On the 1st of July 2022 Serbia entered its next stage of mandatory e-invoicing to include government to business (G2B) transactions.
Serbia already had mandatory electronic invoicing (e-invoicing) in place for all government to government (G2G) and business to government (B2G) transactions since the 1st of May 2022. The country has now entered its next stage and will see even further mandatory processes in 2023.
Serbia’s mandatory e-invoicing timeline
- 1st May 2022: All G2G and B2G transactions
- 1st July 2022: All G2B transactions
- 1st January 2023: All B2B transactions
The Serbian Ministry of Finance began the adoption of e-invoicing in 2022. The 1st of May 2022 was the first key date, which stated that e-invoicing was mandatory for G2G and B2G transactions. Any VAT registered business sending invoices to public entities had to send their invoice electronically. Public entities had to have the processes in place to be able to receive e-invoices too.
On the 1st of July 2022 the mandate progressed a step further stating that private entities have to be able to receive, as well as send, electronic invoices between any public entity.
Who is affected by the latest stage?
The latest stage includes the majority of private entities. In Serbia, utility companies such as water, energy and internet providers are classed as public entities. Meaning that all utility invoices are G2B transactions.
This stage allows private businesses to gain a thorough understanding of e-invoice processes before all their invoices have to be electronic from the 1st of January 2023.
What is the Serbian e-invoicing process?
Serbia exchanges documents using the national platform eFaktura (Sistem E-faktura). Documents include invoices, credit/debit notes and advancement payment bills. All documents must be presented in UBL 2.1 format and stored for a minimum of 10 years (which starts the year after the invoice was issued). Currently stored by eFakurta free of charge.
EFaktura has its own interface that allows for easy document exchange. The system has the ability to confirm or reject invoices. If after 15 days a user does not action an invoice, eFaktura will do one of two things:
- Automatically accept the invoice if the receiver is a public/government entity
- Reject the invoice if the receiver is a private entity
EFaktura also connects to any ERP provider or platform. Therefore creating seamless accounts-receivable processes.
The role of intermediaries
Businesses can choose to work with an intermediary to carry out their e-invoicing processes for them. But why would a business do this if eFaktura is so simple to use For many businesses the value-added-services (VAS) are what makes e-invoicing even more beneficial. VAS such as:
- Digital payment functionality
- The ability to onboard and manage customers and suppliers
- Using only one system to manage document creation, distribution and exchange
All beneficial services which reduce manual, time-consuming tasks associated with traditional invoicing processes.
Before an intermediary can offer their e-invoicing services, they must be certified by the Serbian Ministry of Finance. The intermediary must be based in Serbia and be able demonstrate criteria such as the ability to digitally store and archive documents for over 10 years.
The next steps
At Unifiedpost Group, we are ready to offer certified intermediary services helping businesses manage e-invoicing processes, document management and transactions using just one solution.
Explore how e-invoicing processes create tax compliance and also provide businesses with the extra value-added-services to transform their finance processes. Take a look at our e-invoicing solution in Serbia and the global services available for businesses of any size.
