SFE Invoicing for Transport and Logistics Companies in Bolivia

A transport or logistics company looks simple from the outside: a truck, a driver, a route. On the books it is one of the harder businesses to keep tidy. You sell a service rather than a product, a large share of your costs are paid in cash on the road, and your clients often pay late. Each of those three things creates a different risk with the SIN. This guide covers what to get right in the SFE.

1. Invoice the service, not the truck

Your invoice describes the service you sold, and the description should match what actually happened: the route, the date, the cargo or service type, and the agreed price. Vague lines such as “services” make it hard to defend the invoice if a client or the SIN asks questions later, and they make your own reporting useless.

• One invoice per service or per agreed billing period. Decide with each client whether you invoice every trip or consolidate weekly or monthly, and put it in the contract or quote.
• Invoice when the service is provided. Delivering the cargo and invoicing three weeks later invites mistakes and late-filing problems in your RCV.
• Keep the supporting documents together. Transport order, delivery note and any signed receipt should be easy to find next to the invoice.

2. Fuel, tolls and maintenance: where crédito fiscal is won or lost

Fuel, tires, spare parts, repairs and tolls are your biggest recurring costs, and also your biggest crédito fiscal opportunity. The IVA on a valid purchase invoice issued in your company’s name and NIT can be deducted from the IVA you owe on your sales. The same purchase paid without an invoice, or with an invoice in the driver’s name, is simply a cost with no recovery.

Over a year, that is Bs 15,600 for a single small fleet. The habit that fixes it is simple: every driver asks for the invoice at the pump, the workshop and the parts store, with the company’s NIT and name, and hands it in with the trip report. Our guide on which expenses qualify for crédito fiscal explains the rules in more detail.

3. Plan for clients who pay late

Freight clients often negotiate 30, 45 or 60 days. Meanwhile you have already paid fuel, salaries and maintenance, and the IVA on your sale is due on your normal filing calendar even if the client has not paid you yet. That gap is where transport companies run out of cash. Three habits help:

1. Agree terms before the first trip and write them on the quote and the invoice. See credit terms that get you paid.
2. Track your DSO per client, not only in total. Our post on DSO shows how.
3. Have an escalation path for the client who stops answering. See when a client won’t pay.

4. A weekly routine for transport companies

5. Do not forget contingency mode

Trucks run when the network does not. If you issue invoices from a dispatch office and SIAT is down, you need a process, not improvisation. Read what to do in SFE contingency mode before you need it.

This article is general information for Bolivian businesses, not tax, legal or financial advice. The example is illustrative and simplified; how a specific route, service type or expense is treated for IVA, IT and crédito fiscal depends on your regime, activity and the documents you hold. Confirm how the rules apply to your business with your accountant or the SIN before acting.