Electronic invoices slated to replace paper ones from 2021

Electronic invoices should be implemented in Serbia in mid-2021, which will be another step towards the digitization of business operations,which will facilitate everyday operations for companies, it was said for Tanjug.

The new accountancy law, which will introduce the concept of an electronic invoice, should be adopted at the National Assembly of Serbia by the end of the year, and the draft law was up for public review up till recently.

– If the law is adopted as planned, electronic invoices will become part of our business system in mid-2021 – the chairman of the board of the Group for Accountancy Affairs at the Chamber of Commerce of Serbia, Aleksandar Vasic, told Tanjug.

He said that each step toward the digitization of business operations was a great relief for the economy, provided it is implemented properly.

The implementation of electronic invoices, Vasic explains, will make the preparation and the sending of invoices simpler.

– This will make paper invoices obsolete and lead to a considerable reduction of costs when it comes to the related administration and archiving.

He said that, thanks to electronic invoices, state organs will have a better insight into the operations of business entities, which is expected to lead to a higher degree of fiscal discipline.

As he said, each step towards the digital transformation leads to a certain improvement in doing business and this instance of digitization will certainly make accountants' job easier in terms of manual data entry, that is, transferring data from a paper form into accounting software.

– Accounting will certainly change in the upcoming period – Vasic said and added that accountants would have to be ready for digitization and reorienting their activities toward providing services of accounting, financial and tax advising and analyses.

He said that there would certainly be a transitional period for the implementation of electronic invoices and that business entities working with large systems already implemented the system of electronic invoices.

Tax advisor Milan Trbojevic says that electronic invoices will be a pretty big change for the entire economy.

– Paper should become completely obsolete, and it was used the most in creating invoices – Trbojevic said.

He says that, after the law is adopted, companies will have a year and a half to adapt and change their business policies.

– Once the law is adopted, we'll see if there will be subsequent bylaws defining how electronic invoices are exchanged, whether specialized software needs to be used or not, whether they can be emailed etc. – Trbojevic said.

He says that electronic invoices are an important change, which should contribute to a cheaper and quicker exchange of invoices and a quicker communication using modern technologies.

What's very important for accountants and all companies, Trbojevic says, is that the archiving process will be much cheaper.

– There are examples of large companies which store their documentation on hundreds of square meters. Now everything will be electronic and online, requiring only a hard drive – Trbojevic says.

Privredna komora Srbije

Narodna skupština Republike Srbije

Group for Accountancy Affairs at the Chamber of Commerce of Serbia

Milan Trbojevic

electronic invoices

digitization of business operations

Accountancy Law

paper invoices

issuing of invoices

fiscal discipline

accountancy software

tax consulting

financial consulting

accounting consulting

business policy

archiving of documentation