Electronic Invoices For Transactions With Government From 1 November 2008

From 1 November 2008, all suppliers billing the government will be required to submit their invoices electronically. The e-Invoice system was introduced by the Accountant-General's Department (AGD) of the Ministry of Finance since early 2006. Since then, more than 200,000 invoices have been submitted electronically. This is another initiative of Singapore's Integrated Government 2010 (iGov2010) Masterplan which seeks to extend the reach and quality of Government e-services.

2. An announcement was made on 30 April 2008 on transiting all paper invoices to electronic ones with effect from 1 November 2008. Since then, multiple briefings were provided to guide suppliers on the submission of e-invoices. During this period, more than 2,000 suppliers, constituting almost 80% of Government's regular suppliers have started to submit invoices electronically.

Benefits to Suppliers

3. The integrated e-Invoice system enables suppliers to submit their invoices electronically to all 461 government agencies including the ministries, organs of states, statutory boards, government schools and government-aided schools, via a one-stop Vendors@Gov online portal (www.vendors.gov.sg). Suppliers can also enjoy the following benefits from the e-Invoice system:

(i) Cost Savings. By going paperless, suppliers can save on printing and postage cost.

(ii) Convenience. Being an internet-based platform, suppliers can submit their invoices anytime, from anywhere.

(iii) Ease of Tracking. Suppliers will be able to track the status of their invoices through online enquires anytime, anywhere.

(iv) Promptness of Payment. Electronic delivery of invoices eliminates the risk of misplacement of paper invoices. Suppliers can thus expect prompt payment in accordance with agreed payment terms.

What do suppliers need to do?

4. For suppliers new to the e-Invoice system, you will need to get ready your company's registration number, IRAS' E-Services Authorisation System (EASY) Access Code and employees' personal SingPass(s) to begin. Employees will also need to be authorised via IRAS' EASY (www.iras.gov.sg). before they can perform transactions on behalf of their companies via Vendors@Gov.

5. Batch Submission. Suppliers with high volume of transactions can opt to submit e-invoices in batches via an automated interface with the government's central financial system.

6. Small proprietorships without quick access to the internet at the point of sales, for example, newspaper delivery agents, bus operators, canteen operators, etc, can visit the nearest CitizenConnect centre ( see Annex A (799 KB)) which offer access to government e-services to the public at no charge. Vendors located overseas will be excluded from e-invoicing at this stage.

7. For further information and enquiries, please visit the web portal Vendors@Gov at www.vendors.gov.sg.

MINISTRY OF FINANCE