API
Electronic invoicing and digital preservation: checklist for 2026
The end of the year and the beginning of the next represent a crucial moment for the tax management of many companies. Even if some obligations can still be completed in the following months, the weeks spanning the turn of the calendar year remain the ideal opportunity to check that everything is in order. Careful management avoids penalties, ensures traceability and makes it possible to respond promptly to any requests from the Italian Revenue Agency. It is also the right time to assess compliance with incoming regulations, and understand how to automate part of the processes through the A-Cube APIs.
In particular, the closure of 2025 and the entry into 2026 are now taking place in a European landscape in rapid motion. The e-invoicing landscape is evolving quickly beyond Italy’s borders, with new obligations, technical models and regulatory approaches that will have concrete consequences for those working with foreign clients or partners. To find their way in this context, A-Cube has organised a webinar dedicated to the main European updates: from the new mandates in Belgium and Poland, to the Community roadmap outlined by the ViDA directive, through to the opportunities and possible critical issues of cross-border accounting. Anyone who wants a clear, up-to-date overview can watch it to dispel operational doubts and understand how to prepare for the next steps.
Precisely because the regulatory framework is becoming more complex, it is even more important to reach and pass 31 December with accurate internal management. In this article we propose a year-end checklist dedicated to e-invoicing and substitutive storage, also suitable for the following year, with a focus on the new electronic receipt rules expected for 2026. The aim is to offer a practical tool to understand what to check immediately, what to plan over the next few months, and how to prepare for the European developments already under way.
1. E-invoicing, year-end checks
The obligation to issue e-invoices and send them via the Exchange System is now an established practice. For this reason, in view of the introduction of the ViDA Package, Italy is already ahead of other European countries. Businesses subject to the regulations can take advantage of the end of the year to:
carry out audits and checks on e-invoicing and submissions to SdI;
make sure that any rejections or refusals from SdI have been corrected and resubmitted properly;
sync tax data with accounting software and the management system to avoid discrepancies at the start of the new year;
check invoice issue and receipt dates to avoid errors in VAT accounting periods.
And these are just some of the checks worth carrying out at the turn of the year and the start of the new one to make sure you do not run into mismatches that can cause delays or penalties.
Those who chose the A-Cube E-invoicing API for e-invoicing can rest easy, even at year-end. The solution in fact allows you to:
issue, receive and archive invoices in compliant XML or JSON format;
automate reconciliation with bank movements and integrate financial data with accounting data;
monitor document flows in real time, allowing constant control;
view grouped statistics or by VAT number.
Invoices are processed as soon as they are sent, avoiding queues or delays. Those who want greater customisation can set up, via webhooks, the notifications that the API must transmit to internal systems. Some concrete examples? Automatic handling of responses or status updates.
Everything is carried out in compliance with the law: the A-Cube platform is in fact accredited with the Exchange System. By integrating the E-invoicing API into their own systems, the year-end check becomes a mere formality for e-invoicing and substitutive storage.
2. Substitutive storage, obligations and checks
Preserving relevant documents is a legal responsibility of the company, which must archive them so that they have the same legal and evidential value as paper documents. To this end, specific technological tools must be used and precise rules followed, which make it possible to dematerialise paper documents, digitise them and store them in compliance with the regulations. These are governed by the Digital Administration Code (CAD) and the AgID guidelines.
Substitutive storage also concerns digital documents and, as seen in this dedicated article, should not be confused with digital archiving. It does not refer to files saved in the cloud or in online archives, but to a regulated process that guarantees the full legal value of documents. By the end of the year it is a good idea to check that:
all tax-relevant documents such as e-invoices, SdI receipts, VAT registers etc. are correctly sent into compliant storage;
where required, the files bear a digital signature and timestamp;
substitutive storage is guaranteed for 10 years, on secure infrastructures with traceability in the event of checks.
With the A-Cube E-invoicing API you can always activate this service and automate compliant storage and digital signature. If instead you need to proceed with substitutive storage of other documents, you can integrate the Preservation API into the software you already use. The solution enables automatic sending to the compliant storage system of documents such as:
employee payslips;
client, supplier and employee contracts;
Transport Documents (DDT);
Fixed Assets Register and General Ledger;
customer and supplier orders;
NSO orders from customers and suppliers;
purchase and sales VAT registers;
VAT settlement registers;
Voluntary Registers.
The Preservation API automates every phase, from applying the digital signature to the timestamp, up to archiving for 10 years in accordance with the AgID Guidelines.
3. Electronic receipt, getting ready for the new 2026 rules
The end of the calendar year is not only the opportunity to look at the invoices issued and documents stored, but also to make sure you arrive prepared for the coming year.
Some requirements will start from 1 January 2026 and, for these, you need to be compliant by 31 December 2025. This is the case for the electronic receipt and transmission of receipts data.
From next year, in fact, it will be necessary to connect the POS directly to the telematic cash register. Anyone who has to issue electronic receipts will therefore have to adapt and check that:
the systems in use are updated to the new specifications which provide for a mechanism based on PEM and PEL (Issue Point and Processing Point);
the transmission of receipts happens without errors or rejections by the Italian Revenue Agency;
the transmitted data are correctly stored also for tax purposes.
To simplify this transition, at A-Cube we developed the Smart Electronic Receipt API. The solution makes it possible to replace the issuance of receipts with the telematic cash register and send documents to the tax drawer securely and in accordance with the law. It features a centralised dashboard that allows control of submissions, management of returns and cancellations, and full traceability of receipts. The Smart Electronic Receipt API is already fully compliant with the reform in force from 1 January 2026, when it will operate according to the new standards.
Towards 2026 with compliant digital processes, thanks to A-Cube APIs
As we have seen, closing the year does not just mean filing data or meeting deadlines. It is a strategic moment to check the effectiveness of your document workflows, secure procedures, prevent errors and delays, and prepare consciously for the regulatory changes of 2026.
From e-invoicing to substitutive storage, through to managing electronic receipts, digital processes are now at the heart of tax compliance. To automate them with A-Cube, always stay compliant and eliminate margins of error, write to info@acubeapi.com. You can try our APIs in a sandbox environment for free and discover how to integrate them with your systems already in use.
