Is Jouver compliant with financial anti-fraud regulations?

Modern anti-fraud legislation in many countries requires that once a financial document like an invoice is finalized, it must become immutable. This prevents:

• Backdating transactions to manipulate tax periods
• Altering amounts after the fact to hide revenue
• Deleting inconvenient transactions to evade taxes
• Other manipulations that could facilitate fraud or tax evasion

How Jouver Enforces Compliance:

Jouver enforces financial immutability by locking all invoices once you save them. The moment you click "Save" on an invoice, that document becomes a permanent, unalterable record in your system.

What This Means:

• You cannot change the invoice number after saving
• You cannot modify line items, prices, or quantities
• You cannot adjust tax calculations retroactively
• You cannot change the date to move it to a different accounting period
• You cannot delete the invoice from your records

The Proper Legal Mechanism: Credit Notes

If you later discover an error or need to make changes, you cannot simply edit the original invoice. Instead, you must use the proper legal mechanism: a credit note (also called "avoir" in French).

How Credit Notes Work:

The credit note system creates a complete audit trail showing:

1. Original Invoice: Remains unchanged in your records with all original details preserved
2. Credit Note: New document that reverses or adjusts the original, clearly marked with letter "A" and referencing the original invoice number
3. Net Result: The combined effect of both documents shows the corrected transaction

Both documents are preserved with:

• Timestamps (exact date and time of creation)
• User information (who created each document)
• Full transaction details (all line items, amounts, parties involved)
• Permanent archival (cannot be deleted or overwritten)

Why This Approach Matters:

Satisfies Auditors: When tax auditors review your records, they see complete transparency. They can trace every change, understand why corrections were made, and verify nothing was hidden.

Meets Tax Authority Requirements: Tax authorities in France, USA, Germany, and other countries specifically require this approach. You demonstrate compliance automatically.

Maintains Honest Records: You maintain honest, transparent records that can withstand scrutiny during audits, investigations, or legal disputes.

Prevents Accounting Problems: The system also prevents accidental changes that could create accounting problems down the line. Staff cannot inadvertently alter historical records, ensuring your books always reconcile correctly.

Real-World Example:

You invoice a customer €10,000 for a vehicle sale (Invoice #1001). The next day, you realize you forgot to apply a €500 government rebate.

Wrong Approach (Not Allowed): Edit Invoice #1001 to show €9,500

• This appears as if you manipulated the price after the fact
• Creates suspicion during audits
• Violates anti-fraud laws

Correct Approach (Jouver's Method):

1. Invoice #1001 remains at €10,000 (locked, permanent)
2. Create Credit Note #1001-A for €500 (new document explaining the government rebate adjustment)
3. Net result: Customer owes €9,500 (€10,000 - €500)
4. Complete audit trail shows legitimate correction

Tax authorities see both documents, understand the correction was legitimate, and your compliance is proven.

Countries Where This Compliance Applies:

France: Loi anti-fraude à la TVA 2018 (Anti-VAT fraud law) requires invoice immutability and complete audit trails.

Germany: GoBD (Principles for the proper management and storage of books, records and documents in electronic form) mandates unchangeable financial records.

United States: IRS regulations require permanent records and proper documentation of all adjustments through credit memos.

European Union: EU VAT Directive requires member states to ensure invoice integrity and traceability.

Other Markets: Similar requirements exist in UK, Canada, Australia, and most developed economies.

By using Jouver, you automatically comply with all these regulations without needing to understand the complex legal requirements. The system simply won't let you do anything that would violate compliance.