Verifactu 2027 guide for schools: deadlines, obligations and how to prepare

Verifactu 2027 guide for schools: deadlines, obligations and how to prepare

In 2027, the way Spanish educational centres invoice changes by law. Verifactu — the tax agency's verifiable invoicing system — becomes mandatory for practically everyone who issues invoices: private schools, nurseries, academies, cooperatives and foundations with billable activity. The rule does not demand more invoicing, but invoicing with software that meets specific technical requirements, and that is the trap for the distracted: if your current programme does not adapt, you will have to replace it, and the school calendar does not forgive a migration in February. This guide summarises what Verifactu demands, when and from whom, and how to reach 2027 with the homework done.

What Verifactu is and where it comes from

Verifactu stems from Royal Decree 1007/2023, developed by Order HAC/1177/2024, within the AEAT's anti-fraud strategy. The idea is simple: every invoice must leave a tamper-proof technical trail. Invoicing programmes must generate a record of each invoice with an encrypted, chained fingerprint — so nothing can be deleted or altered after the fact — and invoices will carry a verification QR code. There are two modes: the Verifactu mode, where the software submits records automatically to the AEAT, and the mode of signed records kept by the issuer. In both, the underlying requirement is the same: the software must be adapted and declare it.

The definitive deadlines

• 1 January 2027: entities taxed under corporate income tax. This includes most private schools, academies incorporated as companies, teaching cooperatives and foundations with taxable activity.
• 1 July 2027: all other parties required to issue invoices, such as self-employed owners of nurseries, academies or training centres.
• Exempt: those already reporting their invoicing through the SII (immediate supply of information), because the AEAT already receives their data.

Your centre's exact date depends on its legal form and tax regime: confirm it with your adviser. But the practical planning is identical in every case: the software you invoice with in the 2026-2027 school year should already comply.

Which invoicing it affects in a school

All of it: tuition fees in private education, canteen, after-school activities, camps, sales of materials and uniforms, services to families. Any invoice or simplified invoice leaving the centre must come from an adapted system. That is why it pays to look at the whole picture: if today you invoice fees from one programme, the canteen from another and the shop with separate tickets, Verifactu multiplies the problem by three. The rule is a good excuse to unify all school billing in a single certified system, instead of adapting three.

What happens if you do not comply

Using non-adapted invoicing software is classified as a tax infringement with fines of up to 50,000 euros per year, and the AEAT will have a direct mechanism to detect it: the records and the QR make it immediate to check whether an invoice comes from a verifiable system. On top of the financial risk comes the operational one: discovering in December 2026 that your programme will not be certified means migrating data, fees and direct debits with the school year in full swing. Verifactu's most expensive penalty will not be the fine, but the improvised migration.

Checklist to reach 2027 without surprises

• Confirm with your adviser which date applies to your centre (January or July 2027).
• Ask your current provider in writing whether their software will be certified, and when.
• Inventory everything you invoice: fees, canteen, after-school activities, shop, services.
• If you must migrate, plan it for the summer of 2026, never mid-year.
• Use the change to automate: SEPA direct debits, arrears tracking and reconciliation.
• Verify that new invoices already leave with a verifiable record and QR code.

How Edena approaches it

Edena issues Verifactu-certified invoices to the AEAT from the centre's own management platform: every fee, canteen, after-school or shop receipt already leaves with its verifiable record, with no extra configuration or separate modules. For a centre using Edena, the 2027 entry into force requires no action at all: compliance ships with every invoice, together with SEPA direct debits and arrears tracking. And if you are coming from another programme, the Edena team handles the migration, with public per-student pricing and no lock-in.

Context in Spain: tax digitisation accelerating

Verifactu does not arrive alone: it is part of a wave that includes mandatory B2B e-invoicing under the Crea y Crece law and increasingly automated tax control. For educational centres, historically cautious with technology, the message is clear: invoicing on paper or on unsupported local programmes has an expiry date. The centres that moved early no longer talk about compliance, but about what they gained along the way: punctual collections, fewer unpaid receipts and books that balance themselves.

A practical case (Spain)

An academy incorporated as a limited company invoiced its monthly fees with an old local programme whose maker would not confirm Verifactu adaptation. Instead of waiting, it planned the migration for July: over the summer it moved students, fees and direct debits to a platform that already issued certified invoices, and started the school year invoicing verifiably, with receipts collecting themselves every month. When 1 January 2027 arrives, its only pending task will be none: the change made calmly saved making it in a hurry, with a fine attached.

Conclusion

Verifactu boils down to a single obligation: invoicing with verifiable software from 2027 — January for companies, July for the rest — with fines of up to 50,000 euros for those who do not. The smart decision is not to wait for the deadline but to solve it with the school-year change, and use the move to automate collections and arrears while you are at it. If you want to see how a centre invoices with Verifactu already solved, book a free demo and watch it working on a case like yours.