New law requires e-invoices in public procurement

On June 14, the Swedish Parliament passed a new law requiring all purchases in the public sector to be invoiced by electronic invoice (e-invoice) from April 1, 2019. This means that all suppliers must send e-invoices to their customers in the state, municipalities and county councils, including most municipal and county council-owned companies and some state-owned companies.

According to the new law(2018:1277) on electronic invoices resulting from public procurement, e-invoices must comply with a new European standard established in Sweden in 2018. Pdf invoices or scanned paper invoices do not comply with this standard. Within existing contracts, the supplier can continue to invoice using the e-invoice formats agreed by the parties.

A company that, after several reminders, still fails to invoice according to the new legal requirements may be ordered to pay a penalty.

The bill covers all purchases made by public customers against invoice

The draft law covers all invoices issued by a supplier as a result of any form of public procurement - including direct awards. In practice, this means all purchases made by public customers against invoice. However, the requirement does not apply to cash payments, which also includes payments by payment card.

The e-invoice requirement only applies to public procurement contracts started after the entry into force of the law on April 1, 2019. The new law does not affect existing contracts.

Who is affected and how?

Companies that already have public sector customers or want to have public sector customers in the future need to make sure they can send invoices that meet the requirements of the new law. In other words, it will be a prerequisite for winning public tenders starting after April 1, 2019.

Support for businesses and the public sector

The Swedish Financial Management Authority, ESV, has worked with e-commerce issues in the public sector for over 10 years and is tasked by the government to facilitate the transition to mandatory e-invoicing. ESV supports both suppliers and public organizations in preparing for the new law.

More information is available at esv.se