Testing Nigerian e-invoicing before going live
How a Nigerian business can test e-invoicing with its provider's sandbox from Achekam, what going live needs, and how invoices are handled meanwhile.
By Achekam · · 4 min read · For Running a business businesses in Nigeria
Nobody wants their first live e-invoice to be the one that fails. An invoice rejected by the tax authority's system can hold up a customer's payment, and an invoice that should have been fiscalised and was not can bring a penalty. So it is natural to want a rehearsal: send test invoices through your provider, see what comes back, fix the mistakes, and only then switch on the real thing.
Nigeria's e-invoicing system allows for that kind of rehearsal through test environments, and Achekam can take part in it. This article explains what a sandbox test from Achekam involves, what has to happen before Achekam sends real invoices, and how your invoices are handled while you wait.
Who must e-invoice, and when
Nigeria's e-invoicing system, the Merchant Buyer Solution (MBS), is being phased in by annual turnover:
| Taxpayers with annual turnover | Phase |
|---|---|
| Above N5 billion | First |
| N1 billion to N5 billion | From 1 July 2026 |
| Below N1 billion | From 1 July 2027 |
The NRS notice of 17 February 2026 set out the steps for each group: large taxpayers went live in November 2025, with enforcement from April 2026 and full adoption by 31 July 2026; enforcement for the middle group from January 2027; and for the smallest group from January 2028. Businesses connect through an approved Access Point Provider or System Integrator. That provider is your link to the MBS, and it is the provider's test environment that a sandbox connection uses. Which phase you fall in depends on turnover, and it is a separate question from VAT: a small business may be exempt from VAT yet still need to know where it stands on e-invoicing. The VAT side is covered in the small business VAT exemption.
A sandbox connection needs no platform authorisation
Achekam has a connector for sending Nigerian e-invoices to a business's Access Point Provider or System Integrator through the provider's API. A sandbox connection, one that points at the provider's test environment, needs no authorisation from Achekam's platform administrators. You can set it up with the test address and keys your provider gives you and start sending test invoices.
One caution: the connector's paths and field names are configuration, because the research behind Achekam could not confirm them for every provider. Expect to spend part of the testing adjusting that configuration with your provider's documentation in hand. That is exactly what a sandbox is for.
The NRS publishes technical documentation for the e-invoicing platform, covering its environments, authentication, the invoice schema, IRN generation, QR codes and validation, written for system integrators and access point providers. Share it with whoever sets up the connection.
Test submissions are labelled as tests
Achekam labels a sandbox submission as test only. It prints MBS identifiers on an invoice only once the invoice is fiscalised, and a test submission does not make a real invoice fiscalised. So a test is not mistaken for a live, accepted invoice, and your customers will not receive a document that looks fiscalised when it is not.
What going live needs
Production is a different matter. Before Achekam sends real Nigerian e-invoices to your provider, three things must happen:
- Your business enters the provider's production address and keys.
- The connection passes a health check within 24 hours.
- An Achekam platform administrator authorises the capability for production.
No platform authorisation is set up in advance by Achekam's installation. Until all three steps are complete, Achekam does not send live invoices through the connector.
Achekam is not your provider
It is worth being clear about roles. Achekam is not accredited by the NRS as an Access Point Provider or System Integrator, and it never generates an IRN itself. The IRN, the invoice reference number the MBS relies on, comes from your provider and the NRS system. Achekam prepares the invoice, passes it on when the connection is live, and records what comes back.
Meanwhile: manual pending and the IRN you record
Until a working provider connection exists, Achekam holds each Nigerian e-invoice as manual pending. It gives you a JSON or XML file of the invoice to upload through your Access Point Provider. When the provider returns the IRN, you record it in Achekam, and a second person verifies it. Only then does the invoice count as fiscalised.
That manual route is not a stopgap to rush past. For a business in the later phases, it may be how invoices are handled for some time. Make it a routine: one person uploads and records the IRN, another verifies, and both happen on the day the invoice is issued. Invoices that never complete the step show up later: a Nigerian VAT return in Achekam lists the period's invoices, credit notes and till sales that are not fiscalised, as a warning rather than a block.
Questions to ask your provider before testing
- Which test environment will we use, and how do we get test keys?
- What fields does your API expect, and how do they map to an invoice?
- What does a rejection look like, and how is the reason reported?
- How is the IRN returned, and how quickly?
- What do we need from you for production: address, keys, anything else?
- How will you tell us of changes to your API after we go live?
Your own invoice details matter to the test too, starting with the Tax ID that every e-invoice is linked to; see showing your Nigeria Tax ID on invoices. Test with real-looking invoices, including a credit note and an invoice with several lines, so that the first live day holds no surprises.
General guidance only, not advice on your own circumstances. Tax and payroll rules change: check the current position with the authority or your adviser.
