Deputy Minister and Accountant General present actions promoting electronic invoicing

Actions aiming at promoting electronic invoicing in transactions with the public sector are underway by the government of Cyprus and were presented on Thursday, during a press conference, by the Deputy Minister of Research, Innovation and Digital Policy, Dr Nicodemos Damianou, and Accountant General, Andreas Antoniades.

Speaking on 27 March, the two officials noted that the actions and activities are aimed at promoting the wider use of the electronic invoicing method, which is expected to lead to faster and more efficient management of business transactions with the state. 

They said that through the automatic, electronic processing of invoices, which is carried out via the authorised Pan-European Public Procurement On-Line (PEPPOL) access point, on the one hand, their timely execution and payment are achieved, and, on the other hand, there are significant savings of resources, while business activity is essentially facilitated and simplified. 

It is noted that the issuance and circulation of invoices in pdf format is not considered electronic invoicing. As Damianou and Antoniades said the aim through this government action is to promote electronic invoicing more widely in the market and in the business world, adding that electronic invoicing is considered one of the actions that are fundamental for the digital economy. 

The first action that was presented concerns the prioritisation of the management of electronic invoices by the accounting offices of government agencies. Another action concerns the inclusion of mandatory electronic invoicing in tender documents. A third action covers the gradual implementation of mandatory electronic invoicing in existing contracts through decrees for the public and broader public sector.

(Source: CNA)