In May 2018, Singapore’s Info-communications Media Development Authority (IMDA) became the first governmental agency outside Europe to become a Peppol Authority. Peppol is part of Singapore’s eInvoicing framework, a government-led initiative designed to facilitate better international trade, increase efficiency, and reduce costs. Singapore was soon joined by New Zealand and Australia, who are also helping Peppol expand in the ASEAN region.

In this blog post, we’ll be covering everything to do with the Peppol in Singapore, touching on eInvoicing, Singapore’s requirements for transacting, and the benefits businesses can get from working with an IMDA approved Peppol service provider.

For general Peppol information, including key components and implementation, see our document Peppol Crash Course: Utilizing the Peppol Network for Success.

As we’ll see below, Peppol gives businesses cross-border e-document transfer capabilities with greater security. However, this is only the beginning.

Here are some of the other main benefits businesses are taking advantage of:

With the numerous benefits listed above, it is no surprise that Peppol is at the center of Singapore’s nationwide eInvoicing network, known as InvoiceNow. This network adopts the Peppol framework but provides some slight extensions/modifications, based on country-specific requirements.

As part of the eInvoicing strategy, in 2020, the government rolled out Peppol Singapore grants to encourage uptake. The nationwide eInvoicing initiative has seen good traction with more than 55,000 businesses connected on the InvoiceNow network. To continue to accelerate adoption and ensure that businesses on the network can get more benefits, IMDA introduced these incentives and grants.

InvoiceNow Transaction Bonus $200 bonus for all businesses on the network for sending 10 e-invoices on InvoiceNow. Applicable for all businesses

Lead Connect $30k fixed grant applicable to large enterprises with their own finance/ ERP solution. Up to $70k with system connect. Applicable for large enterprises

LEAD Transact Grant Up to a $40k grant by IMDA Applicable to large enterprises that meet the minimum number of transacting business partners on the InvoiceNow network.

See all Grants and Incentives in detail here

As Peppol and eInvoicing are still developing spheres in Singapore, there are many commonly asked questions that arise. We’ll answer them right here.

Yes. The Singapore Peppol framework encourages legal compliance through robust data and transparency. eInvoicing through Peppol makes sure that you not only comply with Singapore’s requirements but those of the public and private organizations that you transact with overseas.

Yes. Peppol’s very nature is designed to make it as straightforward to send an invoice to a business in your city, as it is to send one to a business on the other side of the world.

eInvoicing compliance involves adhering to the laws of the countries in which you transact. This means invoices should be unaltered, delivered in one of the country’s accepted document formats, and comply with local tax laws.

IMDA developed an extension to Peppol’s Business Interoperability Specifications (BIS) Billing 3.0 (more on this in the section How to Submit eInvoices to Singapore Government Agencies via the Peppol Network). As stated on the OpenPeppol website:

The extension takes into consideration Singapore’s GST tax requirements, and helps companies comply with Singapore tax laws through Peppol easily. 

No, at present Peppol covers only business-to-business transactions. 

As explained in our blog post, Why Use Peppol for eInvoicing?, Business Interoperability Specifications (BIS) ensure the standardization of documents sent through the Peppol network by stipulating certain components. Only by operating according to the BIS can a business be validated by Peppol.

In the drive to make Peppol eInvoicing conform to Singapore’s GST tax laws, while also fuelling easier international trade, the IMDA has created an extension to the Peppol BIS Billing 3.0. Some of the changes include:

While we have only focused on eInvoicing so far, it also must be mentioned that the scope of Peppol extends all forms of electronic business documentation such as e-orders, e-advance shipping notes, eCatalogues, Invoice Message Responses, and more.

This FAQ from IMDA is a great resource to dig deeper.

Sending eInvoices to Singapore government agencies isn’t difficult — in fact, there is a complete guide complete with the catchy title: eInvoice Submission to Singapore Government Agencies via the Peppol Network. The guide takes you through everything step by step, and includes a table of the Peppol eInvoice fields with related requirements.

One element that makes Peppol a more secure framework through which to conduct invoicing is that each member is identified by their Peppol participant ID. This is created by a Peppol Access Point and needs to be registered with Singapore’s SMP. From here, the participant will be listed on the Peppol directory Singapore, which is linked to the global Peppol directory. 

The Peppol ID format consists of three parts:
1) BusDox Participant Identifier prefix;
2) the country code;
3) the GLN (Global Location Number) of the organization.

In short, you cannot send or receive any electronic document without a participant ID on Peppol. The ID verifies that the organization you are transacting with is legitimate and helps to reduce instances of invoice fraud.

The Peppol Access Point is your bridge to the Peppol network. If you are a small business working with an accounting system connected to Peppol, it’s easy. Through the ERP-system’s Peppol Access Point you can quickly start transacting on the network.

If you are a big business with your own ERP system, a service provider, or an ERP provider, the situation becomes a bit trickier as you will need to set up your own Access Point. In this case, there are two distinct options:

1. Set up the Access Point yourself – This requires a time-consuming and involved accreditation process — we go into the accreditation process in more detail in our blog post, Peppol Access Points – Setting Up Your Own or Working With a Provider.

2. Work with an accredited Peppol Access Point provider – Here you use the certifications of the Peppol provider, while they handle the technical aspects. This option means the only thing you need to worry about is tending to your clients and growing your business rather than development, hosting, and maintenance.

Get started with one of the world’s most established Peppol infrastructure providers. No matter your operational requirements, you can join Singapore’s 55,000+ other Peppol participants by working with Tickstar, an IMDA-approved Access Point provider. We’ll have you leveraging the network in just a few steps! Active in the Peppol community since 2012, our specialists are here to not just give you access, but to help your business needs through scalable infrastructure, optimized to your operations.

For big companies, service providers and ERP providers, we cut out all the pain points of Access Point accreditation, and get you up and running in days, rather than months. While we handle the hosting and support involved in running an Access Point, you can take advantage of our up-to-date certifications and compliance with every Peppol Authority throughout the world. 
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