How SFE Applies to Consultoras

Bolivia's SFE (Sistema de Facturación Electrónica) applies to all businesses and independent professionals who generate taxable income — including consultoras, law firms, engineering firms, IT agencies, marketing firms, and any other service-based business registered with the SIN.

Unlike product-based businesses, consulting firms don't have inventory to track or physical goods to deliver. But every billable engagement — a strategy project, a legal retainer, an IT implementation — requires a valid SFE invoice. The absence of physical goods doesn't exempt you from the invoicing obligation.

IT Tax on Professional Fees: What Every Consultant Must Know

The Impuesto a las Transacciones (IT) is Bolivia's 3% transaction tax on gross revenue. For consultoras, this is one of the most commonly misunderstood obligations.

IT applies to the gross value of the invoice — before any deductions. If you bill Bs. 10,000 for a consulting project, you owe Bs. 300 in IT, declared and paid monthly via Form 400.

The important nuance: IT can be offset by IUE (Impuesto sobre las Utilidades de las Empresas) credits paid throughout the year. When you pay IUE at year-end, the IT you paid during the year serves as an advance credit. This means you don't actually pay both — but you must pay IT monthly and reconcile at year-end.

IVA on Services: What's Taxable, What Isn't

IVA at 13% applies to most services in Bolivia, including professional consulting fees. Unlike goods — where IVA is embedded in the price — for services, the IVA calculation works the same way: the 13% is already included in the amount you charge, not added on top.

This means if you quote a client Bs. 10,000 for a project, your IVA portion is already inside that figure:

• Net value of service: Bs. 8,850
• IVA (13% embedded): Bs. 1,150
• Total billed: Bs. 10,000

You declare the Bs. 1,150 IVA on your monthly Form 200, offset by any IVA credit from your own purchases (office supplies, software subscriptions, subcontractors who invoiced you).

How to Structure a Consulting Invoice in Bolivia

A properly structured SFE invoice for a consulting engagement must include:

• Your NIT and business name (or your CI if billing as an individual professional)
• Client's NIT and legal name — critical for their IVA credit. Get this right before issuing.
• Service description: Be specific. "Professional consulting services — Q3 financial strategy project" is better than "Services." The SIN may request clarification on vague descriptions.
• Period or milestone: If billing by retainer, note the month covered. If billing by milestone, reference the deliverable.
• Amount: Single total — IVA is embedded, not itemized separately on the invoice face.
• CUFD and QR code: Generated automatically by your SFE platform — verify these are present before delivering the invoice.

Contracts, Milestones & When to Invoice

Bolivia's tax rules require you to invoice at the moment a service is rendered or a payment obligation is triggered — not when you feel like it, and not retroactively at year-end. For consulting firms, this creates a practical question: when exactly is a service "rendered"?

The practical answers:

• Retainer agreements: Invoice at the start of each month the retainer covers. Don't wait until the end.
• Milestone-based projects: Invoice immediately when a milestone is completed and accepted. Document acceptance in writing.
• Advance payments: If a client pays you an advance, you must invoice for it when received — even if the work hasn't started yet.
• Multi-month projects: You can invoice in installments, but each installment triggers an SFE invoice at the time of billing, not at project completion.

Invoicing Foreign Clients from Bolivia

Many Bolivian consultoras serve clients in other countries — a common situation for IT firms, marketing agencies, and management consultants. The tax treatment is nuanced:

• Services consumed outside Bolivia: If your client is abroad and the benefit of your service is enjoyed outside Bolivia, the transaction may be classified as a service export — which is exempt from IVA. This requires clear documentation of the foreign client's location and the nature of service delivery.
• Services with effect in Bolivia: If your foreign client is using your service to operate in Bolivia (e.g., a foreign company opening a Bolivian branch), IVA applies normally.
• IT tax: IT applies to all revenue regardless of where the client is located, as it's a tax on transactions conducted by a Bolivian-registered entity.
• Currency: Invoices must be in Bolivianos. If billing in USD, the invoice must convert at the official BCB exchange rate on the date of invoice.

How Contably Helps Consultoras

Contably was designed for service-based businesses, not just product sellers. For consulting firms specifically:

• Issue SFE invoices in seconds — with client NIT lookup, service descriptions, and automatic CUFD generation
• Track IVA collected vs. IVA credit from supplier invoices in real time
• Automatic IT calculation and Form 400 preparation each month
• Retainer scheduling — set up recurring invoices that generate automatically on the 1st of each month
• Accounts receivable dashboard — see which client invoices are overdue and send automated reminders
• Project-level profitability — link invoices to projects and see margin per engagement