FBR Digital Invoicing

Complete User Guide

FBR Digital Invoicing SaaS — a complete multi-tenant platform for businesses in Pakistan to comply with SRO 709(I)/2025. Submit invoices to FBR/PRAL in real time, receive IRNs, generate QR codes, and maintain 6-year audit trails.

SRO 709(I)/2025 Compliant
28 Sandbox Scenarios
6-Year Audit Trail
Real-time FBR Submission

What is FBR Digital Invoicing?

Under SRO 709(I)/2025, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) of Pakistan requires all registered businesses to electronically report every sales transaction in real time through the FBR/PRAL API.

This platform handles the entire process: it connects to the FBR API using your registered credentials, submits your invoices, receives an IRN (Invoice Reference Number), and generates the mandatory QR code to print on your invoice.

All submissions are logged in an immutable 6-year audit trail for FBR compliance, and invoices can be synced to your accounting software automatically.

Real-time invoice submission to FBR/PRAL
IRN generation and QR code for every invoice
Complete 28-scenario sandbox testing workflow
AES-256 encrypted token management
Bulk import via Excel/CSV for large volumes
Accounting integrations: QuickBooks, Odoo, ERPNext
6-year compliant audit trail with full API logs
Offline queue — works without internet, auto-syncs

Complete Workflow Overview

Follow these 14 steps from account creation to daily compliance operations.

Register
Profile
IRIS Approval
Sandbox Token
IP Whitelist
28 Scenarios
Prod Token
Go Live

Expected Timeline to Go Live

IRIS Portal Registration
2–4 business days
Sandbox Token Request
2–4 hoursParallel
IP Whitelisting Activation
2–4 hoursParallel
App Setup & Configuration
15 minutesParallel
28 Sandbox Scenarios
1–2 days
Production Token Approval
3–7 business days

Minimum total: ~7–10 days. Maximum: ~14–18 days.

Step-by-Step Guide

Step 1This Application

Create Your Account

Register on this platform

2 minutes

Create your account on the FBR Digital Invoicing platform. You'll need a valid email address and your business name.

Actions to take:

  1. 1Click 'Sign up' on the login page
  2. 2Enter your email address and choose a strong password
  3. 3Enter your business name
  4. 4Confirm registration and sign in

Tips

  • Use your official business email for correspondence with FBR/PRAL.
Step 2Settings → Profile

Complete Your Business Profile

Fill in your company details

5 minutes

Your profile information is pre-filled into every invoice you submit to FBR. Accuracy here is critical — the business name and NTN must exactly match your FBR records.

Actions to take:

  1. 1Navigate to Settings → Profile tab
  2. 2Enter your 7-digit NTN (no dashes)
  3. 3Enter your business name exactly as registered with FBR
  4. 4Select your business activity and province
  5. 5Enter your registered business address
  6. 6Fill in Technical Person name and mobile
  7. 7Enter your hosting company and country
  8. 8Click Save

Tips

  • NTN must be exactly 7 digits for a company.
  • Business name must match FBR records exactly — mismatches cause invoice rejection.
Step 3iris.fbr.gov.pk

Register on IRIS Portal

Get FBR approval for Digital Invoicing

2–4 business days

Every business must be approved by FBR before receiving API tokens. This is done through the IRIS portal. You only do this once.

Do not proceed to Step 4 until you receive IRIS portal approval.

Actions to take:

  1. 1Go to iris.fbr.gov.pk
  2. 2Click 'Digital Invoicing' → 'Register'
  3. 3Enter NTN, Business Name, Business Activity, Province
  4. 4Enter Technical Person Name, Email, and Mobile
  5. 5Select Software Type: Cloud
  6. 6Enter Software Version (e.g., 1.0.0)
  7. 7Enter your Hosting Company and Country
  8. 8Submit and wait for email approval (2–4 business days)

Tips

  • You will receive an email when approved. Check spam/junk folders.
Step 4iris.fbr.gov.pk → Tokens

Request Sandbox Token

Get your test API credential from PRAL

2–4 hours

Once your IRIS registration is approved, request a Sandbox Token. This token authenticates your API calls to the FBR test environment.

Actions to take:

  1. 1Log into IRIS portal after approval
  2. 2Go to 'Digital Invoicing' → 'Tokens'
  3. 3Click 'Request Sandbox Token'
  4. 4Enter Purpose: Testing & Development
  5. 5Select Duration: 6 months
  6. 6Submit and wait for token via email (2–4 hours)

Tips

  • The token is a long JWT string starting with 'eyJ...'
  • Keep this token strictly confidential — never share it or commit it to code repositories.
Step 5iris.fbr.gov.pk → IP Whitelisting

Whitelist Your Server IP

Allow your server to call FBR API

2–4 hours activation

FBR only accepts API calls from pre-approved server IP addresses. You must whitelist your server's static IP on the IRIS portal.

