What "receiving" an e-invoice means
In the five-corner model, your supplier's invoice leaves its provider (corner 2) for your provider (corner 3) over the Peppol network, and your provider delivers it to you in the agreed format. So you only receive it if you have a provider and a Peppol identifier. Before that, the supplier sends you a readable copy (PDF) as today, but its legal invoice is the XML. And if you register voluntarily before your date, you receive it in your system from day one, with no penalties on you, because penalties apply only from the date you become obligated.
The steps with your suppliers
- List your large suppliers. Those with revenue of AED 50 million or more: telecom and electricity companies, large distributors, banks for their fees, insurers, warehouses and freight. Their date is January.
- Ask each one two questions by email: who is your accredited provider, and when will you start sending to me electronically? The answer tells you when you need to be able to receive.
- Give them your Peppol identifier as soon as you have it. Without it, their invoice cannot reach you over the network; some systems can look you up by tax number.
- Agree the invoice data. The purchase order number, units of measure, and the address you want on the invoice. Any mismatch here becomes a rejected invoice instead of a friendly disagreement.
- Make sure your provider delivers it inside your system. Ask: does the incoming invoice appear as a vendor bill in my accounting system, or stay in the provider's portal for me to download by hand? That question is on the question list and deserves a written answer.
What to do with the invoice when it arrives
A PINT AE invoice is an XML file carrying more than 150 fields. The ones that matter most to you: the supplier's tax number, the purchase order number, the lines with quantity and price, and the tax. Matching to the purchase order before payment is e-invoicing's real benefit on the purchasing side: a quantity or price difference shows automatically instead of a line-by-line check. Our incoming-invoice centre reads the XML file and matches it to your purchase-order file (Excel or CSV) inside your browser, without the file leaving your device, and gives you an approval cycle (new, review, approved, paid).
Penalties on the receiving side
Decision 106 of 2025 imposes AED 1,000 for each day of delay in notifying the Authority or the provider of system failures or changes to registration data, and that includes the recipient. An invoice you do not receive because your details at the provider are out of date is your problem. Update your name, licence and tax number with your provider and in EmaraTax as soon as they change.