The role of E-Invoicing in the digital transformation of organisations

published on 8 May 2024 | reading time approx. 3 minutes

By deciding to implement E-Invoicing, Poland is taking another step towards digital business transformation. It is a revolution in invoicing, which will streamline the process and increase the integrity of the tax system. Once this solution is introduced as a mandatory standard, day-to-day work of companies, accountants and all those involved in the invoicing process will change.

Paper form out to pasture »
A readily available accounting system »
Cost invoices »
KSeF – benefits for companies »
E-Invoices and procedures »

Paper form out to pasture

Many clients are still using paper invoices, asking their accounting firms to process them. Invoicing starts with manually sorting invoices by date and then the sorted invoices are entered into the accounting system. An alternative nowadays is to use OCR software to read data, where documents are scanned and then processed by a special software. This does not change the fact that OCR programs require manual data entry into the accounting system, which is time-consuming and tedious.

Posting sales invoices can also be time-consuming, especially if the company uses a separate invoicing system that does not allow the data to be imported into the accounting firm's software system. Soon, the whole process will improve, thanks to the National E-Invoicing System (KSeF).

A readily available accounting system

As structured E-Invoices are to be mandatory, every company will be required to issue invoices in electronic form. This will let accounting documents be easily and quickly imported into the accounting system, provided they are integrated with KSeF. Similarly, it will be possible to import the client's purchase invoices, so that accounting firms get the documents to be posted on time, without writing any reminders to clients.

Many accounting firms in Poland are struggling with documents being delivered by clients late. Charging additional fees for late delivery rarely helps. KSeF is expected to provide immediate access to documents, solving the problem of late clients.

Cost invoices

Many accounting systems in Poland already allow importing cost invoices from KSeF, eliminating the need for additional tools such as OCR. The process is automated and does not require entering data manually, which makes the work of every accountant more efficient.

Until now, it was the client who delivered the invoices to the accounting firm, which meant that the client was declaring that the invoices documented business expenses. The accountant verified whether the invoice was indeed issued to the client's company and whether it was related to the client's business.

Many accountants worry whether clients will be approving invoices downloaded directly from KSeF. Accounting software programs offer functions that allow sending the client such a downloaded invoice for approval, which ensures greater control over expenses. In addition, electronic workflow programs automate the approval of E-Invoices by clients.

The effective date for the mandatory use of the KSeF has been postponed. The next date will be set soon and will in all probability be final.

KSeF – benefits for companies

Looking at the benefits of KSeF, it is clearly not only an obligation, but also an opportunity to drive digital business transformation in Poland. The system can bring many benefits, such as:

simplification of the invoicing and accounting process;
automation of invoice control;
data quality and security improvement;
saving of time and costs associated with the storage of invoices;
VAT will be easier to account for and errors and corrections will be avoided;
collaboration with customers and suppliers will be easier.

An additional benefit of KSeF for taxpayers is that they will be refunded overpaid VAT faster, they will not have to send SAF-Ts for sales invoices that otherwise had to be sent whenever the authorities requested so, E-Invoices will be stored for ten years, and it will be easier to account for correcting invoices that reduce the taxable base. The process automation and the security of sharing invoices are also clearly advantageous.

E-Invoices and procedures

It is worth mentioning that companies in Poland are currently working hard to embrace E-Invoices in their business operations, but also to adapt them to their company procedures, especially those related to invoicing and liability. To comply with the new requirements, companies will also have to modify their contract templates, business relations, and accounting rules. Despite the concerns surrounding the e-invoicing revolution, companies and accounting firms will benefit from the implementation of E-Invoices and KseF. Although the implementation process seems complicated, businesses should first of all see the benefits and facilitations that this solution offers for the years ahead.