Fatura eletrónica na Finlândia: Lei 241/2019, EN 16931 e lista de verificação de implementação

An e-invoice is an electronic invoice sent in a structured format, que é transferida diretamente do remetente's system to the recipient's system without manual processing.

An e-invoice is not the same as an email invoice or a PDF invoice. Key difference:

• E-invoice: structured data (e.g., Finvoice, TEAPPSXML, Peppol BIS), machine-readable
• PDF invoice: an image of an invoice, requires manual processing or OCR reading
• Email invoice: PDF as an email attachment – does not meet the requirements of an e-invoice

The Act on Electronic Invoicing for Contracting Entities and Businesses (241/2019) came into force on 1 April 2020. It is based on EU Directive 2014/55/EU.

Key content of the Act:

• Invoices sent to the public sector (state, municipalities, joint municipal authorities) must be e-invoices
• The recipient must be able to receive e-invoices compliant with the EU standard (EN 16931)
• A business has the right to receive an e-invoice from another business upon request
• The Act does not yet mandate faturação eletrónica for all setor privado invoicing, but the direction of development is clear

EN 16931 is the common EU standard for the data content of an e-invoice. It defines what information an e-invoice must contain and in what format.

In practice, EN 16931 means that a Finnish e-invoice is compatible with a German, French, or Spanish system – as long as both adhere to the same standard.

In Finland, the most common e-invoice formats are Finvoice (used by banks) and TEAPPSXML (used by operators). Both are EN 16931 compatible.

1. Choose software de faturação that supports faturação eletrónica (e.g., Eemel Invoicing)
2. Obtain an e-invoice address (OVT ID or Peppol identifier)
3. Enter into an agreement with an e-invoice operator (or use the software de faturação's built-in operator)
4. Update your invoice templates to include all statutory information
5. ""Test the sending of an e-invoice to a few customers"
6. ""Inform your e-invoice address to customers and update it in TIEKE's e-invoice address directory"

• ""E-invoicing address not registered: customer cannot find your address"
• ""Mandatory information missing from invoice template: invoice recipient rejects it"
• ""VAT ID not correctly marked: in EU trade, an incorrect ID causes problems"
• ""PDF invoice mistaken for e-invoice: PDF by email is not an e-invoice"
• ""Operator agreement missing: invoice does not move in the operator network"

""A five-person renovation company received its first public sector contract from the municipality. The invoice had to be sent as an e-invoice – otherwise, it wouldn't be accepted."

""The company adopted Eemel Invoicing, which has built-in faturação eletrónica:"

1. ""An e-invoice address was automatically created during setup"
2. ""The invoice was sent directly to the municipality's system in Finvoice format"
3. ""Payment was received in the account in 7 days (previously 21 days with paper invoices)"

""Now the company sends all its invoices as e-invoices – also to private customers to their online bank."

""This article is general in nature and does not constitute legal advice."