SIS e-Invoicing Compliance

Ensuring e-Invoicing legal compliance entails adhering to the specific regulations governing the processing of electronic invoices in different countries. This involves following local laws concerning invoices and tax reporting, and information display. These regulations dictate various aspects, including the methods for exchanging e-Invoices between parties, whether directly or through tax authorities, as well as requirements for archiving, such as storage duration, archive location, and formats. It's important to note that the technical and legal specifications for e-Invoicing can vary significantly from one country to another.

A digital signature functions to guarantee both the authenticity and integrity of data. It operates through applied cryptography, utilizing dedicated hardware and software tools. This technology generates a distinct electronic imprint within a document, enabling subsequent verification to confirm that no alterations have been made to the document over time.

There are different types of digital signatures available. Some of them are used only to ensure technical data authenticity; others are also accepted by applicable regional legislation as equivalent of a seal (i.e., seal for paper documents).  

Depending on the country and region, different digital signatures can be allowed or required for electronic invoices, including:  

1.  Electronic signature: (also called a weak electronic signature or light electronic signature) is usually defined as “data in electronic form which are attached to or logically associated with other electronic data, and which serve as a method of authentication".
2. Advanced electronic signature: means electronic signature which satisfies a few additional requirements, including unique link that can identify the signatory. The signatory has sole control over this type of signature. The signatory generates the signature on their own and links it to the data to which it relates; any subsequent change of the data is therefore detectable. Advanced electronic signature guarantees the integrity and authentication of the text. 
3. Qualified digital signature: means advanced electronic signature based on a qualified certificate and is created by a secure-signature-creation device. All technical elements used to apply such a signature must be of the latest technology.

The original XML file is encapsulated into the digitally signed XML file. For the PDF, the signature will be accessible through the dedicated feature of your software reader.  

Upon receipt of the signed files, you may request validation of the signature. This will be provided and stored as a separate file.

Legal archiving is a part of e-Invoicing, required and regulated by applicable legislation. Electronic invoices should be stored for a period defined by applicable country legislation and stored in accordance with specific technical rules. Invoices stored in the legal archive should be available for retrieval and re-verification, and the storage should provide additional technological means to ensure the data integrity and its protection from any modifications during storage.

• Mandatory e-Invoicing: Obligation to electronically exchange invoices/transactional data using a predefined format, sometimes via a (government run) platform.  
• Real-time reporting: Obligation to communicate incoming and/or outgoing transactional data to the tax authority in (near) real-time, usually within a few working days, in a pre-defined format. 
• On-request e-audits: Obligation to be able to extract and present accounting/transactional data in a predefined format on request of the tax authority.

An e-Invoicing platform allows your organization to receive/send electronic invoices from/to all your business counterparts – vendors and customers.  

An e-Invoicing platform provides the required technical means to ensure that an electronic invoice is processed, stored, and delivered in line with applicable technical, business and legal requirements.  

An e-Invoicing platform can provide various methods of invoice submission/creation, including direct integration with the company accounting or ERP system, automatic file exchange, manual web data entry, paper invoice imaging and recognition, and other methods. Also, the way invoices are delivered can be different. This may include automatic printing and mailing of paper invoices.  

An e-Invoicing platform also provides services defined by legal requirements of a particular country/region, such as Digital Signature and data Legal Archive.

There is no requirement to do so. However, due to the changing legal status of e-Invoicing worldwide and the growing number of companies already using this service, you can expect positive impact on your company’s operations (process improvement) and financial position (cash flow). You can consider using e-Invoicing for interline settlement (SIS) purposes and/or for your regular invoice transactions (IATA e-Invoicing).

The legal invoice is like the paper copy of your current invoice, whereas the PDF listing gives detail of each line item on the invoice. The legal invoice may be just a few pages, whereas the PDF listing may be made of hundreds of pages. 

In general, you must provide all legal fields present on paper invoices. In addition, depending on the countries, some additional fields may be required. This may vary based on how your local legislation translates the paper invoicing process into e-Invoicing.

At go-live, SIS will not be legally compliant for all the countries. We expect compliance in the major countries of the Clearing House, which will ensure that over 70% of transaction volume be covered.  

An external audit will be performed at go live to ensure the technical compliance of SIS.

If e-Invoicing is not legal in your country, as a temporary solution you will have to print paper invoice from SIS, and this will be your invoice copy that needs to be archived.  

Subsequently, you can approach the tax/fiscal authorities to see if this transnational process could be subjected to exemption and if you could be authorized to use SIS e-Invoicing feature.

SIS Operations will manage the list of countries where Digital Signature is required and implemented within SIS. So you will have to set up in your profile if you require Digital Signature for the appropriate types of incoming invoices and/or outgoing invoices.