ŠAVŠ/TAČR Digital Czechia in a Digital Europe

67

• transaction date • information on possible arrears or overpayment. 6

An electronic invoice is considered an accounting record under Act No. 563/1991 Coll., on Accounting, and also a tax document under Act No. 235/2004 Coll., on Value Added Tax. In addition to the above, the electronic invoice can also serve as a delivery note, evidence or warranty card in case of later claims by the customer. 7 8 A commercial partner (customer) who receives a data file with an electronic invoice must first accept this invoice. Acceptance serves as a control mechanism that ensures the verification of the correctness and completeness of the invoice, with all data and invoiced items that are listed on the electronic invoice being factually true. The purpose of this check is to eliminate documents that contain errors or are intentionally sent to the customer without the transaction actually taking place in the past. By accepting the electronic invoice and setting the basic accounting parameters of the entire transaction, the customer will be automatically posted to the individual books in the corporate information system or accounting program supporting electronic invoicing. As a rule, only the date when the electronic invoice is to be paid is entered manually into the customer’s software. The received invoice will be later archived. Essentially, the whole process involves the creation of an electronic platform that will ensure fast, efficient and especially secure data transfer between the supplier and the customer. Within the European Union, this data transfer in the B2G relationship is ensured either through a state institution; a private business entity that has been selected by public authorities to ensure the transfer of data in the field of e-invoicing or, last but not least, a combination where users are free to choose whether they want a public or private provider, as shown in Table 1. The benefits of electronic invoicing lie mainly in increased transparency of the economic operations carried out, better recovery of receivables, reduction of printing costs and subsequent distribution of invoices in their physical form. The fundamental importance of electronic invoicing is evident in the case of the implementation of public contracts, in which this method of electronic transmission of the invoice radically increases the transparency of all implemented public contracts. 9 By interconnecting the business information systems of the supplier and the customer, a digital footprint will be clearly captured, and this footprint 6 Directive 2014/55/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 April 2014 on electronic invoicing in public procurement. 7 Act No. 563/1991 Coll., on Accounting. 8 Act No. 235/2004 Sb., on Value Added Tax. 9 Marinagi Catherine, Trivellas Panagiotis, Reklitis Panagiotis, Skourlas Christos, Adoption and use of e-invoicing in Greece, International Conference on Integrated Information, pp. 279-286.