E-invoicing compliance and regulatory updates - Singapore

Electronic Invoicing Singapore

Singapore is committed to moving away from paper invoices, however, invoicing is still heavily paper-based. Regarding Business-to-Business (B2B) electronic e-invoicing is allowed but not mandatory. 

Businesses that wish to issue invoices electronically, need to comply establishing internal controls to ensure I&A, provide completeness according Goods and Services Tax (GST) legislation and manage internal controls. Electronic signatures can be used but are not mandatory.

As of 2008, the Southeast Asian country start promoting e-invoicing in Business-to-Government (B2G), requiring companies who supply to public bodies to issue electronic invoices. The introduction of a de facto mandate has brought great results in decreasing tax evasion and fostering efficiency to the point that the mandate may be extended to all businesses. 

Singapore launched a nationwide e-invoicing standard framework in 2018, Peppol. The infocomm Media Development Authority of Singapore (IMDA) became the first Peppol Authority outside of Europe that May. 

Furthermore, IMDA implemented the nationwide e-invoicing network in 2019 to replace paper and help companies to improve efficiency, reduce cost, enjoy faster payment, and stay green.  

This network is an extension of the International Peppol E-Delivery Network, allowing businesses to transact internationally with other linked companies, enabling business process interoperability. 

The nationwide e-invoicing network was renamed as InvoiceNow in September 2020. IMDA announced at the end of 2021 that its cooperation with other government agencies to allow them to issue e-invoices directly to corporate customers through InvoiceNow. 

In April 2024, the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) announced a phased voluntary introduction of e-invoice mandate via the InvoiceNow network.

GST-registered businesses will be required to transmit invoice data to IRAS using InvoiceNow solutions according to the following timeline:

• Phased implementation rollout starting from May 1, 2025.

• Mandate for newly incorporated companies from November 1, 2025.

• Mandate for all new voluntary GST-registrants from April 1, 2026.

In just a few years, InvoiceNow is set to become a game-changer, making its mark as the go-to e-invoice submission channel for all government vendors.

Want to learn more about e-Invoicing compliance?

Download our Global e-invoicing and Tax Compliance fact sheet here for more information.

Archiving

All records must be stored for at least 5 years from the invoice date  

Storage abroad is allowed subject to access and legibility. 

Want to know more about Basware’s archiving services?

Download our Basware Vault fact sheet here to learn more about our flexible and scalable solution.

Basware Services

All Basware Services are available for use in Singapore.

Please note that Basware is a certified Peppol Access Point in Singapore since 2018. Furthermore, Basware is registered with OpenPeppol AISBL.

Want to find out how we can help in your specific case?

Speak to a member of our team to learn more.

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Interoperability

Our advice

Singapore currently allows various invoicing methods: paper, PDF, electronic, and portal key-in invoices.

The pre-dominant method of invoicing is emailed PDFs with true electronic invoicing (XML or EDI-based) still limited to a handful of large organisations.

We strongly advise our receiving customers to implement e-invoicing and smart capture methods for PDF invoices and avoid having to process them using OCR-techniques. This has no impact on suppliers and improves the efficiency and accuracy of the capture process.

Want to understand how we can help in your case?

Get in touch with our experts.

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