The "Crea y Crece" law makes the use of the Electronic Invoice mandatory among companies, SMEs and self-employed in Spain

Electronic invoicing will be mandatory for Spanish companies. 

The "Crea y Crece" Law, which was passed on September 29, 2022, established electronic invoicing as the only system that may be used in commercial relations between companies and the self-employed. This has led to the widespread use of electronic billing and payment systems, which can be a major benefit for businesses and the self-employed.

With the intention of promoting digitalization and preventing late payments in business transactions to support business growth in Spain, this initiative is a component of the Recovery and Resilience Plan.

Electronic invoicing implementation Schedule

The regulation establishes a period of 6 months from the publication of the law for the administrations involved to determine the technical and information requirements to be included in the electronic invoice.

The technical specifications of the project will be based on aspects related to payment (registering dates and payment periods), the requirements of the technology solution providers that allow interoperability among them, issues related to security, control, and standardization of devices and computer systems, among others.

Once these specifications have been published, companies will have different implementation deadlines depending on their turnover:

• For companies whose annual turnover exceeds 8 million euros, the implementation deadline is 1 year once the technical regulations have been approved.
• For the rest of the companies, whose turnover is less than 8 million euros, the implementation period is extended to 2 years after the approval of the technical regulation.

Obligations for companies and professionals

In the absence of the publication of the technical regulation governing the new electronic invoicing system, the law provides for the following obligations in the private sector:

• Obligation to issue, send and receive electronic invoices in their commercial relations with other businessmen and professionals.
• Providing information on the status of invoices.
• Guarantee the free interconnection and interoperability between technological solutions or platforms. This procedure of accreditation of interconnection and interoperability will be determined by regulation.
• Receivers of electronic invoices may not oblige their issuer to use a predetermined electronic invoicing solution, platform or service provider.
• Maintain access to electronic invoices for 4 years for recipients. When the recipients of these have ceased to be customers of the issuing companies, their access must be allowed for 3 years after the end of the contracts.
• Facilitate access, viewing, downloading and printing of the electronic invoice for the recipients.

What should I do to adapt to mandatory electronic invoicing? 

Obligations, implementation deadlines, exchanges with foreign customers/suppliers, interoperability, formats, payment and collection control, compatibility with other processes, electronic signature...

To get answers to some of your questions you may have about the new electronic invoicing system for businesses in Spain. Download the following document to find out more.

Public consultation on the development of the technical regulation of B2B electronic invoicing in Spain 

Driven by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation, the objective of the consultation is to gather the opinions of the most representative individuals and organizations that are potential obligated subjects, as well as B2B electronic invoicing service providers and other manufacturers and developers of computer systems related to invoicing, on the problems that are intended to be solved, the objectives of the regulation, and possible alternative solutions. 

This public consultation allows for contributions to be made before the technical regulation that develops the "Crea y Crece" Law regarding electronic invoicing is drafted. In this way, the following blocks are proposed with questions related to the necessary elements for the articulation of the B2B electronic invoicing system in Spain: 

• Scope of application 
• Architecture 
• Format Interoperability 
• Platform Interconnection 
• Invoice States 
• Transmission of information to Public Administrations 
• Adaptations for smaller companies and self-employed individuals 

Once the contributions of the consultation have been reviewed, the technical regulation that includes the fundamental aspects of the obligation will be drafted and will go through a public hearing process before its final approval.

Electronic invoicing as a tax control measure

Companies are required to electronically invoice other businesses or independent contractors in accordance with the "Crea y Crece" Law. With suppliers sending electronic invoices to the government since 2015, this is something that already occurs in the public sphere.

To be able to issue and receive invoices in the established electronic format, businesses must now adapt their systems to the technical requirements established by law as this model is being applied to the private sector. With the adoption of electronic invoicing, this Law aims to enhance Spanish companies' control over invoicing, lower tax evasion, and assist them in increasing productivity and digitizing their business relationships.

Main benefits of using B2B electronic invoicing

The use of electronic invoicing brings great advantages in the daily operations of companies:

• Digitization and optimization of business relationships
• Time and cost reduction
• Increased productivity
• Increased security and reliability of electronic transactions
• Reduced delinquency in commercial transactions
• Traceability and control of payments between companies and freelancers
• Reduction of human error through process automation

Spain opts for electronic invoicing in the private sector

Thus, Spain follows other European nations like Italy, France, Poland, and Albania in embracing the widespread use of electronic invoicing in the B2B industry. In addition to improving information processing and communication between those involved in the invoicing process, the adoption of these electronic invoicing systems provides competitive advantages for all private businesses by lowering the cost of resources used for processing and managing paper invoices.

EDICOM has a wealth of experience creating electronic invoicing solutions for businesses, governments, and consumers. To achieve this, it provides its clients with a tool that can link them up with any public or private partner.

EDICOM Global e-Invoicing Platform

Large Spanish companies most frequently exchange electronic invoices with one another using EDICOM, one of the global leaders in electronic invoicing. Our platform is also among the most popular among businesses worldwide and in Spain for managing electronic invoicing with Spanish public administrations as well as other telematic fiscal procedures like the SII (Immediate Supply of Information).

Due to the self-developed technology that underpins our solutions, any adaptations or updates can be made quickly without disrupting the internal processes of the more than 17,000 client companies that use our services daily.

We are anticipating the technical rules governing the new billing system between businesses and the self-employed as well as the various criteria that electronic invoicing solutions must satisfy being officially published in the BOE. To provide its customers with an approved option for electronic invoicing between private companies in Spain, EDICOM is working to monitor and adhere to the obligations imposed by the "Crea y Crece" Law.