Where to find the certified program's user manual
What is it for?
This page is the manual. It brings together, in one place, what you need for the program's everyday tax work: issuing, using series, cancelling, issuing receipts, generating the SAF-T and keeping backups. During an inspection, this is the page to show, together with the articles it links to.
Pending validation by a certified accountant: that this page meets the user documentation required for the AT Validation Seal (Portaria 293/2017, art. 3.º n.º 2 alínea b).The basic rule: an issued document is never changed or deleted. It is corrected with a credit note or, if it has no payments yet, with a cancellation that records the reason.
When to use it?
- When you need to know where each tax step is done in the program.
- When an inspector, an auditor or your certified accountant asks for the program manual.
- For the details of each task, follow the link in each section.
Where to find it?
It is on the portal, under Certification and series › Certified invoicing. Each section below gives the program menu where the step is done.
Before you start
Check which profile you have. If a button does not appear, your profile does not allow it: ask the Fiscal officer or the administrator. All profiles: profiles and permissions.
| Profile | On an issued invoice, sees | Can also |
|---|---|---|
| Billing | Send, Print, Issue receipt, Credit Note, Sign PDF | Create invoices with New |
| Accountant | Print, View PDF, Issue receipt, Credit Note, Sign PDF, Correct the customer data, Multibanco references | Cancel a receipt. Generate the SAF-T. Look up the audit log and the checks |
| Fiscal officer | The Accountant's, plus Cancel certified document, Communicate to the AT and Send to FE-AP | Manage series, generate the SAF-T, record backups |
| Auditor | Print, View PDF | Read-only: the invoice list has no New |
| Technical administrator | Pending on-screen validation: the demo has no user with only this profile. | Configuration |
How to use it
The screenshots come from the demo database, where the AT is replaced by a simulator.
Issue a document
Where: Accounting › Record › Customer invoices. With the Billing profile, the menu is Billing › Invoice.
- Click New, choose the customer and add the lines with the right tax.
- Click Confirm. The program assigns the series number (for example
FT D26/35), the ATCUD, the QR code and the signature. - From then on, the document is read-only: “Issued and signed document: it can no longer be changed.”
- Use Print or Send. Before sending by email, read the notice about the PDF signature.
Details, dates and refusals: How to issue a certified invoice. Communicating to the AT: how to communicate invoices. Issuing is not communicating.
Series
Where: Accounting › Configure › Fiscal series.
Each document type has its own series per year, with sequential numbering and no gaps. A communicated series cannot be deleted. Steps and validation code: How to create a series and communicate it to the AT. To change programs: Accounting › Configure › Migration of series.
Cancel a document
Open the document and click Cancel certified document, type the Reason and click Cancel document. The document keeps its number and still appears in the SAF-T as cancelled. If it already has a payment or a credit note, the program shows the block. Steps and cases: How to cancel an invoice or another certified document. Returns and discounts: How to issue a credit note.
Receipts
Where: Accounting › Reconcile › Receipts and payments received. To receive a payment, open the invoice and click Issue receipt.
The receipt is linked to the invoice it pays and does not go back to draft. If you made a mistake, cancel it with Cancel receipt and issue another: the invoice goes back to To pay. Details: How to issue a receipt and the receipt section in How to cancel a certified document.
SAF-T
Where: Accounting › Declare › What is there to do with the SAF-T? and Generate SAF-T.
- Under Supporting lists, open SAF-T readiness and see what is missing before generating.
- In Generate SAF-T, choose the Mode (F — Invoicing, C — Accounting, I — Integrated accounting/invoicing or S — Self-billing) and the period, and click Generate with… documents.
- The file is Generated or Invalid. If it is Generated, click Download file. If it is Invalid, the error list says what to fix and there is no file.
- Next, submit it and use Record submission.
Details: How to generate the SAF-T and How to fix SAF-T validation errors.
Audit log and checks
In the Audit menu:
-
Records › Audit log: who did what and when.
-
Integrity › Check document integrity: opens the Certification integrity report. In the demo: “All good: the 62 documents checked have their signature, numbering and chain intact.” See document integrity.
-
Integrity › Certification self-diagnosis: runs the checks, lists what is missing and what to do, and changes nothing. See self-diagnosis.
Backups and restore
The program records and warns. The backup itself, and the restore, are done by technical support. Deadlines and restore: backups.
- In Accounting › Configure › Backup log, click New.
- Fill in Done On, Scope, Result, SHA-256 checksum and Stored at, and save.
- Click Check, paste the checksum that support calculated (or upload the file) and click Compare. With the right checksum, the record shows Checksum matches.
In Stored at, never type passwords or keys. The program refuses some formats, but not all: it accepted “senha 1234” (password 1234).
In Backup alerts you can see the overdue backup alerts. In the demo, the open alert closed by itself when a good backup was recorded.
Expected result
Documents issued without errors, series in order, SAF-T Generated, Certification integrity report without problems and verified backups.
Important notes
- This page replaces the file-based manual of 26/10/2026. The menus and buttons were checked on screen on 04/11/2026.
- Self-billing. It has its own article: How to issue self-billed invoices and generate their SAF-T.
- Training documents. They are never included in the SAF-T: training documents.
Common problems
- Symptom: the program refuses to issue or cancel. Solution: read the message to the end: it says what is missing. If you do not understand it, call the Fiscal officer.
- Symptom: the SAF-T is Invalid. Solution: open the error list, fix what it says and generate again.
- Symptom: when recording a backup, “a backup that was made needs its SHA-256 checksum (64 characters 0-9, a-f). Calculate it on the stored copy with “sha256sum <file>” and paste the result.” Solution: ask technical support for the checksum and paste it in full.
- Symptom: when checking the backup, the record shows Checksum does NOT match. Solution: the stored backup is not the one recorded. Tell technical support and ask for a new backup.
- Symptom: the Certification self-diagnosis shows failures. Solution: each line says what to do. Fix it and click Run again.
- Symptom: you issued a document by mistake. Solution: do not try to change it: issue a credit note or, if it has no payment yet, cancel it with the reason.