SAP Document and Reporting Compliance for Singapor...

Chanchana · ‎2021 Apr 20

Update: April 2024

Peppol e-Invoices: All you need to know about the electronic invoices in Singapore

Context of the electronic invoice in Singapore

In Singapore, most companies (seller) issue invoices by extracting the data from their accounting/ERP systems and formatting it in human-readable form and sending it to the buyers via paper or email.

At the receiving end (buyer), manual effort is required to enter or scan the information into their systems which is a time-consuming and error-prone process.

In May, 2018 – Singapore announced the adoption of its own national e-invoice system to help businesses improve efficiency, reduce cost, enjoy faster payment and stay green at the same time. This network is an extension of the International Peppol (Pan European Public Procurement On-Line system) E-Delivery Network allowing businesses to transact internationally with other linked companies. Info-Communications Media Development Authority (IMDA) is the Peppol Authority in Singapore.

Highlight on Key Milestones

IMDA became the first Peppol Authority outside of Europe in May 2018
The nationwide E-invoicing network was launched in January 2019, with 11 Access Point providers ready to serve the market
The Peppol Ready solution accreditation was created in 2019 and more than 50 Peppol-Solution providers were successfully connected to the network by January 2020
The Singapore government added a new channel for suppliers to submit e-invoices via the nationwide E-invoicing network in January 2020, and has since become the preferred channel for suppliers
The E-Invoicing Registration Grant was announced in March 2020 to incentivise businesses to join the network
The nationwide E-invoicing network was renamed as InvoiceNow in September 2020

On February 24, 2023, the Senior Minister of State, Mr. Chee Hong Tat, announced that within the next few years, InvoiceNow become the default e-invoice submission channel for all Government vendors. Refer to FY2023 MOF Committee of Supply Debate Speech by Senior Minister of State Mr Chee Hong Tat

On April 15, 2024, The Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) published media release "Implementation of InvoiceNow for GST-Registered Businesses and free InvoiceNow Services for Newly In..." in the Newsroom. GST-registered businesses will be required to use InvoiceNow solutions to transmit the invoice data directly to IRAS for tax administration. This will be done in phases, starting with voluntary early adoption from May 2025. The transmission of invoice data to IRAS will be done seamlessly through Access Point providers (AP) via Application Programming Interface (API) technology.

From 1 May 2025, for voluntary early adoption by GST-registered businesses, as a soft launch.
From 1 November 2025, for newly incorporated companies[1] that register for GST voluntarily.
From 1 April 2026, for all new voluntary GST-registrants.

IRAS will continue to consult industry partners on the initiative and carefully review the feedback received before announcing further details for the remaining GST-registered businesses. Businesses can seek support from IRAS or IMDA in their adoption of InvoiceNow. For more information on the implementation of InvoiceNow for GST-registered businesses, please refer to the IRAS webpage here.

By transmitting invoice data directly to IRAS via the InvoiceNow network, GST- registered businesses can streamline their compliance processes, reduce data preparation efforts for their submissions to IRAS and enjoy faster GST refunds.

Please check the update of SAP solution for GST InvoiceNow requirement at Regulatory Change Manager

How is Peppol implemented in Singapore?

As the Peppol Authority in Singapore, IMDA’s functions include the following:

Approving and certifying Peppol Access Point providers in Singapore;
Accrediting Peppol-ready Solution Providers in Singapore;
Specifying country specific rules and technical standards under the Peppol framework in Singapore, in particular, the SG Peppol BIS specifications;
Governing the compliance of the Peppol framework in Singapore; and
Promoting the adoption of Peppol framework in Singapore.

IMDA has adopted a centralised Service Metadata Publisher (SMP) model in Singapore and has appointed SGNIC as the SMP provider in Singapore. The Singapore Access Points (APs) will need to register the PEPPOL ID of Singapore businesses with the Singapore SMP. The format of the PEPPOL ID is 0195:SGUEN<Company’s UEN>.

UEN – Unique Entity Number, is the standard identification number of an entity a.k.a. Unique Company ID. UEN consists of 9-10 digits alphanumeric, search UEN at uen.gov.sg.

You can find list of Authorized Access Point Providers at here

Peppol Ready Solutions are solutions such as Accounting (AR and/or AP), ERP and SCM which are connected to the Peppol network where business users can send and receive e-invoices through the Peppol network. You can find IMDA Pre-approved Peppol-Ready Solution Providers at here

SAP Asia is both Access Point Provider and Peppol-Ready Solution Provider in Singapore.

Image from IMDA website.

At InvoiceNow Technical Playbook, you can find list of important technical related items such as:-

SG BIS 3.0 Specification
In Singapore, SG Peppol Bis Billing 3.0 has been adopted in order to cater for country specific requirements such as:

Replacement of VAS (Europe) to Singapore’s GST (Goods and Services Tax) and to cater for non-GST registered businesses;
Specific GST calculation and rounding steps for presenting amount in invoices
Update of GST code list value to identify the specific GST categories available to use; and
Singapore specific payments such as Direct debit using GIRO and Credit Transfer using Unique Entity Number (UEN)-based PayNow Corporate

For more information on the Singapore (SG) Peppol BIS 3.0 specifications at https://www.peppolguide.sg/

November 2023, IMDA announced the plan to shift from Singapore Peppol BIS 3.0 to PINT SG specification and this will be accomplished in a phased-out approach in early 2025.

Peppol International Invoice (PINT) is a new specification for electronic invoicing with the aim to facilitate the interoperable exchange of invoices via the Peppol network at a global level without using extensions. PINT will operate dynamically to enable seamless and compliant exchanges regardless of country-specific requirements, for example, different tax requirements between countries in Europe and outside Europe . Find more info at Peppol PINT.

February 2024, IMDA has released PINT-SG specification and announced its implementation timeline.

Phase in : July 2023 - Feb 2024
Solution uplift: Feb-Dec 2024
Switch over: Jan-Mar 2025
Phase out: Mar-Jul 2025

PINT will become mandatory in 2025 and from March 2025, SG BIS 3.0 will begin to be removed from the network.

Schedule for service providers

Feb-Oct 2024: all Access Point Providers are mandated to upgrade to support PINT (bi-directional).
Feb-Dec 2024: all Pepppl-Ready Solution Providers and Enterprises are mandated to upgrade to support PINT (bi-directional).
Domestic PINT transaction can begin, if both sender and receiver parties agree.

SAP plans to enhance the SAP Document and Reporting Compliance, which is the solution for Peppol e-Invoices so that it supports the PINT specifications. This solution shall fulfill both requirements on PRSPs and APs. Check the update at Regulatory Change Manager.

SG Peppol Directory
Business can find their partners on Peppol network using Singapore Peppol directory (https://www.peppoldirectory.sg/ ) that comes with Simple search using Name or UEN and Bulk search with function of uploading CSV/ excel file containing list of UENs and result of the search will be downloaded automatically.

Sending e-Invoices to Government
When you send e-Invoices to Singapore Government Agencies, you must comply to the requirement from the Singapore Accountant-General’s Department (AGD). Please refer to the guide developed by AGD.

More information can be found in the Playbook page.

This blog post is about a journey of Peppol e-invoices and how Peppol is implemented in Singapore.

SAP Document and Reporting Compliance, cloud edition is a SAP solution for Peppol-eInvoice or InvoiceNow and it's available in Singapore since August 2020.

See SAP Solution for Singapore Peppol e-Invoices and how to implement the solution at SAP Document and Reporting Compliance for Peppol e-Invoices Singapore - Part 2

Please share your feedback and thoughts in a comment. If you have questions about SAP Document and Reporting Compliance, you can post your question here.