Integration
How could IQ Retail prepare for South Africa's e-Invoicing model?
A readiness pattern for connecting IQ Retail invoice data to South Africa's proposed Digital VAT Model without claiming a current certified connector.
Direct answer
IQ Retail has an API for third-party applications, including invoice and sales-order workflows, but that does not make it a SARS connector. Start with the installed IQ product and the document that actually posts the sale. For multi-store deployments, reconcile store transactions, later corrections and head-office totals before designing any future South African e-Invoicing adapter.
Source: VAT Modernisation (South African Revenue Service).
What matters in practice
- Start with the real source data and invoice lifecycle.
- Separate country rules from the core application.
- Preserve stable transaction identity, status, retries, and evidence.
- Confirm product-version and official SARS requirements before implementation.
Map the source system
For IQ Retail e-Invoicing readiness, trace a till sale into the posted invoice and the store's day-end totals. IQ Retail describes API invoice creation and an optional offline POS workflow, but the exact interface and posting sequence must be checked in the customer's licensed product and version.
Use a readiness adapter
Translate the source model into a stable internal invoice contract. Keep proposed South African schema, validation, transport, and service-provider details in a versioned adapter that can change as SARS completes consultation and design.
What happens after an offline sale?
An offline till can continue trading as a product feature, but it is not evidence that SARS has approved an offline reporting grace period. Test a disconnected branch, a repeated sync and a partial return. The record sent downstream should still identify the original sale and the correcting document.
Readiness questions
- Which product and version is in scope?
- Can invoice data be extracted before PDF rendering?
- How are tax codes mapped?
- How are credit notes linked?
- Who owns rejected or incomplete records?
Questions teams ask
What should an IQ Retail assessment inspect first?
Check the installed version, whether POS Offline is enabled, the API permissions, and how invoices and credit notes reach the ledger. Then trace one sale and one return from the till to the head-office reconciliation.
Sources: VAT ModernisationFrequently Asked Questions on VAT ModernisationConsultation Paper on VAT ModernisationWhat does the IQ Retail API actually do?IQ Retail retail product datasheet. Used for factual background only.