|
News Index
Next
Previous
Businesses are distributing unprotected invoices by email attachment, under the false impression that it is safe and legally sound, according to electronic documentation providers Accountis Europe.
The firm claims that companies that send invoices in this way leave themselves wide open to potential security attacks such as viruses, fraud and tampering, as well as VAT fines.
In an attempt to save time and money, many use off-the-shelf accounting, spreadsheet or word processing packages to generate their invoices, which are then attached to email messages and sent using applications such as Microsoft Outlook.
At no point during this process are any invoices protected.
Companies are being urged to use VAT-recognised EIPP (electronic invoicing presentment and payment) systems to deliver and manage their e-invoices.
EIPP systems employ stringent security technologies to protect all the document data during transmission and storage, eliminating any potential risks associated with insecure email delivery and providing a way of exchanging documents safely.
Accountis claim that businesses should realise that unprotected invoices can be
intercepted, copied or altered, and that the tampering can be entirely
undetected.
To make matters worse, unprotected emailed invoices also have questionable legal
status.
According to VAT office guidelines, all electronic invoices must be protected by
digital signatures or equivalent technology to be compliant.
As a result, unprotected invoices sent by email attachment are not compliant and
accounting departments who send or receive invoices in this way could have
difficulties with VAT audits, meaning potentially heavy fines.
Source:
Credit Control Journal
|
