Guia de transporte vs guia de remessa vs fatura: which Portuguese document is which?

Not in content. The AT’s FAQ on transport documents states it directly: there are no differences of content between the guia de transporte, the guia de remessa or other equivalent documents, and they can be used according to commercial custom. Both must carry the same minimum information set by article 4 of the goods-in-circulation regime — sender and receiver, their tax IDs (NIF), commercial description and quantities, loading and unloading places, start date and time of transport.

The different names reflect how companies use them. In common usage, some companies call it a "guia de remessa" when goods are sent to a customer and a "guia de transporte" when goods move without a sale — but the law does not attach different obligations to the names. See guia de remessa explained for the full content and reporting rules.

The regime lists the documents that count as transport documents:

A fatura can accompany the goods instead of a guia, provided it carries the information the regime requires. When that invoice is issued by electronic means, certified software or the Portal das Finanças, the sender does not need to communicate it before transport: the invoice reaches the AT through the e-fatura system instead.

For the site, nothing changes physically — a document arrives, someone checks and signs it. For the office, it matters: that invoice is already the payment request for that delivery. It should not be matched against itself as if it were a delivery note, and it should not be paid again when the same goods appear on a monthly statement.

• Nota de devolução — under article 36(3) of the VAT Code, it can replace the invoice in a return of goods between the same parties, issued by the fifth working day after the return.
• Nota de crédito (credit note) — corrects an invoice. It must reference the invoice it corrects and the items changed (VAT Code, art. 36(6)).
• Returnable packaging (pallets, containers) is excluded from the goods-in-circulation regime, so returns of empty pallets may not come with any transport document at all. See pallet deposits.

Whatever it is called, the document that arrived with the goods is your evidence of delivery. The check is always the same: each invoice line must be backed by delivered quantities and priced at the contract rate. The Portuguese twist is only that the "delivery note" may be a guia de remessa, a guia de transporte or the fatura itself — and that every one of them carries an ATCUD, which is a good key to detect duplicates. See ATCUD explained and how to reconcile supplier invoices.

Audiree, built in Portugal for Portuguese construction companies, reads all of these documents with AI regardless of layout, whether the site photographs them or they arrive by email. Each line is matched to the project contract; duplicate documents are detected by document number or ATCUD plus supplier, so a load that appears on a fatura and on a monthly invoice is flagged for review instead of approved twice.