ERP Selection Consultant, Portugal

The first filter: invoicing software certification rules

Portugal generally requires invoices and similar documents to be issued from software that meets the tax authority's certification rules. Status belongs to a specific product and version, so the same brand can be compliant in one setup and uncertain in another. Customization, a different edition, self-hosting an open-source build or an unofficial localization can all change the picture.

I therefore send each candidate a written questionnaire before any demo:

• Does the exact product, edition, version and hosting model you would use meet the software certification rules? Please confirm in writing.
• Who holds that status: the vendor, a local partner or the publisher of a localization module?
• What happens to compliance after upgrades, new versions or customization by the implementer?
• How are document series registered and ATCUD codes and QR codes produced?
• How are SAF-T files and transport documents generated and checked?

I do not call any product compliant on my own authority. The vendor's written answer goes into the selection file, your accountant reviews it, and it later becomes a contract clause. Candidates that cannot give a clear answer are dropped or moved to the hybrid route described below. The kind of requirement lines behind this questionnaire are set out on my Portuguese ERP business analyst page.

Shortlists for Portuguese companies of different sizes

With the certification answers in, the shortlist follows the size and shape of the business. For companies in Portugal, shortlists tend to hold three kinds of candidate:

• Small companies and young firms: Portuguese cloud invoicing and accounting tools such as Moloni, or Zoho where its Portuguese setup satisfies the questionnaire. The test is whether stock, projects or a second entity can be added later.
• Growing distributors, manufacturers and service firms: Portuguese ERP packages such as PHC or Primavera, which many accountants know well, compared with Odoo, Business Central and ERPNext delivered through a Portuguese partner.
• Subsidiaries and nearshore service centers: the group's ERP with a Portuguese localization, or a hybrid in which a local compliant invoicing system issues documents and posts summaries to the group ledger.

The hybrid route deserves a fair hearing. It keeps the group template intact but adds an interface, a reconciliation routine and a second support contract. Whether that is better than a fully localized single system depends on invoice volumes, how often processes change and who will support each part. For broader context, see my ERP consultant page for Portugal.

Demo scenarios for a Portuguese entity

A standard demo shows a clean invoice and a dashboard. A Portuguese selection needs to see the documents your accountant, customers and drivers will actually handle. The scripts below use your customers, items and routes, and each vendor works through them on screen while your staff watch:

1. Issue invoices from two document series, showing the ATCUD code and QR code on the printed and PDF versions.
2. Issue a credit note against one of them and show how the link is kept.
3. Create a goods transport document for a delivery and show how it is communicated where required.
4. Invoice a foreign customer in another currency and show the accounting.
5. Issue an invoice to a public sector body in the structured format it requires, if you sell to that sector.
6. Produce a SAF-T file for a test period and hand it to your accountant to open and check.
7. For a service center, raise an intercompany recharge and show how it reaches group reporting.

Department heads score each scenario as standard, configuration, localization module or custom work. Your accountant comments on the SAF-T file and the document outputs. The tax treatment remains their call; the demo shows whether each system behaves as they expect. The scoring method itself is explained under ERP evaluation.

Comparing implementer proposals in Portugal

Portuguese implementers can propose the same product in quite different ways. One includes its own localization and support for document series; another expects the vendor's standard localization to cover everything; a third proposes a hybrid with a separate invoicing system. Comparing their totals without unpicking this tells you very little.

To compare them, each proposal is rewritten into a common structure: licenses, localization or compliance modules, configuration, series and numbering setup, data migration, interfaces, layouts, training and support. For each line I record whether it is covered, covered with conditions or expected from your staff. Points I ask about in nearly every Portuguese selection:

• Who registers document series and manages ATCUD setup before the first invoice.
• Who confirms compliance after each upgrade, and on what terms.
• How historic documents and SAF-T data from the old system remain available.
• Whether the proposed team includes people who will be there after go-live.

Gaps become written questions, and the answers feed the weighted scoring. I also hold structured reference calls with customers of a similar profile. If you already hold proposals and only want an independent read, my vendor proposal review covers that, and a formal tender is handled through ERP RFP consulting.

Hosting, GDPR and the contract

Payroll details, customer contacts and supplier bank data all end up in the ERP, which makes GDPR part of the comparison rather than a legal formality at the end. Vendors tell me the data center country for live data and copies, list the third parties involved in running the service, describe how their support engineers are granted access, attach their processing agreement and explain the exit export. Your lawyer or data protection officer weighs those replies while the choice is still open.

The contract is where the selection either holds or leaks. My review confirms that each demonstrated Portuguese case appears in the scope, that sign-off depends on those cases working, that the vendor's written confirmation on the certification rules is reflected in the agreement, and that responsibility for compliance after upgrades is assigned. Change requests need an approval route before work starts.

The selection runs remotely, in the hours that overlap between Portugal and India, with notes after every session and a visit possible by arrangement. The written certification answers, scored scripts and proposal analysis stay with you and become the baseline for delivery, which I can oversee through ERP implementation consulting in Portugal. My general approach is described under ERP vendor selection, and the Portugal overview lists my other services there.