According to Accountis Europe Ltd (http://www.accountis.com), an international provider of secure financial document exchange and payment systems, companies are sending unprotected invoices by email attachment, assuming it is safe and legally sound. However, 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 effort to save time and postage costs, companies are using off-the-shelf accounting, spreadsheet or word processing packages to generate invoices, which are then attached to email messages and sent using applications such as Microsoft Outlook. At no point during this process are the invoices signed or protected in any way. Companies need to be aware that these unprotected invoices can be intercepted, copied and altered - and the tampering can be entirely undetected.

Not only are unprotected emailed invoices insecure: they 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. Unprotected invoices sent by email attachment are therefore not compliant and accounting departments who send or receive invoices in this way may have difficulties with VAT audits and potentially be exposed to heavy fines.

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 document data during transmission and storage. This eliminates the potential risks associated with insecure email delivery and provides the means to exchange documents safely with all members of the supply chain.

For an in-depth discussion of the security issues surrounding e-invoicing by email, together with additional insight into how EIPP systems can deliver VAT approved e-invoices safely, please refer to the full article at: http://www.accountis.com/accountis/articlefinesandfraud.html

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