Written for Mexico. This analysis applies to Mexican federal tax law — ISR (income tax), IVA (VAT) and SAT rules — and cites Mexican statutes. Amounts are in Mexican pesos (MXN).
Sooner or later you need it: for your accounting, for a refund, to square up your return, or simply because you lost an XML. All your CFDI — the ones you issued and the ones issued to you — live in a single SAT portal, for free, and pulling them takes minutes if you know where to look and what the limits are. Here is the guide, and what they are really for beyond the paperwork.
Where you download them: the SAT invoice portal
The place is the SAT electronic-invoice portal (portalcfdi), distinct from the public CFDI verifier: this one requires authentication because it shows you your invoices. You log in with your RFC (federal taxpayer ID) and Contraseña, or with the e.firma (the e.firma is more stable for large downloads). The basis is art. 29 of the CFF (the federal tax code), which requires every transaction to be documented with a CFDI; the portal is where the SAT gives back to you, consolidated, everything that was stamped under your RFC. You have it linked in our resource center, alongside the other validators and viewers.
Step by step: issued, received, XML and PDF
Inside the portal you choose between issued invoices (the ones you sent to your clients) and received ones (the ones your suppliers issued to you). You filter by date range, by fiscal folio (UUID), or by the issuer's or recipient's RFC, and by status: valid or cancelled — a critical distinction, because crediting IVA or deducting against a cancelled CFDI is an expensive mistake. You download the XML (the file with tax value, the one your accountant needs) and also the printed representation as a PDF. To pull many at once, you use «Recuperar Descargas de CFDI» (Retrieve CFDI Downloads), which prepares a package you download once it is ready.
The 12-month limit and how to work around it
The restriction that surprises everyone: each query covers a maximum range of 12 months. For a full tax year, one download per calendar year usually suffices; for periods that cross years, or for several tax years, you pull by segments and merge them. If you need large volumes or recurring downloads — accounting firms, companies with thousands of CFDI a month — the professional route is the bulk-download web service, which automates what you would otherwise do by hand on the portal; but for most taxpayers, the portal and its 12-month ranges do the job.
What you really need them for
Pulling the XML files is not the end — it is the raw material. With your issued invoices you reconcile your declared income; with your received ones, your deductions and creditable IVA. That cross-check is exactly the one the SAT runs to prefill your returns and detect discrepancies, a topic we cover in the SAT already knows what you invoiced. A key defensive use: check that none of your received invoices comes from a supplier on the 69-B blacklists or is cancelled, before deducting it — because an EFOS invoice or a cancelled CFDI turns your deduction into a problem. Downloading and reconciling your CFDI is, at bottom, running the same audit on yourself that the authority could run on you.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need the e.firma, or is the Contraseña enough?
You can log in with your RFC and Contraseña (the SAT password) or with the e.firma. For normal queries, the Contraseña is enough; for large or frequent downloads, the e.firma is more stable. If you are going to pull thousands of CFDI on a recurring basis, the professional route is the bulk-download web service, which automates the process.
Why can I only query 12 months at a time?
It is a portal limit: each query covers a maximum range of 12 months. For a full year one download usually suffices; for several tax years, you pull by segments and merge them. You do not lose information — you just get it by period.
Can I download the XML files in bulk?
Yes. On the portal, «Recuperar Descargas de CFDI» (Retrieve CFDI Downloads) prepares packages you download once they are ready. For truly large volumes or automation, there is the bulk-download web service, which your accountant or system can consume. The XML is the file with tax value; the PDF is only the printed representation.
What is the difference from the CFDI verifier?
The public verifier confirms whether a specific invoice exists and is valid, with no password, using the folio and the RFCs — useful for checking someone else's CFDI. The invoice portal requires authentication and shows you the full universe of your own invoices, to download and reconcile. One verifies a single invoice; the other hands you all of yours.
Do you need to reconcile hundreds or thousands of CFDI?
Downloading is the easy step; reconciling your issued and received invoices against what you declare, cleaning out cancelled ones and spotting risky suppliers is where the value is — and where the discrepancies the SAT cares about show up. We do it as a matter of routine and hand you the traffic-light report, with the exact items to close before your next return.