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ALL suppliers billing the Government will have to submit their invoices electronically from Thursday.
But some small groups which face practical constraints in adopting e-Invoicing are given a six-month transition period to come on board and are excluded at this stage, said a Ministry of Finance statement on Wednesday.
The e-Invoice system is another initiative of the Integrated Government 2010 (iGov2010) masterplan which seeks to extend the reach and quality of Government e-services.
The e-Invoice system enables suppliers to submit their invoices electronically to ministries and statutory boards via a common online portal (www.vendors.gov.sg).
'This will enhance the efficiency of suppliers' transactions with the Government through the end-to-end automation of business processes from tender through contracting to goods receipt and payment,' said the statement.
Suppliers can expect prompt payment with the e-billing scheme, which eliminates the risk of misplacement of hardcopy invoices.
They will also be able to track the status of their invoices through online enquires anytime.
Phased approach
The e-Invoice system is being rolled out in phases starting from early 2006. As suppliers may have to make modifications to their own financial systems, information on the e-Invoice system has been made available to them.???Briefings have been conducted with suppliers to facilitate the phasing in of e-Invoicing.
Over 75 per cent of Government's invoices are received electronically since February. This phase involved only Government ministries.
From Thursday, statutory boards will also receive invoices electronically. There will be a transition period of six months - up to October - for suppliers to adopt e-Invoicing, said the Finance Ministry.
Exclusion from e-Invoicing
But a small group of suppliers who may face practical constraints in doing e-Invoicing will be given more time to transit and are excluded the electronic requirement at this stage.
These are small proprietorships that do not have quick access to Internet at the point of procurement of sales, for example, newspaper delivery agents, bus operators, canteen operators, and vendors registered or located overseas.
'The Government will continue to gather feedback and work with these suppliers to fine-tune the system and extend e-Invoicing to them beyond October 2008,' said the ministry.
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