What goes into a SAF-T file, and can your software make it?
The data in Bulgaria’s monthly, annual and on-request SAF-T files, and the questions to ask your software provider before your phase begins.
SAF-T (Standard Audit File for Tax) is an XML file built to a structure published by the National Revenue Agency (NRA). It is not a form you fill in: it is an export from your accounting system. Knowing what goes into it tells you where to look before your first submission.
The three reports
Bulgaria uses three types of SAF-T report, each with its own content and deadline.
Monthly file: by the end of the following month
- Header: your company, the period, the software that produced the file.
- Master files: the chart of accounts, customers, suppliers and the tax codes you use.
- General ledger entries: every accounting entry for the month.
- Source documents: sales invoices, purchase invoices and payments.
Annual file: by 30 June of the following year
- Fixed assets and their movements during the year: acquisitions, depreciation, disposals.
On request: within 14 days
- Additional data, such as physical stock and movements of goods, when the NRA asks for it.
The file is checked against the NRA’s XML schema, signed with a qualified electronic signature and uploaded through the NRA e-services portal. The NRA updates the schema from time to time, so your software needs to follow its current version.
Where the data usually breaks
Most validation problems are not in the export itself but in the data behind it:
- Account mapping. Your chart of accounts must be linked to the SAF-T structure. Companies using the standard Bulgarian chart usually have an easier time than groups using an international chart.
- Customer and supplier records. Missing VAT numbers or IDs, duplicates and inconsistent names.
- Tax codes. Every invoice line needs a tax treatment that maps to the codes the file expects.
- Fixed assets kept outside the system. If the asset register lives in a spreadsheet, the annual file cannot be produced automatically.
Questions to ask your software provider
Before your phase starts, ask:
- Will our version export SAF-T in the NRA’s current format, and from which date?
- Is the export complete? Monthly file, annual file and the on-request stock data.
- How is account mapping done? Is it set up once, and who maintains it?
- Does the software validate the file against the NRA schema before export?
- What happens with group ERP systems? For SAP, Dynamics and similar systems, is there a Bulgarian localisation, and who configures it?
- Who supports us when a file is rejected?
If the answers are vague, it is worth asking early. Upgrades and configuration work take longer than most companies expect.
How we can help
We review your data and software, map your accounts, work with your provider or IT team on the export, and test files against the NRA rules before your first real submission. Our SAF-T service