API calls will fail with 401 until the IP is activated. This step can be done in parallel with Step 4.

Actions to take:

  1. 1Find your server's static IP address (check Settings → IP Info in this app, or your hosting provider)
  2. 2Log into IRIS portal
  3. 3Go to 'Digital Invoicing' → 'IP Whitelisting'
  4. 4Click 'Add IP Address'
  5. 5Enter your server IP (e.g., 52.23.45.67) and label it 'Production Server'
  6. 6Wait 2–4 hours for activation
  7. 7Check status: Pending → Active

Tips

  • You can whitelist up to 3 static IPs.
  • Dynamic IPs are not accepted — you need a static IP from your hosting provider.
Step 6Settings → Security Tokens

Configure Sandbox Token in the App

Store your FBR token securely

2 minutes

Once you receive your sandbox token from PRAL, store it in the application. It is encrypted with AES-256 and never exposed in plain text.

Actions to take:

  1. 1Go to Settings → Security Tokens tab
  2. 2Click 'Add Token'
  3. 3Select Environment: Sandbox
  4. 4Paste your FBR sandbox token
  5. 5Click Save
  6. 6Click 'Test Token' to verify the connection

Tips

  • A successful test means your token is valid and your IP is whitelisted.
  • If the test fails, check that your IP is whitelisted and activated.
Step 7Sandbox Testing page

Complete 28 Sandbox Scenarios

Mandatory FBR testing before production

1–2 days

FBR requires every business to successfully test 28 predefined invoice scenarios. For each passing scenario, you receive an IRN — proof of successful submission. You cannot request a Production Token until all mandatory scenarios pass.

All 28 scenarios must pass before requesting a Production Token. There are no shortcuts.

Actions to take:

  1. 1Go to the Sandbox Testing page
  2. 2Start with SN001 (Standard Rate to Registered Buyers) — easiest
  3. 3Load the pre-filled template and update the Seller NTN to your actual NTN
  4. 4Click 'Test Scenario'
  5. 5If passed: IRN is stored automatically. Move to next scenario
  6. 6If failed: read the error, fix the issue, reset the scenario, retest
  7. 7Complete SN001–SN025 (all businesses) and SN026–SN028 (retailers only)
  8. 8Monitor your progress: the tracker shows X/28 complete

Tips

  • Easy scenarios: SN001, SN002, SN026. Start here.
  • Hard scenarios: SN011, SN016, SN017, SN018, SN024 — read error messages carefully.
  • You can reset and retry any failed scenario.
Step 8iris.fbr.gov.pk → Tokens

Request Production Token

Go live with real FBR invoicing

3–7 business days

With all 28 scenarios passed, you are eligible to request a Production Token from PRAL. This token allows you to submit real invoices to FBR.

Actions to take:

  1. 1Export your scenario test results from the Sandbox Testing page
  2. 2Log into IRIS portal
  3. 3Go to 'Digital Invoicing' → 'Tokens'
  4. 4Click 'Request Production Token'
  5. 5Attach your test results/screenshots showing all 28 scenarios passed
  6. 6Submit and wait (3–7 business days)
  7. 7Receive production token via email

Tips

  • Keep your production token even more securely than the sandbox token — it authorizes real financial transactions.
Step 9Settings → Security Tokens

Configure Production Token & Go Live

Switch to production mode

2 minutes

Store your production token in the same way as the sandbox token. The environment will automatically switch to Production, and all invoices will be submitted to the live FBR system.

From this point, all invoices submitted are real and go to FBR's live system. They cannot be deleted.

Actions to take:

  1. 1Go to Settings → Security Tokens tab
  2. 2Click 'Add Token'
  3. 3Select Environment: Production
  4. 4Paste your FBR production token
  5. 5Click Save
  6. 6Test the token connection
  7. 7Your dashboard will now show 'Production' environment
Step 10Dashboard → New Invoice

Create & Submit Real Invoices

Your day-to-day operations

2–5 minutes per invoice

Create invoices for your sales transactions. The seller details are pre-filled from your profile. Enter buyer information, add line items with HS codes and sales tax, validate, and submit to FBR to receive an IRN.

