---
id: KB-NO-011
url: https://app.codecontract.io/help/regulation/obligations-that-arrive-on-a-date
idioma: en
categoria: normativa
subcategoria: producto
audiencia: usuario
nivel: intermedio
actualizado: 2026-08-13
tambienEn: [es]
relacionados: [KB-NO-001, KB-NO-006]
citadoPor: [KB-TZ-017]
---

# Obligations that arrive on a date

_E-invoicing, sustainability reporting, product passports: how to prepare without guessing._

**Responde a:** when does e-invoicing become mandatory for me · preparing for regulation coming into force · digital obligations timeline · which regulations apply to our size

Every so often an obligation appears with a date: from such a day you must issue differently, report something new, or be able to prove something nobody used to ask for. And it almost always arrives by pull-through before it arrives by law: a large client demands it two years before the rule does.

## The pattern always repeats

| Phase | What happens | What to do |
| --- | --- | --- |
| It is approved | A distant date, little practical detail | Note the date and who in the company tracks it |
| It approaches | Large clients start asking for it | Prepare via that route, not the legal one |
| It phases in | Large companies first, then the rest | Know which phase you are in — not always obvious |
| It is enforceable | No room left | It should have been done months ago |

> [!IMPORTANT]
> The second row is the useful one. When a large client asks for something "to get ahead", that is the real warning: what is a commercial requirement today will be an obligation, and you now have a concrete reason to build it.

## How to prepare without overspending

1. **Find out which phase you fall into** — It depends on size, sector or turnover, and there is usually an extension nobody remembers.
2. **Check how much of it you already have** — Usually quite a lot: what is missing is the form, not the data.
3. **Start with what pays off regardless** — Traceability, or current per-supplier documentation, is worth having with or without the rule.
4. **And record when you started** — If you run late, being able to show when you began is what separates a delay from neglect.

> [!WARNING]
> Do not buy tools "to comply with regulation X" until you know your phase and what your main client actually requires. Half those purchases happen two years early and with a scope that later changes.

## What almost all of them ask for underneath

**En corto**

- Being able to show the origin and journey of something.
- Keeping third-party documentation current and dated.
- And being able to show who did what and when, without reconstructing it.

Which is why working on those three fronts pays off for whatever comes: they are the common denominator of nearly all of them, and none is satisfied by an isolated document.

> [!NOTE]
> Specific regulations change and their dates move. What does not change is that they arrive asking for evidence, not declarations — and evidence is generated while you work or not at all.

**How do I know if it applies to us?**

Ask your advisers about the phase and your main client about their timeline.

**What if we are very small?**

Many start with large companies, but they reach you through the chain before the law does.

**Is getting ahead worth it?**

If a client is already asking, yes. If nobody is, build the foundations and wait.

## Ejemplos

**A small firm hears a new obligation is coming and considers buying a tool.**

- Checks its phase and asks its main client
- Starts by getting supplier documentation current

→ Reaches the date prepared, without having bought something that later did not fit.

**You wait for the date before starting to prepare.**

- Starts with whatever depends on third parties

→ The wait runs in parallel.

**Nobody knows which dates affect the company.**

- Keeps a list of dates with an owner

→ None arrives as a surprise.

**The date approaches and supplier information is missing.**

- Requests early and chases automatically

→ The deadline does not depend on somebody else's diary.

**Everything is prepared and then the deadline moves.**

- Reviews the dates periodically

→ The work follows the real calendar.

**Each department finds out separately.**

- Shares the calendar in one place

→ Nobody duplicates and nobody is left out.