What the invoice QR code actually contains

The QR code on a Saudi e-invoice is not decoration and it is not a link. It carries the invoice’s key facts directly, so an inspector with a phone can read them without your system being online.

The structure

It is TLV — tag, length, value — then Base64 encoded. Each field is a numbered tag, a byte length, and the value:

Tag	Field
1	Seller name
2	Seller VAT registration number
3	Invoice timestamp (ISO 8601)
4	Invoice total, including VAT
5	VAT amount

Standard (B2B) invoices carry additional tags for the XML hash, the cryptographic stamp and the public key. Simplified invoices carry the five above.

Why a wrong code is worse than no code

If the QR says one total and the printed invoice says another, you have not failed to comply — you have produced a document that contradicts itself. That is a much more interesting finding for an auditor than a missing code.

This is the practical argument against building invoices in a spreadsheet with a QR add-in: the code is generated once and the cells keep changing. Any system where the code is regenerated from the invoice at print time avoids the whole class of problem.

India’s QR is a different thing

For Indian e-invoices, the QR code is a signed JWS returned by the Invoice Registration Portal along with the IRN. It is proof that the IRP registered the invoice, not a self-contained summary of it. Software that treats the two countries’ QR codes as the same feature will get one of them wrong.

Generating one correctly

Fatoza generates the code from the invoice at the moment of issue, so it cannot drift from the totals. If you just need a compliant-looking invoice today without changing your accounting system, the invoice maker is free and does the same encoding.