1. Business Challenge
The client required seamless, legally compliant exchange of invoices with Romania’s e-Factura system directly from their Dolibarr ERP. Manual export/import processes were error-prone, slow, and exposed the company to potential compliance risks with ANAF standards. Key pain points included:
- Need for automatic XML invoice generation matching ANAF e-Factura schema.
- Two-way integration to send Dolibarr invoices and receive vendor invoices from e-Factura.
- Clear status management (Sent / Accepted / Rejected) and actionable error messages.
- Secure credential storage and robust API communication (SSL/TLS, retries, timeouts).
- Audit-ready logging and downloadable transaction reports (CSV / PDF).
2. Solution Overview
CnEL India designed and delivered a purpose-built Dolibarr module compatible with Dolibarr ERP v21.0.x+ and developed using PHP 8.x following Dolibarr’s module development standards. The module implements:
- Invoice Sending: Automatic XML generation from Dolibarr invoices, validation against ANAF schema, and secure submission to the e-Factura API. Transaction statuses are stored and displayed in Dolibarr.
- Invoice Reception: Scheduled and manual fetch of incoming invoices from e-Factura, conversion into Dolibarr vendor invoices, and workflows to validate/accept/reject.
- Security & Reliability: Secure storage of API credentials in Dolibarr configuration, SSL/TLS for all API calls, and configurable timeouts & retry logic.
- UX & Management: Dedicated e-Factura tab with clear screens to monitor sent/received invoices, statuses, errors, and to trigger resends or manual fetches.
- Logging & Reporting: Detailed API and transaction logs with exportable CSV and PDF reports for audit and accounting teams.
- Documentation: Complete user manual, installation & configuration guide, and developer documentation with commented source code.
3. How the Module Meets Technical Requirements (Mapping)
| Requirement | CnEL India Implementation |
|---|---|
| Dolibarr compatibility | Tested on Dolibarr v21.0.x and 22.x; built with standard module scaffolding and hooks to ensure forward compatibility. |
| PHP version | Developed using PHP 8.x best practices, type hints, and modern error handling. |
| Send invoices | XML generation engine maps Dolibarr invoice fields to ANAF e-Factura XML schema, with schema validation prior to submission; status tracking in Dolibarr. |
| Receive invoices | Scheduled & on-demand fetching of incoming XMLs, parsing into Dolibarr vendor invoices, and UI workflows for accept/reject/validate. |
| API security | Credentials stored securely in Dolibarr config (encrypted where possible), SSL/TLS enforced, and secure transport with proper headers. |
| Error handling & retries | Descriptive error messages, categorized logs, configurable timeout and back-off retry logic for transient failures. |
| Logs & reports | Comprehensive API call logs, transaction logs, and exportable CSV/PDF reports for audit and reconciliation. |
| Documentation | End-user manual, installation steps, configuration guide, and developer documentation included with commented source code. |
4. Implementation Approach
- Discovery & Specs: Reviewed ANAF e-Factura technical documentation and provided a gap analysis mapping Dolibarr invoice model to the required XML elements.
- Module Design: Module skeleton built using Dolibarr module generator conventions with a dedicated admin configuration page for API credentials, endpoints, and options.
- XML Engine: Templated XML generator with schema validation step (XSD) before submission; fallback validations to present actionable errors to users.
- API Layer: Robust HTTP client with SSL/TLS, configurable timeout, retry policy, and structured logging of request/response bodies (redacting secrets in logs).
- UI & Workflows: Clean Dolibarr tab to view transactions, re-send, fetch incoming invoices, and manage statuses. Inline messages for errors and suggestions.
- Testing & QA: Unit tests for XML generation, integration tests with a sandbox e-Factura endpoint (where available), and end-to-end user acceptance testing with real-world invoice samples.
- Delivery & Docs: Packaged module with installation zip, full source code, deploy checklist, user manual, and developer API notes for future customization.
5. Quality Assurance & Compliance
CnEL India prioritised compliance with ANAF’s e-Factura specification at every step:
- XML output validated against official XSDs; invalid payloads are blocked with detailed error messages.
- All API calls logged with correlation IDs to support troubleshooting and audits.
- Security review performed for credential storage and transport security; recommended server hardening and certificate management best practices included in delivery notes.
- Regression testing across Dolibarr core invoice workflows to ensure backward compatibility.
6. Deliverables
- Fully functional Dolibarr e-Factura integration module (installable package)
- Complete, commented source code repository (ZIP or Git)
- Installation & configuration guide
- User manual with screenshots and workflows
- Developer documentation describing API interaction points and extension hooks
- Transaction logging & reporting features (CSV/PDF exports)
- Test cases and QA report
7. Communication & Timeline
CnEL India maintained agile communication with the client:
- Weekly progress updates with demo snapshots and next-step plans
- Dedicated project manager as the single point of contact
- Delivery milestones: discovery → prototype → core integration → UAT → final delivery
- Final delivery included full source code handover and documentation
8. Why CnEL India Is the Best Team for This Project
Choosing CnEL India delivered the following advantages:
- Dolibarr Expertise: Proven experience with Dolibarr module development and extension points, ensuring stable, maintainable integration.
- Enterprise Integration Skills: Strong background building secure API integrations for finance systems, including XML/XSD-based integrations and payment/tax APIs.
- Compliance-First Approach: Focused on meeting ANAF e-Factura standards and producing audit-ready outputs to reduce regulatory risk.
- Robust Engineering Practices: Use of PHP 8.x features, structured error handling, unit & integration tests, and clear developer documentation for future enhancements.
- Transparent Communication: Weekly updates, demos, and rapid responses to issues — ensuring the client remained informed and confident throughout the engagement.
- Quality & Support: Thorough QA, documentation, and post-delivery support options to help with adoption and production stabilization.
9. Results & Business Impact
- Reduced manual invoice handling and reconciliation time by eliminating manual exports/imports.
- Improved compliance with ANAF e-Factura requirements through validated XML generation and audit logs.
- Faster vendor invoice processing due to automated reception and conversion into Dolibarr vendor bills.
- Clear visibility into invoice lifecycle (Sent → Accepted/Rejected) enabling quicker exception handling.
10. Client Testimonial
“CnEL India delivered a flawless integration that completely transformed how we exchange invoices with ANAF. Their team understood both Dolibarr internals and the e-Factura schema, built a secure, reliable module, and provided crystal-clear documentation. After deployment we saw a dramatic reduction in processing time and near-zero compliance issues. Communication throughout the project was excellent — weekly demos kept everyone aligned. Highly recommended.”
11. Next Steps & Support
CnEL India offers the following post-delivery options:
- On-site or remote training sessions for finance and admin teams
- Production support & SLA packages
- Custom enhancements (e.g., additional reports, multi-company handling, custom field mappings)
Revolutionizing Dolibarr with Seamless Romanian e-Factura Integration