Choosing accounting software as an autónomo in Spain: Verifactu, the free AEAT app and eight criteria to get it right

What the law requires of any invoicing and accounting software in 2026 and 2027

Before looking at screens, pin down the obligations. They are the same for every program, free or paid, and they are what separate a valid tool from one that could cost you a penalty.

1. Verifactu, if you invoice with software. Article 1 of the Regulation approved by Royal Decree (RD) 1007/2023 defines a computerised invoicing system as the set of hardware and software you use to issue invoices: the one that takes in the data, stores it and processes it to produce other results. Article 3.1 expressly includes IRPF taxpayers who carry on business activities, that is, autónomos, "even if they only use them for part of their activity". Under the fourth final provision, as worded by Royal Decree-Law 15/2025, Corporate Tax (Impuesto sobre Sociedades) payers must have their system adapted before 1 January 2027 and all other obliged parties, autónomos included, before 1 July 2027. You have the detail in Verifactu for autónomos: your deadline.

In short, what an adapted program has to do:

• Generate an invoicing record for each invoice, at the same time as you issue it or just before (art. 9), with the data listed in art. 10: your NIF (Spanish tax ID), number and series, dates, invoice type, amounts and VAT regime.
• Not allow deleting or editing: every correction or cancellation goes into a new record, chained to the previous one and carrying its fingerprint or "hash" (art. 8, art. 11 and art. 12). In VERI*FACTU mode, which sends every record to the AEAT (the Spanish Tax Agency), they do not also need to be signed (art. 16.3).
• Print a QR code on every invoice and, only in VERI*FACTU mode, the wording "Factura verificable en la sede electrónica de la AEAT" (invoice verifiable in the AEAT's online office) or "VERI*FACTU" (art. 6.5 of the Invoicing Regulation and art. 20 of Order HAC/1177/2024).
• Carry the manufacturer's declaración responsable (statement of compliance), which we explain in the criteria.

The technical workings are in what Verifactu is.

Two exclusions worth knowing (there are others by type of transaction, art. 4): anyone who keeps their VAT books through the SII (Suministro Inmediato de Información, immediate supply of information) falls outside the regulation (art. 3.3), and if your tax address is in the Basque Country or Navarre, the regional (foral) rules apply (art. 1.3; in Álava, Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa, TicketBAI). And do not confuse Verifactu with mandatory e-invoicing between businesses: they are different obligations with different timetables.

2. Record books with the content the rules require. For VAT, art. 62 of the VAT Regulation requires books of issued invoices, received invoices, capital goods and certain intra-Community transactions, with exceptions such as the equivalence surcharge (recargo de equivalencia) or the simplified regime (art. 62.2), and art. 63.3 requires issued invoices to be entered one by one. For income tax, art. 68 of the IRPF Regulation sets the books according to your activity: if you are a professional, income, expenses, capital goods and client advances and outlays (provisiones de fondos y suplidos); if you run a business under simplified direct assessment (estimación directa simplificada), sales and income, purchases and expenses, and capital goods. The content of each IRPF book is set out in Order HAC/773/2019, which also requires them to be kept without blank spaces and totalled by quarter and year (art. 9). Good software generates them automatically from your invoices and expenses and lets you download them. We go through them one by one in the autónomo's record books.

3. The quarterly returns, from the same data. No rule requires the software to prepare the modelo 303, the modelo 130 or the modelo 111, but if it does not, you will have to copy figures by hand from one place to another, which is exactly where errors creep in. The sensible approach is for the amounts to come from the books without retyping anything, and for you to be able to see which invoices each box (casilla) comes from.

4. Retention and access. Hacienda (the Spanish tax authorities) can carry out checks for as long as its right to assess has not become time-barred, which is four years (art. 66 of the General Tax Law (LGT)), and formal obligations remain alive during that time (art. 70 LGT). Separately, art. 30 of the Commercial Code sets six years from the last entry for a business owner's books and supporting documents. The software must let you access everything throughout that period, including on the day you stop paying for it.

