Haseem flags SME compliance shift ahead of ZATCA Wave 24

By AI, Created 4:43 PM UTC, May 18, 2026, /AGP/ – Saudi SMEs with annual turnover between SAR 375,000 and SAR 750,000 must enter mandatory e-invoicing under ZATCA Wave 24 by June 30, bringing thousands of smaller businesses into Phase 2 for the first time. Haseem says the bigger opportunity is not just compliance, but tighter financial control and better cash-flow management.

Why it matters: - Wave 24 extends Saudi Arabia’s mandatory e-invoicing rollout to smaller SMEs for the first time. - The change affects businesses that will need to align with ZATCA Phase 2 requirements, which can reshape billing, recordkeeping and cash-flow visibility. - The expansion also supports Vision 2030’s goal of lifting SME contribution to GDP from 20% to 35%.

What happened: - Haseem said Saudi SMEs should view the June 30 Wave 24 deadline as a starting point for broader digital financial management, not just a compliance cutoff. - ZATCA announced Wave 24 on September 26, 2025. - The deadline covers taxpayers with annual turnover between SAR 375,000 and SAR 750,000 during 2022, 2023 or 2024. - ZATCA is notifying affected taxpayers between April 1 and June 30, 2026. - The authority extended its initiative to cancel fines and exempt taxpayers from penalties to June 30, 2026.

The details: - Wave 24 is the largest expansion of Phase 2 e-invoicing to date. - The rollout brings thousands of small businesses into mandatory integration with the Fatoora platform. - By the end of Wave 24, the majority of Saudi Arabia’s VAT-registered SMEs will be in Phase 2 compliance. - Monsha’at’s SME Monitor said the Kingdom had 1.7 million active commercial registrations at the end of Q2 2025. - Monsha’at said 38% of those businesses were youth-owned and 47% were female-owned. - Haseem targets Saudi SMEs in the SAR 375,000 to SAR 5 million turnover range. - Haseem’s platform combines electronic invoices, tax invoices, expenses, supplier bills, payments and financial reporting in one system. - The software is aligned with ZATCA Phase 2 specifications, including real-time clearance for every B2B tax invoice and 24-hour reporting for B2C simplified invoices. - Haseem serves businesses in retail, services and manufacturing that are moving away from manual or spreadsheet-based bookkeeping. - More information is available at haseem.com.

Between the lines: - Haseem is positioning compliance software as an operating system for small businesses, not just a tool to satisfy regulators. - The company’s pitch suggests that the next competitive edge for SMEs will come from financial discipline, not from simply meeting e-invoicing rules. - The focus on non-accountants signals a market need for simpler tools as the mandate reaches smaller firms. - Badr Nour, Haseem’s founder and CEO, said businesses that still do not know what they are owed, what they owe and where cash is going will not become stronger through compliance alone.

What’s next: - ZATCA is expected to keep expanding the e-invoicing mandate to smaller taxpayers in later waves. - Haseem said it will keep publishing guidance and tools to help Saudi SMEs prepare for the transition. - Saudi SMEs facing the deadline will need to finalize Phase 2 readiness, regularize past errors if eligible for the grace period and adjust workflows for ongoing digital reporting.

The bottom line: - Wave 24 closes one compliance gap, but it also raises the bar for how Saudi SMEs manage invoices, taxes and cash flow every day.