchase invoices.

Sending to FACe with FacturaDirecta is this easy

You invoice the public sector just like the rest of your customers. We take care of the rest.

Facturae and FACe

Facturae and FACe

Set up the customer once

Save their DIR3 codes on their record and all their invoices carry them. If one invoice goes to another unit, change it on that invoice only.

Send without leaving the invoice

We generate the signed Facturae, register it in FACe and show you the registration number.

Know when you’ll get paid

See the status of every submission on the invoice and in your invoice list, with the FACe column.

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Step by step

How to send an invoice to FACe

Nothing to install and no FACe setup: sending appears by itself on invoices for customers with DIR3 codes.
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  1. Set up the customer
  2. Create the invoice
  3. Send it to FACe
  4. Follow it up
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FAQ

We answer your questions

Answers to the most common questions about Facturae, FACe and FacturaDirecta.

Facturae is the file format: an XML e-invoice, digitally signed. FACe is the general entry point where that file is submitted so the administration can register and process it.

They’re the codes of the units that receive and process your invoice: the accounting office, the managing body and the processing unit. They’re not the public body’s tax ID. In FacturaDirecta you search them in the FACe catalogue by the body’s name, its tax ID or the code itself. We explain it in our help centre (in Spanish).

No. FACe only accepts signed invoices, and FacturaDirecta signs them with its own certificate, at no cost and without you having to authorise anything. If you’d rather sign them with your company’s certificate, you can do that too.

Yes. You state the reason for the correction and send it like any other invoice. FacturaDirecta works out the rest of the data from the original invoice.

What’s in FACe doesn’t change: the invoice becomes Sent for previous version. If the administration needs the corrected version, first request the cancellation from the invoice itself.

No. The FACe status tells you what the administration declares, but you record the payment when the money reaches your account, as with any other invoice.

Some autonomous communities have their own portal. You download the signed Facturae from the invoice and upload it wherever they tell you.

No. Facturae is the e-invoice format for the public sector. VeriFactu is the Spanish Tax Agency’s system for invoicing software to record every invoice so it can’t be altered. FacturaDirecta complies with both.

Invoice the public sector with flow

Try FacturaDirecta for free, you’ll see how easy it is.
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