Actions to take:

  1. 1Click 'New Invoice' from the Dashboard
  2. 2Verify seller details (pre-filled from your profile)
  3. 3For repeat customers — click a Recent Buyer chip to auto-fill all buyer fields instantly
  4. 4Or enter buyer NTN/CNIC, name, province, and address manually
  5. 5Select buyer registration type (Registered / Unregistered / AOP / Individual)
  6. 6Type in the HS Code field to search the FBR database — description auto-fills on selection
  7. 7Use the HS Code reference panel on the right side for common codes grouped by industry (11 categories)
  8. 8Enter quantity and value excl. ST — Sales Tax and Total Value calculate automatically
  9. 9Add more items if needed — each inherits UOM, rate, and sale type from the previous item
  10. 10Click 'Validate' — the system checks all fields against FBR rules
  11. 11If valid, click 'Submit to FBR'
  12. 12Receive IRN (Invoice Reference Number) on success
  13. 13Download the PDF invoice with QR code

Tips

  • Always validate before submitting to catch errors early.
  • The QR code on the printed invoice is mandatory for FBR compliance.
  • Recent Buyers are saved automatically after each successful validation — great for repeat customers.
  • The right-side HS Code panel shows a live list of codes you've already entered, so you can spot duplicates.
Step 11Invoices page

Manage Invoice History

View, download, and track all invoices

Ongoing

All submitted invoices are stored with their FBR status, IRN, submission timestamp, and full details. You can search, filter, and download them anytime.

Actions to take:

  1. 1Go to Invoice History from Dashboard or navigation
  2. 2Filter by date range, status, or buyer
  3. 3Click any invoice to view full details
  4. 4Download PDF with QR code
  5. 5Issue Debit/Credit Notes for corrections (within 180-day window)

Tips

  • Debit Notes increase invoice value. Credit Notes decrease it. Both must reference the original Invoice IRN.
Step 12Bulk Import page

Use Bulk Import for Multiple Invoices

Upload many invoices at once

5–15 minutes per batch

Instead of entering invoices one by one, upload an Excel or CSV file with hundreds of invoices. The system validates all rows first, shows a record-by-record report, lets you fix errors inline without touching the original file, then submits all valid rows to FBR in batch.

Actions to take:

  1. 1Go to Bulk Import page
  2. 2Download the Excel/CSV template — or use the sample CSV (12 pre-filled invoices) to see exact format
  3. 3Fill in your invoice data: dates as YYYY-MM-DD, NTN as 7 digits, HS codes as XXXX.XXXX
  4. 4Upload the completed file — columns are detected and mapped automatically
  5. 5Review the validation report: each row shows PASS or FAIL with specific error messages
  6. 6For failed rows: click 'Edit & Fix' to open an inline form, correct the fields, click 'Validate Row' to confirm
  7. 7Use 'Export Failed' to download only the still-failing rows, or 'Export Fixed' for the corrected ones
  8. 8Click 'Submit Rows to FBR' — includes original passing rows and any rows you fixed inline

Tips

  • Use the sample CSV as a starting point — all 12 rows are pre-validated and cover different scenarios.
  • Tax and Total Value auto-calculate in the inline editor when you change the taxable value or rate.
  • Export Fixed downloads a clean CSV of passing + fixed rows — use it to replace the original file for future imports.
Step 13Integrations page

Set Up Accounting Integrations

Sync invoices to your accounting software

10–30 minutes

Connect your accounting software so that FBR-submitted invoices are automatically synced. Supported systems: QuickBooks Online, Odoo, ERPNext, Manager.io.

Actions to take:

  1. 1Go to Integrations page
  2. 2Click your accounting system (e.g., QuickBooks Online)
  3. 3Follow the OAuth authorization flow to connect your account
  4. 4Configure sync settings (which data to sync)
  5. 5Click 'Test Connection'
  6. 6All future invoice submissions will auto-sync to your accounting system

Tips

  • You can manually trigger a sync for past invoices from the Integrations page.
Step 14Audit Trail page

Monitor Compliance via Audit Trail

6-year FBR-compliant activity log

Ongoing

Every API call to FBR is logged automatically. FBR requires this data to be retained for 6 years. Use the Audit Trail for compliance reviews, dispute resolution, or tax audits.

Actions to take:

  1. 1Go to Audit Trail page
  2. 2Filter by date range, action type, or status
  3. 3Review full request/response payloads for any call
  4. 4Export logs for compliance reporting

Tips

  • In case of a tax audit, the Audit Trail is your primary evidence of compliance.
  • All logs are immutable — they cannot be altered or deleted.

Platform Modules at a Glance

Invoice Management

  • Create sale invoices
  • Issue debit/credit notes
  • Download PDF + QR code
  • View full history

Sandbox Testing

  • 28 pre-built test scenarios
  • Automatic template loading
  • Pass/fail tracking with IRN
  • Reset and retest anytime

Bulk Import

  • Excel/CSV upload
  • Validate before submit
  • Batch FBR submission
  • Results download

Integrations

  • QuickBooks Online
  • Odoo, ERPNext
  • Manager.io
  • Auto-sync on submission

Audit Trail

  • Every API call logged
  • 6-year retention
  • Filter by date/status
  • Exportable for audit

Settings

  • Business profile
  • Token management (AES-256)
  • IP whitelist info
  • Integration config

Ready to get started?

Complete the onboarding steps and be FBR-compliant in as little as 7 days.