Deadlines for country-specific e-invoicing are approaching fast: are you ready?

E-invoicing is the electronic exchange of an invoice document between a supplier and a buyer. An e-invoice is issued, transmitted and received in such a structured data format way that it allows for its automatic and electronic processing. Governments all over the world are demanding that both domestic and foreign companies who are doing business in their country comply with a specific format of e-invoices.

The process also requires that these invoices are handled through a number of acknowledged borderless secure trade systems. Examples of the latter are PEPPOL (already used in around 15 countries, including Belgium), e-Factura for Romania and KSeF for Poland. To ensure strict compliance with those regulations, companies need to thoroughly understand the regulatory landscape of each of the countries they want to do business in. Not an easy task!

Fortunately, companies that are already taking advantage of all that SAP has to offer, can take comfort in knowing that a solution is at hand. Say hi to the e-Invoicing solution that is part of SAP’s Document and Reporting Compliance or DRC tool. This solution provides users with an end-to-end solution, integrated into their current SAP ERP.

Once installed, when an invoice in posted in SAP, this will create a corresponding digital copy. The eDocument will then automatically be mapped to the official format, authorized and authenticated. The e-invoice is sent for approval to the government’s respective platform (such as PEPPOL, e-Factura, KSeF …). If acknowledged, a registration number is created and given to the sender while the recipient will be allowed to download the e-invoice through the platform.

Even better, the SAP Document and Reporting Compliance solution covers more than just e-invoicing.

• It automates and standardizes operations with a single solution to fulfil e-invoicing and other reporting regulations worldwide.
• It centralizes e-document processing and provides real-time status.
• It responds rapidly to increasingly complex regulations being adopted by countries.

As such, SAP DRC drives smoother compliance, from e-documents to statutory reporting. It will help to transform, standardize, and harmonize your processes globally to comply locally – faster and efficient. Over the last few years, SAP has successfully integrated compliant e-invoicing in many countries. Which countries are next?

While Belgian legislation has been postponed to January 2026, the time is ticking for a number of other countries. For Romania, the obligatory use of e-invoices via their approved e-Factura platform is approaching rapidly, i.e. 1 April 2024 (the actual deadline was 1 January 2024 but a three-month’s grace period was agreed upon) . Equally, companies who are doing business in Poland will need to comply by 1 July 2024*. If you have not yet adapted your internal invoicing process to this new reality, we are happy to help!

*Since publishing this blog on 9 January, the Polish Ministry of Finance has announced they will postpone the July 2024 launch of mandatory e-invoicing. A new deadline has not yet been determined.