Traditional invoicing and electronic invoicing
An invoice is a commercial document issued by a seller to the buyer, specifying all the details of the transaction (products or services purchased by the buyer). Depending on the point of view, an invoice is either a sales invoice (for the seller) or a purchase invoice (for the buyer). The document indicates the seller and the buyer, but the term itself refers to the party which should receive the payment. In the English language the term invoice is used exactly in this context (i.e. We have sent them the invoice is equivalent to They owe us money).
The legal obligation regarding documentation of all economic operations by means of invoice is defined by the Act on the Goods and Services Tax of 11 March 2004, including the later alterations (e.g. the Act on VAT).
Furthermore, the Minister of Finance issued a law-based regulation which entitles some tax payers to a tax return and specifies the following: the procedure of invoice issuance, invoice storage and the list of goods and services to which tax exemptions and tax allowances do not apply. Chapter 4 of the regulation, which is commonly know as the "Invoice Regulation", specifies the rules for issuing invoices, all the information that must be included and the storage period.
A useful tool which supports the process of issuing invoices in a company is a special program for invoicing which is now included in the offers of many companies providing software for enterprises. Our website contains an article which describes the invoicing program as well as its functionalities and modules.