Sending invoices to a government entity (B2G)

Invoices to a Singapore Government agency go through InvoiceNow to the Accountant-General's Department (AGD), which checks more than an ordinary customer would. As soon as you pick a government customer, the invoice shows a Government e-invoice panel with the extra fields.

Before you start

• The customer must be set up as a government entity. See Creating a customer profile for a government entity.
• Save your Vendor ID from Vendors@Gov, and your Remit To Vendor ID if payment goes elsewhere, in the InvoiceNow section of System Manager›Company Profile. They fill in on every government invoice.

Create a government invoice

1. Open Sales›Invoice, click Add and pick the government customer. A Government e-invoice panel appears below the header.
2. Keep Reference Number to 27 characters with no spaces, and set the Date to today or up to 7 days earlier.
3. Pick the Contact Person for the business unit you are invoicing, then check the Payment Term beside it. It fills in from that contact and must come from AGD's list.
4. In the panel, check the Business Unit, which fills in from the contact person, then choose the Invoice Type.
5. Check the Vendor ID and Remit To Vendor ID, filled in from your Company Profile. For a factor invoice, fill in Factoring Company and Factoring Company Name instead.
6. Check Attention To, the contact's name, which AGD limits to 20 characters. Add the Purchase Order No. if the agency gave you one.
7. Type a Description of the invoice, up to 254 characters, then attach a supporting document under AGD Attachment if the agency needs one.
8. Add the lines. Each line needs a description, and none may carry a discount.
9. Click Confirm, then send it — see Send a sales invoice or credit note.

A credit note works the same way from Sales›Credit Note, with a Related Invoice Number naming the invoice it credits.

What AGD checks

• Payment Term is required and must be a valid payment term from AGD's list.
• Business Unit is required and must be a valid business unit from AGD's list, up to 5 characters.
• Vendor ID is required, and must differ from Remit To Vendor ID, or from Factoring Company on a factor invoice.
• Remit To Vendor ID is only required when you wish to receive payment in the bank account registered with another Vendor ID. Fill in the Remit To Vendor Name with it.
• A factor invoice needs both Factoring Company and Factoring Company Name.
• Remit To Vendor Name and Factoring Company Name must differ from your own company name.
• Attention To is required.
• A credit note needs the Related Invoice Number.
• Description is required.
• Your InvoiceNow Contact Email, or your company email, must be filled in on System Manager›Company Profile.

Most of these are flagged when you save. The rest appear in the Missing information list when you submit.

Limits

• Dates cannot be in the future or more than 7 days back.
• One attachment, up to 1 MB, in bmp, gif, jpeg, jpg, png or pdf format. Only the file under AGD Attachment is sent. Files on the Attachments tab stay with your own records.
• No line discounts. Remove the discount and add it as a separate line with a negative quantity and the discount amount as the unit price.
• No group discount. A freight charge is offered instead, and only when every line uses the same tax type.

Where the invoice goes

• The agency has its own InvoiceNow ID. The invoice is sent straight to that agency.
• It does not. The invoice is sent to AGD, which passes it on to the agency named by the Business Unit.

The agency's InvoiceNow ID is looked up from its UEN when you save the customer, and shows in the InvoiceNow ID column on Sales›Customer. Either way, a copy goes to IRAS when GST InvoiceNow is activated, and AGD's checks apply. Its status and what locks afterwards work as for any other invoice. See Check the transmission.