Accounting software and cash registers in Algeria: what changes on 1 January 2027

The Finance Law for 2026 laid down new obligations for accounting software and cash registers, and set them to start on 1 January 2027. Many blog posts talk of “software certification”; the reality of the text is more nuanced. Here is what the articles say, line by line, from Official Journal no. 88 of 31 December 2025, and what is still missing.

The date

Article 109 of the law says the new articles (51 bis of the Turnover Tax Code, 20 ter and 51 sexies of the Tax Procedures Code) take effect from 1 January 2027. Until then, it is a text that has been passed but is not yet applicable.

What each article says

Cash registers and sales without an invoice: article 51 bis of the CTCA (art. 58 of the law). A VAT-liable person who makes sales or services that do not give rise to an invoice and records them on software or a cash-register system must present one of two documents: an undertaking from the publisher of the software or system, or a certificate issued by an approved accreditation body. In both cases, the document attests that the software meets the conditions of inalterability, security, retention and archiving of data, for a tax audit. The word “certification” is therefore not mandatory: according to the text, the publisher’s undertaking is enough.

Computerised accounts: article 20 ter of the CPF (art. 74). A taxpayer undergoing an accounting audit who keeps accounts on computer systems must present the undertaking of the accounting software publisher, attesting its conformity with accounting law (inalterability, security, retention, archiving). On the first on-site visit, they also hand over, in electronic form, a copy of the accounting-entry files, in a format to be set by order of the Minister of Finance. The text then organises sealed copies, the choice of how the computer processing is done, and deadlines of a few days to hand over data (2 days to choose the option, 8 days to hand over the copies in some cases), and it extends the on-site audit period by 30 days.

Publishers: article 51 sexies of the CPF (art. 81). Companies that publish accounting software, management software or cash-register systems, or intervene on their functions for posting entries, must present to the administration, on request, the codes, data, processing or documentation relating to them.

Retention: article 64 of the CPF (art. 82). Books, registers and files kept on a computer medium must be kept in that form. The data and processing subject to audit, with the documentation, must be kept until the end of the sixth year following the one they relate to.

Who is concerned?

Article 51 bis targets VAT-liable persons who sell without an invoice and record on software or a till (a shop, a restaurant, a retail business that takes payment at the counter). Article 20 ter targets businesses whose accounts are computerised and that are audited.

An auto-entrepreneur or an IFU taxpayer? According to the DGI, the IFU combines the local solidarity tax, VAT and income tax: article 51 bis, written for VAT-liable persons, does not seem to aim at this case, but the text does not say so in so many words and we do not claim it. If you are under IFU and use software for your accounts or a till, ask your tax inspectorate. See the list of steps after the card and the auto-entrepreneur invoice.

What to do now

Nothing is enforceable before 2027, but you can prepare without spending:

1. List your tools: accounting software, till software, a spreadsheet used as accounts.
2. Ask the publisher for its undertaking: it should cover inalterability, security, retention and archiving of data. Ask for it in writing, with the software’s name and version. The official model will be set by order, so do not expect a “final” paper today.
3. Check that you can export your accounting entries to a file, because the electronic copy is requested from the first visit.
4. Keep your data in computer form for the period set (six years for data subject to audit), with backups.
5. Avoid a spreadsheet anyone can edit without a trace, if your accounts are audited: inalterability is exactly what the text asks.

What is still missing

At the date we read, we did not find: the orders of the Minister of Finance that will set the models of undertaking and certificate, the entry-file specifications and the sealing procedures; the approved accreditation body for cash systems; nor the position of IFU taxpayers. We have not gone through every issue of the Official Journal or every DGI page: check with the DGI (contacts at the bottom of the page) before paying for “certified” software.

As for the sanction, article 114 of the CTCA, rewritten by the same law, punishes any breach of the VAT rules with a tax fine of 25,000 DA, raised to 100,000 DA in case of fraudulent manoeuvres. That this is the sanction applying to article 51 bis is our deduction, not a sentence of the text.