In 2019 the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) launched a nationwide e-invoicing initiative in Singapore. IMDA opted for Peppol electronic invoicing, making Singapore the first country outside of Europe to adopt Peppol as the nation-wide e-invoicing standard.
What is Peppol?
Peppol is a network and a set of specifications for electronic invoicing. Peppol started as a European initiative and is now growing on a global scale. Currently present in over 30 countries worldwide including Singapore, Australia and New Zealand. Countries such as Japan will soon be added to the list, and will contribute to Peppol’s annual 100+ million transactions.
Find out even more about Peppol via our What is Peppol? blog.
How Singaporean businesses benefit
The Singaporean government actively promotes the benefits of e-invoicing. From promoting the reduced invoice processing times, to the green economy benefits, to the improved invoice accuracy.
A further, and perhaps the most important business benefit, is the cost savings of the whole e-invoicing process. Compared to conventional paper invoice processing, automated e-invoicing can significantly reduce costs in most cases.
“We encourage all businesses to adopt InvoiceNow to optimise your invoicing process and at the same time reduce cost in rectifying manual errors.” Bill Xiao, Assistant Director of IMDA’s E-Invoice Project Office.
A secure network
E-invoicing also provides stronger network security for businesses. In Singapore Peppol IDs are only issued to businesses using the KYC (Know Your Customer) process. The process is via CorpPass, the digital identity of companies in Singapore.
“This process allows any company that sends and receives invoices via Peppol, to be 100% sure of their trading partner’s identity.” Christophe Vanhoutte, Country Manager for Unifiedpost in Singapore.
From Peppol to InvoiceNow
In September 2020 the local name for Peppol in Singapore became InvoiceNow. The name change is a clear reference to Corporate PayNow, Singapore’s popular payment method.
Both systems require a Singaporean business’ UEN (Unique Entity Number), therefore providing a more unified experience for the user.
Unifiedpost Group, a strong partner
Unifiedpost Group is tax compliant in more than 60 countries and has a certified Peppol access point in Singapore. To discuss tax compliance and e-invoicing for your business in Singapore, explore our available solutions and get in touch with a member of the local team today.
