Since January 2026 most businesses in Panama must invoice through a PAC. We handle the setup end to end — RUC current, digital signature, choosing the right PAC and integrating your system — until you issue your first invoice with a valid CUFE.
Electronic invoicing in Panama comes with its own vocabulary, and for many businesses that's the first barrier. Here it is translated:
SFEP is Panama's Electronic Invoicing System, the overall scheme the DGI administers. Within it there are two ways to issue: the free invoicer the DGI itself provides, designed for small businesses, and PACs.
A PAC (Qualified Authorization Provider) is a company certified and registered with the DGI that validates your electronic documents, transmits them to the tax system and assigns them a CUFE. It becomes the mandatory intermediary once you exceed the thresholds, and it is also the route when you need to connect invoicing to your ERP or management system via API.
The CUFE (Unique Electronic Invoicing Code) is the seal the DGI assigns to each validated document. It is the only thing separating an ordinary PDF from an invoice with fiscal value. If the document has no CUFE, your client cannot deduct that purchase and you cannot support that income or ITBMS credit.
And to issue you need a qualified electronic signature certificate, issued by a provider certified by Panama's National Directorate of Electronic Signatures. It is your digital identity within the system.
The service doesn't end when you sign with a PAC. It ends when you issue, your client receives, and the document is correctly registered with the DGI.
We review your actual and projected invoicing to determine whether a PAC applies or you can stay with the free invoicer.
We verify and update your DGI registration: economic activity, branches and details that must match what you invoice.
We guide you through obtaining the certificate from an authorized provider and installing it so you can issue.
We compare options against your volume, your system and your budget. No commissions involved: we recommend what serves you.
We configure issuing, connect your system where applicable and run test invoices until the CUFE comes back correctly.
We train whoever invoices day to day: issuing, voiding, sending to the client and what to do when something fails.
We determine whether a PAC applies to you, what's missing and how long it will take to get you operating.
Written proposal with scope, timeline and fixed price, plus an estimate of the PAC and signature costs.
We handle the RUC, the digital signature, registration with the PAC and configuration of series and formats.
We issue test invoices, validate the CUFE, train your team and stay with you through the first month.
Thresholds and requirements per Resolution 201-6299 and DGI regulations in force at the date of publication. Confirm your specific case with us or through official channels before making decisions.
It's worth separating two things that often get confused: our professional fee and third-party costs. We don't sell or resell any of the latter.
One-time, for the complete enrollment project. Depends on whether you're a freelancer or a company, and whether an existing system needs integrating.
Paid directly to the provider, normally as a subscription based on document volume. We show you the options and their pricing.
The cost of the certificate, paid to the authorized provider. It has a validity period and must be renewed.
Why we do it this way: many software companies include "advisory" for free because they earn from the subscription they sell you. We charge for the work and take no commission from any PAC — so the recommendation answers to your volume and your operation, not our margin. After the free assessment you receive the fixed fee in writing.
Since January 1, 2026, under Resolution 201-6299, taxpayers invoicing B/.36,000 or more per year, or issuing more than 100 invoices per month, must issue their documents through a Qualified Authorization Provider (PAC). Below those limits you can still use the DGI's free invoicing tool.
The CUFE is the Unique Electronic Invoicing Code the DGI assigns to each document once validated. It is what turns a file into a fiscally valid invoice. Without a CUFE, that invoice cannot support expense deductions or ITBMS credits before the tax authority — in practice, it is as if it did not exist.
Three basics: being registered with the DGI with an updated RUC, holding a qualified electronic signature certificate issued by a certified provider, and choosing the issuing channel that applies to you (free invoicer or PAC). We verify your situation and handle whatever is missing.
Documents without a CUFE are not valid for tax purposes. That has two consequences: your business clients cannot deduct what they buy from you — many will stop buying — and you are exposed to the DGI disallowing expenses and ITBMS credits in a review, on top of penalties for non-compliance.
No. We do not sell software and we receive no commission from any PAC, and that is deliberate: we advise you on which one fits your volume, your existing system and your budget without a conflict of interest. Our job is to leave you enrolled, compliant and invoicing without friction.
Yes, as long as you stay below B/.36,000 in annual invoicing and 100 invoices per month. But it is worth reviewing your projection: if you are going to cross the threshold mid-year, it is better to migrate calmly than to scramble once you are already required to.
When the RUC is current and there's no complex integration, it usually resolves within days. Timelines depend mostly on third parties: issuance of the signature certificate and registration with the PAC. If an ERP or point-of-sale system also needs connecting, add the technical work of integration and testing.
With your invoicing figures we can tell you on the same call whether you're required, what's missing and how long it would take to get you issuing with a valid CUFE.
Individuals and companies, with the registered CPA endorsement required by Law 280.
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