E-invoicing
Three questions, no more than that: do I have to? From when? And can my software do it? Here are the answers for Canada.
Your answer for Canada
Do I have to?
For Canada, no date has been published from which an ordinary trade business must issue electronically. That does not mean “never” — it means we found no deadline.
From when?
No start date has been published for an ordinary trade business in Canada. You keep issuing invoices as a PDF or on paper.
Can Zirko do it?
Receiving, yes — at your own address for incoming invoices, which is not included in every plan (the pricing page names them), and structured e-invoices are read out instead of being filed away; otherwise outside Zirko, for example in your own email inbox. For issuing, Zirko produces a PDF: for your country — Canada — we are aware of no national invoice format, and a PDF by email is the normal case there.
What Zirko does today
The state of things first, the plans afterwards. The other way round would be advertising.
Receiving: in every country
Your business gets its own email address for incoming invoices — always during the trial, afterwards not on every plan; the pricing page names them. Whatever arrives there lands in the inbox list. Structured e-invoices are read and their values carried straight into the record, instead of being filed away as a PDF — whichever national format they arrive in. Without this feature, you receive e-invoices outside Zirko, for example in your own email inbox.
Issuing: a PDF, and nothing more is asked for
For your country — Canada — we are aware of neither a national invoice format nor an obligation to issue electronically. Zirko produces a PDF and sends it; a PDF by email is the normal case.
Prepared, but not in operation
For the other operating countries the generators for their national formats are built and checked against the official rule sets. They run in a separate service that has not been switched on yet. As long as it is off, we promise no format that it would have to write.
No connection to government portals
Zirko is not an access point and registers nothing on your behalf. Where a country requires a portal, Zirko tells you which one, what it accepts and whether you need an account — you submit yourself.
What applies across the twenty-three countries
Issuing electronically does not mean the same thing everywhere. Invoicing public bodies electronically has been compulsory for years in many countries; invoicing other businesses often is not yet — and being able to receive an e-invoice is frequently required earlier than having to issue one. Your country is highlighted.
Italy
- To public bodies
- since 2015-03-31
- Able to receive
- since 2019-01-01
- To businesses
- since 2019-01-01
- Zirko produces there
- FatturaPA and PDF
Romania
- To public bodies
- since 2022-07-01
- Able to receive
- since 2024-07-01
- To businesses
- since 2024-07-01
- Zirko produces there
- RO_CIUS and PDF
Poland
- To public bodies
- none known
- Able to receive
- since 2026-02-01
- To businesses
- since 2026-04-01
- Zirko produces there
- FA(3) and PDF
Germany
- To public bodies
- since 2020-11-27
- Able to receive
- since 2025-01-01
- To businesses
- from 2028-01-01
- Zirko produces there
- XRechnung and PDF
Latvia
- To public bodies
- since 2025-01-01
- Able to receive
- none known
- To businesses
- from 2028-01-01
- Zirko produces there
- Peppol BIS and PDF
Luxembourg
- To public bodies
- since 2023-03-18
- Able to receive
- from 2028-01-01
- To businesses
- from 2028-07-01
- Zirko produces there
- Peppol BIS and PDF
Ireland
- To public bodies
- only the authority must receive
- Able to receive
- from 2028-11-01
- To businesses
- from 2028-11-01
- Zirko produces there
- Peppol BIS and PDF
United Kingdom
- To public bodies
- none known
- Able to receive
- none known
- To businesses
- from 2029-04-01
- Zirko produces there
- Peppol BIS and PDF
Austria
- To public bodies
- since 2014-01-01
- Able to receive
- none known
- To businesses
- none known
- Zirko produces there
- ebInterface and PDF
Switzerland
- To public bodies
- since 2016-01-01only from CHF 5,000 order value
- Able to receive
- none known
- To businesses
- none known
- Zirko produces there
Netherlands
- To public bodies
- since 2017-01-01
- Able to receive
- none known
- To businesses
- none known
- Zirko produces there
- NLCIUS and PDF
Lithuania
- To public bodies
- since 2017-07-01
- Able to receive
- none known
- To businesses
- none known
- Zirko produces there
- Peppol BIS and PDF
Sweden
- To public bodies
- since 2019-04-01
- Able to receive
- none known
- To businesses
- none known
- Zirko produces there
- Peppol BIS and PDF
Estonia
- To public bodies
- since 2019-07-01
- Able to receive
- none known
- To businesses
- none known
- Zirko produces there
- Peppol BIS and PDF
New Zealand
- To public bodies
- from 2027-01-01only from NZ$33,000,000 annual turnover
- Able to receive
- none known
- To businesses
- none known
- Zirko produces there
- PINT A-NZ and PDF
Australia
- To public bodies
- none known
- Able to receive
- none known
- To businesses
- none known
- Zirko produces there
- PINT A-NZ and PDF
Canada
your country- To public bodies
- none known
- Able to receive
- none known
- To businesses
- none known
- Zirko produces there
Cyprus
- To public bodies
- only the authority must receive
- Able to receive
- none known
- To businesses
- none known
- Zirko produces there
- Peppol BIS and PDF
Czechia
- To public bodies
- only the authority must receive
- Able to receive
- none known
- To businesses
- none known
- Zirko produces there
- ISDOC and PDF
Finland
- To public bodies
- only the authority must receive
- Able to receive
- none known
- To businesses
- none known
- Zirko produces there
- Finvoice and PDF
Japan
- To public bodies
- none known
- Able to receive
- none known
- To businesses
- none known
- Zirko produces there
- PINT JP and PDF
Malta
- To public bodies
- only the authority must receive
- Able to receive
- none known
- To businesses
- none known
- Zirko produces there
- Peppol BIS and PDF
United States
- To public bodies
- none known
- Able to receive
- none known
- To businesses
- none known
- Zirko produces there
Each date is the one that applies to an ordinary trade business established in that country, without turnover tiers. The legal status date is above, under your answer. Not legal advice.
And what comes after: unchangeability
An electronic invoice is not a PDF you touch a second time. Zirko does not let an issued invoice be altered — the protection sits as a rule in the database, not as a lock in the interface. Dispatch, payment and reminder notes plus the cancellation remain permitted. Corrections go through a cancellation invoice or a credit note, each with its own number.
Frequently asked questions about e-invoicing
Do I have to issue e-invoices as a small business?
That depends on the country you are based in, and the two directions have different dates: being able to receive usually becomes mandatory earlier than having to issue. Some countries have had an obligation to issue for years, others have not set a date at all. The table on the e-invoicing page names, for each of the twenty-three countries, the day from which an ordinary trade business there has to issue — with the date on which we checked. Thresholds, small-amount invoices and exemptions for very small businesses exist in several countries; for those, ask your accountant.
What is the difference between a structured e-invoice and a PDF?
A PDF is a picture of an invoice; a structured e-invoice carries the same figures as machine-readable data that accounting software can read without typing. Every country has its own format for this, and most of them build on the same core model — they differ in syntax and in national extras. Hybrid formats put both into one file: a human sees a sheet, the software reads the values. Which format applies in your country, and what Zirko produces there today, is in the table on this page.
What legal requirements does software for trade businesses have to meet?
Three demands recur in every country we operate in: an invoice must no longer be changeable once it has been issued, document numbers must be assigned without gaps, and records must remain traceable and readable for the statutory retention period. On top of that comes electronic invoicing, whose deadlines and formats differ from country to country — the table on the e-invoicing page names them for each of the twenty-three countries, with the date on which we checked. This is not legal advice.
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