​​Companies face various difficulties and uncertainties when implementing electronic invoicing (Ro e-Factura national system) and are still unwilling to consider it as the optimal way of invoicing, according to a PwC survey in Romania. Thus, although 45% of respondents claim that they have already sent their first bill through the RO e-invoicing system, the majority encountered at least one problem in the process, the causes of which were mainly legal ambiguities and lack of explanations from the authorities. As a result, 51% of respondents believe at the moment that they cannot abandon the paper invoicing method, 41.5% do not yet have an opinion, analyzed, and only 7.5% believe that the RO – invoice system is the best way.

“Electronic invoicing is one of the pillars of the digitalization process of tax administration, and like any radical change, it is not without certain obstacles or uncertainties. However, as it is implemented by more taxpayers and the problems observed in practice are resolved, we expect to see benefits for both the public and the private sector, as it removes the vulnerabilities of the paper accounting system and contributes to the reduction VAT fraud and tax evasion,” says Daniel Angel, partner, head of tax and legal services at PwC Romania.

The use of Ro e-Invoice became mandatory from July 1, 2022 for economic operators established in Romania, in relations with public customers, B2G (business to government), as well as in contracts concluded in B2B (business to business relations, if they apply to products with high fiscal risk.Optional for other B2B contracts.

According to the survey, 45% of respondents have already sent their first invoice, 36.8% will implement e-Invoice by the end of 2022, and 18.2% during 2023.

Thus, two-thirds of the respondents (67.2%) have started preparing for the RO electronic invoice, the stages of implementation, in most cases, are as follows: 23.8% have completed the implementation both in terms of receiving data from the system and converting data to create an invoice in xml format in accordance with current requirements, as well as installation and testing of the RO e-Invoice solution; 17.4% are in the process of developing an internal solution for transferring accounts; 12.7% are in the process of installing/testing the RO e-Invoice solution, and 12.7% have only performed a general analysis of the required data to create an xml invoice according to current requirements.

“The trend towards digitization of tax administration is becoming stronger worldwide, and in the European Union electronic invoicing, especially in B2G relations, is encouraged through Directive 2014/55/EU, because governments must set an example in this direction. The requirements for the implementation of electronic invoicing will gradually expand due to the catalytic effect it will have for the private sector, respectively in B2B relations”, explains Inge Abdulcair, director of PwC in Romania.

When asked what were the main reasons for the delay in completing the RO e-Invoice implementation process, 28.8% indicated the time needed to adapt the ERP system and create transformation rules, referring to the RO e-Invoice nomenclature and validation rules and 26% the lack of clear explanations regarding the structure of the RO electronic account.

According to the survey, the main problems encountered during the implementation of the RO electronic invoicing system were:

• legislative ambiguities, such as the structure of the RO e-invoice or the scope of application of the RO e-invoice (types of operations for which the RO e-invoice is issued), were mentioned by 28% of respondents.
• invoicing becomes more complicated (regardless of the modality, for example, API / ERP / separate solution), by 16.8%.
• 15% pointed to the lack of dialogue in relations with tax authorities.
• verification of invoices is not easy to perform due to difficult to understand errors of 14%.
• difficulties with accessing the platform where bills are accepted, by 8.4%.
• receipt of the invoice by the beneficiary and confusion arising regarding the reference invoice for the payment / deduction of VAT, 8.4%.

Article supported by PwC Romania