In a lot of companies one invoice gets typed in three times: first in the CRM or the online shop, then in the accounting program, then again in e-Factura. Each round costs time and is another chance for a mistake. The good news is that e-Factura, the State Tax Service's e-invoicing system, can be connected to other software.
Follow one invoice
Take an ordinary sale. The order comes in through the website or a manager. The quote is made in the CRM, or in Word. The invoice is issued in the accounting program and then uploaded to e-Factura. Every hand-off between those systems is where errors creep in: a wrong IDNO, a total rounded differently, a product with a slightly different name.
Automate the preparation, keep the signature
Preparing the invoice can be automated almost completely. The client's details, the products, the prices and the VAT rates all come from the system where the sale happened. Signing stays with people. Invoices in e-Factura are signed electronically, with a mobile or a digital signature for example, and an invoice is final once it has the signatures its workflow requires.
Three ways to connect
The simplest is exporting a file from your program and uploading it to e-Factura. It works, but someone still does the upload by hand.
The cleaner option is a connector built on the e-Factura API. The State Tax Service publishes an integration guide for accounting systems, and with it invoices go across directly. Nobody types anything twice.
When the process is unusual or several systems are involved, a dedicated module can tie the sale, the accounts and e-Factura into a single flow.
1C and other accounting programs
Many Moldovan companies run 1C or another accounting package. Before paying for any development, check what your version and its supplier already offer. Sometimes the e-Factura exchange is there and only needs switching on. If it isn't, the connection goes through the e-Factura API, following the integration guide in the system's help section.
Catch errors before the tax service does
The usual suspects:
- The buyer's name, IDNO or VAT code doesn't match the official register.
- The wrong VAT rate on certain products or services.
- Rounding that differs between the sales system and the accounts.
- Two invoices for one sale, issued from two different systems.
A decent integration checks all of this before sending and shows the problem on your screen, not after the invoice has reached the client.
Where to begin
- Draw the path of a single invoice, from order to e-Factura, including every system it passes through.
- Ask your accountant which e-Factura obligations apply to your company. The rules have widened over the last few years and depend on the type of business, so confirm them with the State Tax Service.
- Find out what your accounting program can already do.
- Then choose between an export, a connector and a module of your own.
This kind of integration is everyday work in our custom software service.