Each invoice, or invoice lot, is considered a file by the Exchange System that has been prepared according to the format of the FatturaPA. A single file, or several single files, may be contained in a compressed file (an archive file), in zip format.

After preparing the file, it must be “named” in the appropriate way so that it can be accepted by the Exchange System.

• In the case of a FatturaPA file the following nomenclature must be used: 
  

   

     Country CodeTransmitter's Unique Identity Code  _  Progressive Unique File Code

   

  where:

  • the Country Code follows the ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 code standard,
  • the Transmitter's Unique Identity Code, whether for a natural person or a legal entity, is represented by their fiscal identification code(codice fiscale in the case of a transmitter resident in Italy, identity code in use in the country of residence in the case of a transmitter resident outside Italy). The length of this identity code is:
    • 11 characters (minimum) and 16 characters (maximum) in the case where the country code is IT,
    • 2 characters (minimum) and 28 characters (maximum) in all other cases,
  • the progressive unique file code consists of an alphanumeric string, maximum length 5 characters, with permitted values from “A” to “Z” and from “0” to “9”.

  The separator for elements making up the file name is the underscore character (“_”), ASCII code 95. The file extension will be “.xml” or “.xml.p7m” depending on the type of signature used (for information see the Sign the FatturaPA section).

  Examples:

  • ITAAABBB99T99X999W_00001.xml
  • IT99999999999_00002.xml.p7m
  • FR12345678910_00003.xml

  The file nomenclature, as described, is kept when the file is forwarded to the Administration.

• In the case of an archive file the same nomenclature used for the FatturaPA file must be followed but the extension will be .zip. 
  

  Examples: 
  
  ITAAABBB99T99X999W_00001.zip 
  
  which contains, by way of example:

  • ITAAABBB99T99X999W_00001.xml
  • ITAAABBB99T99X999W_00002.xml
  • ITAAABBB99T99X999W_00003.xml.p7m

  When the Exchange System receives an archive file, it processes the file or files contained in it and then transmits them to the addressee Administration.