The free AEAT Verifactu app: what it does and what it does not

A search for "verifactu gratis" (free Verifactu) almost always leads to the same place: the invoicing app the AEAT offers on its online office (sede electrónica). It exists because art. 7 of the regulation allows you to comply with private software or with "the computer application that the Tax Administration may develop for this purpose", and art. 16.4 treats it as a VERI*FACTU system for all purposes.

What it does. According to art. 19 of Order HAC/1177/2024 and the user guide published by the AEAT (version of 10 October 2025): it captures and stores your invoice data, issues invoices as PDFs with their QR code, generates the invoicing record and sends it to the AEAT at that very moment. It has client and product records, drafts and templates, and series with automatic consecutive numbering. You log in with a digital certificate, electronic ID card (DNI electrónico) or Cl@ve Móvil (the Spanish government's identification system), in your own name or as an apoderado (authorised representative).

What it does not do, or does not let you do:

• It does not issue simplified invoices (facturas simplificadas), that is, receipts: every invoice must have a named recipient. If you sell to consumers over the counter, it is no good to you.
• Invoices and their records can only be managed from within the app itself, and the user guide warns that "it is not possible to export records to continue invoicing in other computerised invoicing systems". If you switch tools, the records do not move to the new one; you can, however, export your client and product lists and download your invoices as PDFs.
• Its guide describes issuing, searching, drafts, clients, products and series; it does not describe record books, accounting, expense recording or preparing tax returns. Invoicing, yes; keeping the accounts and filling in the 303 or the 130, no.

The AEAT itself aims it at people who issue "a small number of invoices a year" or whose "invoicing process is relatively simple", and suggests checking with your provider or your gestor (tax adviser) whether external software with more features would suit you better. If it fits, it is a legitimate option: it complies with Verifactu at no cost. But you will have to keep the books and returns some other way or hand them to your gestor. Check its limits on the official Verifactu page on the AEAT online office before deciding. We compare it in detail in the free AEAT invoicing app: when it is enough and when it is not.

Excel or a spreadsheet: when it stops being enough

Many autónomos start with an Excel template or a Word document. The AEAT has clarified in its Verifactu FAQs (as updated on 21 July 2026) where the line lies:

• The regulation does not affect you if the spreadsheet or word processor is used only to enter the data, issue and print the invoice and keep it. A simple list of invoices with totals does not turn your spreadsheet into an invoicing system either.
• It does affect you if the spreadsheet also processes that data to directly generate the VAT or IRPF record books, the accounts or any other output you use to meet your obligations to Hacienda. The AEAT's own example: a macro that generates the issued invoices book turns your Excel into a computerised invoicing system, and it then has to meet every requirement (chained records, hash, QR code, declaración responsable), something very hard to achieve with a home-made spreadsheet.

The practical consequence is awkward. An Excel file that only produces invoices is still valid, but then it does not help you with the books or the returns, which you will have to set up separately without that second spreadsheet being fed automatically by the first. And the moment you automate it to save yourself work, you fall within the regulation. The AEAT adds that it may verify each case according to the capabilities and tools used, so if your spreadsheet does more than add up, check the AEAT online office before your deadline.

Remember too that, as a general rule, you cannot mix: according to the same FAQs, if you use any computerised system to issue invoices, all your invoicing must be computerised. Anyone who invoices exclusively by hand, with a paper invoice book, falls outside the regulation.

Having an invoicing system that does not meet these requirements or lacks its declaración responsable (the "certification" the law refers to is that self-certification by the manufacturer), or that has been tampered with, is a serious infringement with a fixed fine of 50,000 € per financial year (art. 201 bis LGT), enforceable in practice from the moment the regulation applies to you. This is not the place to save money.

