An interview with Elżbieta Hałas, Head of the GS1 Poland Center and coordinator of the EDI ECR Group.
Michał Koralewski: The Regulation of the Minister of Finance of November 14, 2005, regarding the issuance and transmission of invoices in electronic form, assumes that electronic invoices can be sent in two ways – secured with an electronic signature bearing a qualified certificate or through Electronic Data Interchange (EDI). The latter method is currently more popular in Poland, but it has not been without its problems. Is it currently possible to issue electronic invoices in the EDI model?
Elżbieta Hałas: Electronic invoicing via EDI is actually used on a mass scale in Poland. It is difficult to estimate how many invoices are sent this way per month, but I think it is around five to six million. Most retail chains use invoices in a format agreed upon by the EDI group within ECR Poland. This invoice, despite the lack of legal regulations, has been in use since 2001. Until now, we had a situation where retail chains used electronic invoices, but they were additionally accompanied by paper circulation. Based on bilateral agreements between the supplier and the recipient, companies regulated how settlements would be made based on electronic invoices and how paper invoices were to be sent to ensure full compliance with Polish legislation. Problems began to arise when the Minister of Finance’s regulation was issued, allowing for the use of exclusively electronic invoices without printing paper invoices.
Elżbieta Hałas: Electronic invoicing via EDI is actually used on a mass scale in Poland. It is difficult to estimate how many invoices are sent this way per month, but I think it is around five to six million. Most retail chains use invoices in a format agreed upon by the EDI group within ECR Poland. This invoice, despite the lack of legal regulations, has been in use since 2001. Until now, we had a situation where retail chains used electronic invoices, but they were additionally accompanied by paper circulation. Based on bilateral agreements between the supplier and the recipient, companies regulated how settlements would be made based on electronic invoices and how paper invoices were to be sent to ensure full compliance with Polish legislation. Problems began to arise when the Minister of Finance’s regulation was issued, allowing for the use of exclusively electronic invoices without printing paper invoices.
The article comes from the magazine “e-Fakty” 4/2006.