{"id":13817,"date":"2026-10-07T14:31:49","date_gmt":"2026-10-07T12:31:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bizbox.eu\/blog\/2026\/10\/07\/pdf-is-not-an-e-invoice-what-counts-as-an-e-invoice\/"},"modified":"2026-10-07T14:35:40","modified_gmt":"2026-10-07T12:35:40","slug":"pdf-is-not-an-e-invoice-what-counts-as-an-e-invoice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bizbox.eu\/en\/blog\/2026\/10\/07\/pdf-is-not-an-e-invoice-what-counts-as-an-e-invoice\/","title":{"rendered":"PDF is not an e-invoice: What counts as an e-invoice?"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Many companies today create an invoice in a program, save it as a PDF, and send it by email. It looks digital, but it is not an e-invoice. From January 1, 2028, companies in Slovenia will exchange invoices only as e-invoices, so the difference between a PDF and an e-invoice will become important for every company. <\/p>

An image of an invoice or data<\/h3>

A PDF is an image of an invoice. A person can read it, but a system cannot. The recipient must re-enter the data from the PDF or extract it using an additional tool. <\/p>

An e-invoice is a structured record. A system reads it automatically: the supplier, amount, date, and line items. That is why it does not need to be re-entered. <\/p>

What is not an e-invoice<\/h2>
  • A PDF sent by email<\/li>
  • An XML file sent as an email attachment<\/li>
  • A scan or photo of an invoice<\/li>
  • An invoice created in Word or Excel<\/li>
  • A paper invoice<\/li><\/ul>

    What is an e-invoice<\/h2>
    • A structured XML file in one of the e-SLOG, UBL, or CII standards<\/li>
    • Sent via an approved channel: through an e-delivery provider<\/li>
    • With proof of delivery<\/li>
    • A PDF may be included, but only as an attachment<\/li><\/ul>

      Three common misconceptions<\/h2>

      “I send the PDF and XML together by email, so it is an e-invoice.”<\/strong> It is not. The format may be correct, but the channel is not. Email is not an approved channel for e-invoices. <\/p>

      “My PDF is the official invoice, and the XML is just an add-on.”<\/strong> It is the other way around. The original is the structured invoice; the PDF is only its visual representation. <\/p>

      “I hardly issue any invoices, so this does not apply to me.”<\/strong> It does. The law applies to issued and received invoices, so every company must also be able to receive e-invoices. <\/p>

      What to watch out for with received invoices<\/h2>

      Once you start receiving e-invoices, some suppliers will still send PDFs by email. For such an invoice, please request an e-invoice via an e-exchange provider. This also helps prevent processing the same invoice twice: once as a PDF and once as an e-invoice. <\/p>

      What you gain<\/h2>

      Fewer different channels and less manual work. Invoices arrive through an organised channel and in a structured format. There is less re-entry, fewer scans, and more can be processed automatically. <\/p>

      <\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      Many companies today create an invoice in a program, save it as a PDF, and send it by email. It […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":13820,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[61],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13817","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-other-solutions"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bizbox.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13817","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bizbox.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bizbox.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bizbox.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bizbox.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13817"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.bizbox.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13817\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13818,"href":"https:\/\/www.bizbox.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13817\/revisions\/13818"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bizbox.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13820"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bizbox.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13817"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bizbox.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13817"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bizbox.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13817"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}