Is your coworking space ready for E-invoices?

E-invoicing has been a relevant topic in Europe for the past years and new regulations and implementation deadlines are approaching for most European states and businesses. This directly affects coworking spaces.

To paraphrase a famous saying: “The best time to start preparing for E-invoicing was two years ago. The second best time is today.”

This is why in this article we aim to:

• Explain what E-invoices are and how they will affect your coworking operations.
• Provide two helpful infographics - Breakdown by country & Timeline of implementation.
• Give you a short checklist to keep your coworking space prepared for the changes.
• Explain how Cobot can support you in implementing E-invoicing.

So, what is an E-invoice?

An E-invoice is a digital file, written in a machine-readable format (difficult for humans to read), that contains all mandatory information of a regular invoice in cryptic characters and complies with the EN 16931 standard. These are usually .XML, .JSON, .CSV, and even .PDF files. However, not every .PDF file is a digital invoice.

An E-invoice is not a 1:1 digital copy of an invoice (a scan, digitally created invoice, etc). This means that sending a traditional invoice as a .PDF file does not comply with EU regulations.

To make it simpler, here is how the two files look side by side:

Why are E-invoices being implemented?

The ViDA (VAT in the Digital Age) initiative is a standardization effort by the European Union, aimed at unifying and simplifying tax reporting and the cross-country transactional operations between businesses. When fully operational, the framework will provide a clear and synchronized way to conduct trades, handle and report VAT, and minimize tax fraud in the digital future of Europe.

A big part of this initiative is E-invoicing, which should replace all other forms of invoicing and provide a unified digital way for businesses to exchange invoices (and send them to customers in the future). This change will of course also affect coworking spaces (as we have already seen in Italy, who were the first adopters of E-invoicing).

Different changes will come at different times depending on the size and location of your coworking space, but in the not-so-distant future, all transactions you do (be it invoicing a member or receiving an invoice from a supplier) will be done through E-invoices.

We at Cobot are devoted to helping independent coworking spaces with their transition to electronic invoicing and implementation of accessibility acts. If you have a question about E-invoices, Accessibility, or any other topic we can help you with, don’t be afraid to schedule a short call with us and see how Cobot can support you.

To make this transition easier, we’ve created two infographics that outline the key information for the coming years:

E-invoices in different countries (Infographic)

E-invoices implementation timeframe (Infographic)

As you can see in the infographics above, not all countries will implement E-invoicing at the same pace or even in the same way. Outside of Italy 🇮🇹 and Romania 🇷🇴 who were the first adopters of the idea and are currently at the last stages of the process, European legislators still have significant work ahead of them.

Here are some extended highlights for the European E-invoicing timeframe:

Germany 🇩🇪

By January 1, 2025, all businesses must be able to receive E-invoices. Sending traditional invoices is still possible, however only with consent from the other party. (Paying the invoice is considered consent)

Subsequently, by January 1, 2027, businesses with an annual turnover exceeding €800,000 must also send E-invoices, and by January 1, 2028, E-invoicing must be fully implemented across all German companies.

France🇫🇷

By September 1, 2026, all French companies must be able to receive E-invoices, with full implementation of E-invoicing required by September 1, 2027.

Portugal 🇵🇹

By January 1, all Portuguese companies must be able to receive E-invoices, with no timeframe for the full implementation publicly available.

Spain 🇪🇸

The timeline of Spain depends on technical regulations, but E-invoicing is expected to be fully mandatory in Spain for one year (for large companies) or two years (for small companies) after the regulations are enacted, which is expected to happen by the end of 2024.

Is your coworking space ready for E-invoices?

It might seem like a lot of new information, but adapting to E-invoices is quite simple. Here is a handy checklist that will help your coworking space prepare for the changes:

• Familiarize yourself with the country-specific regulations and implementation timeframes (using the infographics above).
• Compare the size of your company and income to the country-specific stages of implementation. You might not need to change much currently if you aren’t running a large coworking operation.
• The most important step for ensuring compliance with regulations is choosing the best software for your business. If you are a Cobot customer, you can rest easy - we have already integrated E-invoicing for Italy and will have the same for Germany, France, and other countries once the change becomes mandatory.
• Last but not least, make sure you inform your regular suppliers and business partners about the changes in advance, so they are also up-to-date!

Cobot is enabling independent coworking spaces to run their operations seamlessly. Whether you need reliable, affordable software, have compliance questions, or want to explore our product, Book a Free 15-minute Call with our friendly team in your language.

Happy coworking 🥳