Legal Documents Overview

In some countries, transportation of merchandise requires a document with specific numbering rules, information, format, and layout to prove legality and possession of the inventory being shipped, received, or moved. Typically, the content of this legal document includes shipping information such as ship-from address, ship-to address, item number and description, quantity, and so on. The legal document may also contain tax, freight, or other additional information. The legal document is commonly generated along with the shipper.

The generic term legal document is used to refer to various inventory movement documents that are legally required in different countries. However, when it comes to specific countries, the legal document is called different names, and its purpose, scope, content, and format may all vary from country to country. Here are some examples of country-specific legal documents:

• In Brazil, Nota Fiscal is a legal document mandatory for shipping and receiving of any material shipment, including non-sales inventory such as service material orders and purchase order returns. The legal document not only contains complete shipping information, but also tax information, values, and accounts receivable (during shipping) or accounts payable (during receiving) details, such as customer invoice number, due dates, and installments if applicable. Nota Fiscal virtually replaces the invoice as a debt instrument in the shipping process and is used to calculate related taxes.

• In Argentina, a document called Remito is legally required for shipping transactions as a proof of legality of inventory movement for transportation purposes. The legal document contains shipping information (ship-to address, freight carrier, and shipped items) that supports calculations of retained tax.

• In Poland, the Dokumenty magazynowe legal document is required not only for shipping and receiving transactions, but also for all inventory movements within the company.

The system provides a common framework for you to implement appropriate legal documents specific to your country, if required. The system also ships with standardized country-specific legal document features that can be turned on if they apply to your country.