Free or paid accounting or invoicing software: what is usually missing

"Free accounting software" is one of the most common searches in the sector, and understandably so: when you are starting out, every euro counts. But "free" means very different things depending on who offers it. Without naming brands, this is what to check in a free plan:

• Usage limits. Many free plans cap the number of invoices, clients or users, or expire at the end of a trial period. Ask what happens to your data when you go over the limit or when the trial ends.
• Invoicing only. It is common for the free plan to produce invoices but not record expenses, generate record books or prepare returns. Then half the work is done, and the other half you either do yourself or pay someone else for.
• Verifactu. Being free does not exempt software from the declaración responsable or the records. If it cannot show you the declaración responsable for the version you use, it is no good for invoicing from your deadline onwards.
• Support. On free plans, help is usually limited to articles and an email address with no response time. When something breaks on the last day for filing the 303, that matters.
• Exit. Check whether you can download invoices, books and accounts in a standard format without first having to move to a paid plan.

Paid software is not better just because you pay for it, and a free one may be enough if you invoice little and your gestor handles the rest. The useful question is not "how much does it cost?" but "what work does it take off me and what work does it leave me?". If the free one forces you to pay someone else for the books and returns, compare the total cost, not the subscription fee.

The eight criteria for choosing accounting software as an autónomo

With the obligations clear, these are the eight criteria to check in any accounting software for autónomos. Prioritise them to suit your case, but do not skip the first one.

1. Verifactu compliance with a published declaración responsable. Article 13 of the regulation requires the manufacturer to certify, by means of a declaración responsable, that the system complies with the law. It must be in writing and clearly visible in the software itself, for each version, and you can ask for it. Article 15 of Order HAC/1177/2024 sets its content: it begins with the heading "DECLARACIÓN RESPONSABLE DEL SISTEMA INFORMÁTICO DE FACTURACIÓN" and includes the system's name, its code, the version, whether it works only as VERI*FACTU, and the manufacturer's name, NIF and address. Ask to see it before signing up.
2. Books and returns. Does it generate the VAT and IRPF record books that apply to your activity? Does it prepare the 303, the 130 and, if you have employees or rent premises, the 111 and the 115? Does it show you where each box comes from? Software that only invoices leaves the most delicate work undone.
3. Bank and reconciliation. Bank reconciliation (conciliación bancaria) means matching each bank transaction with its invoice or expense. Ask whether the software imports statements in Norma 43 format (the standard transactions file you download from your online banking) or connects to your bank, and how it flags what still needs supporting documents. That is what stops an expense going undeducted or a payment received going without an invoice.
4. Language and explanation. If Spanish is not your first language, or you do not know accounting, you need the software to explain in plain terms what it is doing. Software that only shows account codes makes you depend on someone else to understand your own numbers.
5. Export and exit with no lock-in. Your invoices, books and accounts must be exportable in open formats (PDF, spreadsheet, standard files) whenever you want. Note the nuance: the AEAT clarifies in its FAQs on retention that a VERI*FACTU system is not obliged to store or export invoicing records, because Hacienda already has them. Exporting the rest of your data is therefore something you have to demand in the contract.
6. Total price including VAT. Add up the subscription, the VAT, the extra modules (banking, payroll, additional users) and the cost of whatever the software does not do and you will have to pay for elsewhere. Always compare the annual cost including taxes, not the headline monthly price.
7. Human support. Does a person answer you? Through which channel and how quickly? Also in the weeks of filing deadlines, when everyone asks at once?
8. Who files: you or your gestor. Some programs prepare the returns and you file them through the AEAT online office with your certificate or Cl@ve; others let you give your gestor access to review and file. Decide beforehand who is going to file and check that the software fits that split.

Criteria table: what to ask the provider

Take this table into your conversation with any provider. If any answer is vague, ask for it in writing.

A simple trick for putting any software to the test: enter the invoices and expenses from a real quarter and compare the 303 the software proposes with the one you filed. If you want a quick reference, the modelo 303 estimator gives you an approximate figure to compare against.

Warning signs before signing up

There are phrases and practices that should make you stop before signing. None is illegal in itself in a brochure, but they all point to a problem.

