It is not a big surprise that Poland has introduced their first E-Invoicing requirements. Currently, tax administrations all around the world are, more than ever before, using technology to collect and analyze more data from taxpayers. This often happens in real-time or near real-time. According to the Minister of Finance, Funds and Regional Policy, Tadeusz Kościński, the goal of the Polish E-Invoicing requirements is to make the invoicing mechanism more user friendly. However, many other countries worldwide use this mechanism to close their VAT gap and prevent tax evasion.
This blog post will explain how the SAP DRC (document & reporting compliance) solution for Poland ensures compliance with the Polish B2G E-Invoicing requirements.
Compliance with the Polish B2G E-Invoicing requirements
Directive 2014/55/EU of the European Parliament states that all public authorities are obliged to be able to receive and send electronic invoices over a platform imposed by the government from 18 April 2019 onwards. However, in Poland, it is not mandatory to use the possibility of B2G E-Invoicing up until now. Nevertheless, Poland completed the implementation of the directive by building a platform called PeF (platformy elektronicznego fakturowania). PeF is currently the main platform used by public entities and economic operators for E-Invoicing compliance in public procurement. The main objective of the project is to implement mandatory receipt of electronic invoices sent by businesses and received by public administrations.
In the future, the government will likely switch to stricter Polish E-Invoicing requirements by making B2B E-Invoicing mandatory from 2024 onwards. So far, a more advanced National E-Invoicing System development has started in Poland, called KSeF (Krajowego Systemu e-faktur). This is a similar project to the B2G PeF platform, which started in Q1 2021. It is intended to be a platform allowing the issuance and transmission of structured invoices. In addition to issuing, transmitting, and receiving structured invoices, which the PeF platform already offers, the KSeF platform also assigns an identification number and stores them in the system. The system will analyze and control data from structured invoices and send messages regarding the issuance, rejection, or inability to issue a structured invoice.
Read more about the Polish B2B e-invoicing requirements here.
Moreover, the Polish government platforms consist of a PEPPOL Access Point. The PEPPOL platform has been widely adopted by European governments and companies. The overall objective is to enable a secure and simple exchange of electronic documents (e.g. E-Invoicing, E-Orders) between public and private entities worldwide. This by providing a set of technical specifications across purchase-to-pay business processes. In our blog post on PEPPOL, we described in detail how the PEPPOL Platform works and what the benefits are.
SAP Document & Reporting Compliance for the Polish B2G E-Invoicing requirements
SAP Document & Reporting Compliance is a strategic, integrated SAP solution that works with SAP ECC and SAP S/4HANA and makes your SAP accounting processes 100% legally compliant with the Polish requirements.
SAP already developed an early solution to comply with the Polish E-Invoicing requirements. It can ensure compliance with many other country-specific legal requirements all over the world, such as SII in Spain, SDI in Italy, CFDI and Complemento de Pago in Mexico, RTIR and EKAER in Hungary, DIAN in Colombia, E-Invoicing and E-Archiving in Turkey and MyDATA in Greece. All the implemented country-specific legal requirements can be easily managed with the SAP eDocument Cockpit, which takes a central role in SAP Document & Reporting Compliance. With SAP Document & Reporting Compliance, you have an end-to-end solution that automatically generates the required XML files based on source information from your SD or FI billing documents and digitally signs the XML file when required. SAP Document & Reporting Compliance can relate to SAP CPI, SAP PI, or with 3rd party EDI middleware systems, to manage all data transmission with the local tax authority systems.
An additional benefit of using SAP Document & Reporting Compliance is its flexibility. Several SAP BAdI’s (Business Add-Ins) are available to adapt standard XML structure and PDF mapping, to change the e-mail content and the recipients, and to partially automate the customer feedback process. We already adopted SAP Document & Reporting Compliance for many different customer-specific cases. Please let me know in the Comments section below if you have a specific business requirement that needs to be implemented in your Polish SAP accounting process. I am happy to investigate how this can be integrated with SAP Document & Reporting Compliance.
The SAP Document & Reporting Compliance process flow for Polish B2G E-Invoicing compliance
For Poland’s E-Invoicing requirements, SAP provides the SAP Document & Reporting Compliance solution. The following graphic illustrates the end-to-end process steps to achieve compliance with the Polish regulations for E-Invoicing:
- First, a source document is created within SAP (for example, invoice). Once this document is saved, the system creates an instance of it (eDocument) in the database.
- Afterwards, the eDocument can be submitted manually from the eDocument Cockpit, where all eDocuments are shown.
- Once submitted, the system creates the required XML format from the data of the eDocument.
- Next, the system sends the XML file to the Peppol Platform, which will check the XML file.
- The PEPPOL platform will contact the verified platform. In the case of Poland, this would be the PeF platform or KSeF and submit the XML file.
- The platform will send a notification to the PEPPOL service.
- This, in turn, forwards it to the SAP Document & Reporting Compliance solution.
- Lastly, the status of the successfully submitted eDocument will be updated and visible in the eDocument Cockpit.
What are the challenges for the businesses
Besides the technical implementation, there are quite some other challenges regarding the business which also should be taken into consideration. The new requirements will need to be adapted and understood across the whole business. Some topics to consider are:
- Review and update current business processes to include new e-invoicing requirement submission.
- User tasks/responsibilities must be reviewed considering the new requirement.
- E-invoicing training for users. To both, understand the requirement and complete new tasks in the system, as well as error handling.
- Local accounting knowledge may be required to understand and meet new standards.
PIKON is established in providing business management services for legal requirements. During the change management process, we will assist your users so that they understand what is required by law and know how they can efficiently execute the tasks in the system.
Why you should comply with the E-invoicing requirements
The most important reason for complying with the E-Invoicing requirements is to avoid paying severe penalties. Non-compliance will namely be fined. Therefore it is crucial to make the necessary SAP adaptions to ensure compliance with the Polish E-Invoicing regulations.
These SAP adaptions will most likely require some work and investments. However, the SAP Document & Reporting Compliance solution brings quite some benefits for your business as well. It is a strategic solution that offers the re-use of SAP licenses and basic configuration for compliance with other country-specific legal requirements. Therefore, it ensures your business compliance in the long run.
How PIKON could help you
At PIKON, we have set up a Competence Center for Legal Requirements where our consultants investigate legal requirements worldwide and their impact on the SAP system. Our team consists of experts that combine in-depth knowledge as well as experience that was gathered through our many SAP Document & Reporting Compliance and local implementation projects all around the world, for example, SDI in Italy, SII in Spain, CFDI and Complemento de Pago in Mexico, RTIR and EKAER in Hungary, XRechnung and ZUGFeRD in Germany, E-Invoicing and E-Archive in Turkey, DIAN in Colombia, MyDATA in Greece, etc. We are a strategic partner who offers clients the best suitable solution to ensure that their SAP system and business processes meet different country-specific legal requirements in the long run. Furthermore, we follow up regularly on new and changing legal requirements that are relevant for our clients and inform them when action is needed. That way, clients can concentrate on their daily business and do not need to worry about not being compliant with necessary regulations.
If you have any questions on the Polish E-Invoicing regulations, or you are interested in a system demo regarding the E-Invoicing flow, do not hesitate to request a web meeting or leave a comment in the comments section below. We are happy to help and will come back to you as soon as possible.