Invoicing is becoming electronic. At least for medium-sized companies, in the context of public contracts, via the . It has been compulsory for large companies since 18 May. It will therefore be the case for medium-sized companies, those with a turnover of more than €8.8m, a balance sheet of more than €4.4m or a workforce of more than 50 employees at the end of 2019, from Tuesday 18 October. For small businesses, it will be on 18 March 2023.
But are the more or less affected in the country actually ready? Not all, admits , CEO of the Chamber of Commerce. "They don’t have it on their radar as a priority. Hence, the increased awareness on the part of the Chamber, with webinars and , which he says have been successful.
"This does not mean that from Tuesday they will no longer be able to have public contracts", he clarifies. to issue invoices electronically without Peppol, via Guichet.lu.
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315 companies in the craft sector are concerned
There are 315 medium-sized companies in the craft sector. "Most of them have taken the necessary steps but are not ready to send electronic invoices tomorrow", says Anne Majerus, in charge of the digitalisation service at the Chamber of Trades. "They have to change their system, which represents a cost, while they are not in the best economic situation. This will be even more burdensome for small businesses.”
She also points out that some municipalities are not ready to receive electronic invoices. confirms this: "Nobody is ready. We are tinkering. It has to be implemented, but in a pragmatic way.
The question of the communes
When asked about this point, the Ministry of Digitalisation redirects us to the , which includes the country’s 101 municipalities. "According to our information, they would be ready to receive electronic invoices, but the technical aspects are not within our competence," corroborates the Syndicat des villes et communes du Luxembourg (Syvicol). When contacted, the Syndicat intercommunal de gestion informatique (Sigi) had not responded when the article was published.
On the industry side, "I hope that companies are in order", says , president of Fedil, "Those who say they cannot, must ask themselves questions about their adaptation to the current world".
Those who say they cannot, must ask themselves questions about their adaptation to the current world.
The Chamber of Trades has set up a . The Chamber of Commerce also offers a list of consultants for the implementation of Peppol, which can be requested by phone from the House of Entrepreneurship hotline. It is planning a survey on the implementation of e-invoicing and a forum with the government.
This story was first published in French on. It has been translated and edited for Delano.