Free Invoice Generator (Zimbabwe)

In Zimbabwe an invoice is issued through a fiscal device, not by typing one up. The Finance Act (No. 7) of 2025 (section 35) defines a fiscal device as any device, machine, application, system or software that works with ZIMRA's Fiscalisation Data Management System (FDMS) and is approved by the Commissioner. That covers an Electronic Tax Register, an Electronic Fiscal Printer, an Electronic Signature Device, a Fuel Fiscal Device and a Virtual Fiscal Device or software application.

Which route you take is your choice. ZIMRA says hardware devices must be bought from its approved suppliers, while virtual fiscalisation runs through an Application Programming Interface (API) that ZIMRA publishes free of charge, linked to your accounting or point-of-sale system. Small traders can use a mobile point of sale. Registered operators can claim half the cost of a fiscal register as input tax on the VAT 7 return and the other half as a special initial allowance over two years on the ITF 12C.

The duty to fiscalise rests on S.I. 104 of 2010, read with S.I. 148 and 153 of 2016, for VAT-registered operators. ZIMRA's guidance adds that all taxpayers must fiscalise, including those below the US$25,000 VAT threshold.

Once an invoice is printed, check it at fdms.zimra.co.zw. It must show Valid with no errors, and the printed details must match what was sent to FDMS. If it does not validate, the issuer must correct the cause (ZIMRA Public Notice 80 of 2024).

A PDF built in a word processor or a generic template, with no link to FDMS, is not a tax invoice. The buyer cannot claim input tax or deduct the expense from income on it. Keep such a file for quotes, statements and delivery notes, and issue the fiscal tax invoice through the device.