Estonian public sector now accepts only e-invoices
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All companies transferring goods or providing services to Estonian public sector should know, that as of July 1st, 2019, government accounts in Estonia are fully converted to so-called e-invoices.
What does this mean in practice?
In legal words, upon transfer of goods or provision of services to a state accounting entity, local authority, legal person in public law or accounting entity which is directly or indirectly under the dominant influence of said persons or which is a contracting authority or contracting entity, the accounting entity shall submit a e-invoice (machine-processable invoice). In simple words, this means that paper invoices or invoices in simple pdf format (as usual so far) will no longer be accepted.
An e-invoice is a digital invoice that moves in a standardized form between different information systems. The main purpose of an e-invoice is that sending and receiving an invoice does not have to be handled separately - information systems enable this on their own. Also, invoices no longer have to be entered manually in different systems, which in turn excludes possible processing errors.
How can you send an e-invoice?
If you are using any accounting software or accounting firm services, then it is best to contact them. Most programs should be already fully customized. If the accounting software is unable to do so, you should develop the appropriate feature or switch to more modern software.
If you only need to send small quantities of e-invoices, then the e-invoice can be sent free of charge via the government-generated e-invoice information system. The software is located in the Company Portal of the E-Business Registry and can be used by companies as well as accountants, financial managers and other authorized company representatives. All companies and organizations involved in electronic invoicing can send e-invoices to the public sector free of charge, in unlimited quantities and for an indefinite period.
When the quantity of your invoices is already bigger, it is wise to choose an e-invoice operator in order to significantly improve the efficiency of your billing activities with various smart solutions. Then you have to make an agreement with a company that offers e-invoicing services (e.g. Omniva, Tieto Estonia, Envoice).