• "Certified by the AEAT" or "approved by Hacienda" (homologado). No such certificate exists. The AEAT explains in its FAQs on the declaración responsable that software needs no external certification or prior registration: it is a self-certification by the manufacturer. Anyone boasting of an official seal either does not know the rules or is exaggerating to sell to you.
• They do not show you the declaración responsable. It is mandatory and must be visible in the software. If the salesperson does not know what you are talking about, that is a bad sign.
• Minimum terms. Annual contracts with no way out or penalties for leaving. Once your data is inside, switching is costly; with a minimum term, it costs more.
• Data that cannot be exported. If you can only see your invoices inside the software, or the only export is one PDF per invoice, you are tied in.
• It lets you delete or renumber issued invoices. Software that lets you remove an invoice without a trace or skip numbers does not comply with the regulation: corrections go in an additional record and numbering is consecutive within each series (art. 6.1.a) of the Invoicing Regulation). If you are unsure what an invoice must include, see your first invoice in Spain.
• "Forget about Hacienda". Software prepares and reminds; responsibility for what you file remains yours.
• Vague statements about Verifactu. "We will be ready", "coming soon". Ask in which version and with which declaración responsable, and look at the date they give you.

Software, a gestoría or both?

It is not an either/or choice. The real question is who does each part of the work: recording, reviewing and filing. A gestor or gestoría (tax and admin advisory firm) brings judgement and answers for their work; software gives you order, up-to-date data and control. Often the best option is to combine the two.

Software is usually enough if you are an autónomo under simplified direct assessment, with a manageable volume of transactions, clients with clear VAT rules, no employees, and you are willing to spend some time each quarter reviewing figures before filing.

A gestoría makes more sense if you have employees, international transactions you are not familiar with, property used in the business, you are under normal direct assessment with a commercial activity (which requires accounts kept in line with the Commercial Code, art. 104.2 of the IRPF Law and art. 68.2 of its regulation), you have an open requerimiento (formal information request from the tax authorities) or you simply do not want to spend time on it.

Both is the most common arrangement: you handle the day-to-day in the software (invoices, expenses, bank) and the gestor reviews and files. Before choosing software, ask your gestor what they work with and what they need from you; you will save yourself exports and retyping. There is more context in what a gestor is and how to work with yours and in how to keep your books without knowing accounting.

What kontora does and does not do

For transparency, since this guide is published by kontora: kontora is accounting software for autónomos and small SLs (limited companies) that keeps double-entry (partida doble) accounts from your invoices, expenses and bank; issues invoices prepared for Verifactu with gap-free series; generates the record books; prepares, box by box and from that data, the 303 and the 130, the 111 and the 115, the 349 and, if you have an SL, the 200; has its invoicing system's declaración responsable published at app.kontora.es; reminds you of deadlines; works in Spanish, English and Russian, and lets you export your data. The 303, 130, 111, 115 and 123 you file from the app itself with your digital certificate (the 349, through TGVI). What it does not do: replace your gestor; the remaining returns you file yourself through the AEAT online office, or your gestor files them. The plans are on the pricing page. Apply the same eight criteria to it as to any other.

Final checklist: five points before signing

This list is for you to check during the trial. If any point fails, ask the provider or keep looking.

1. I have seen the declaración responsable for the version I will use, with the heading required by Order HAC/1177/2024 and the manufacturer's NIF.
2. My test invoices carry the QR code and, if the software works in VERI*FACTU mode, the wording "VERI*FACTU" or "Factura verificable en la sede electrónica de la AEAT".
3. I have tried to delete an issued invoice and the software will not let me: it offers a corrective invoice (factura rectificativa) or a cancellation record, with no gaps in the series.
4. I know how I will keep accessing my invoices, books and accounts throughout the retention years if I cancel.
5. My gestor knows which software I am going to use and what I will export to them, or I have decided to file the returns myself.

And once you have chosen, note down the deadlines: the 2026-2027 tax calendar tells you what is due each quarter.

Frequently asked questions

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