MyInvois e-Invoicing in Malaysia: how to clear invoices easily

Use Tradeshift to send cleared e-invoices to your buyers, without having to worry about technical integration with MyInvois

By Ioana Ploesteanu, product marketing manager, Tradeshift

TL:DR The shift to mandatory e-invoicing in Malaysia adds a layer of complexity and additional steps to your invoice submission process. Sending invoices through Tradeshift strips away that complexity. In fact, the only thing you’ll have to do is what you were doing before the introduction of MyInvois: generate your invoice and send it to your buyer.

Why is everyone talking about mandatory e-invoicing?

If you’ve been following Tradeshift’s content this year, you may have noticed that we’ve been discussing clearance mandates frequently—and for good reason. It’s a global trend that will only accelerate. You need a plan, and we’re here to help.

Malaysia’s shift to mandatory e-invoicing

Malaysia is among the countries implementing B2B e-invoicing clearance mandates. It is rolling out MyInvois, an e-invoicing system aimed at streamlining tax administration.

As a supplier in Malaysia, understanding MyInvois and its implications is crucial. 

This article equips you with the updates, including the latest one issued on October 4th, about exemptions, knowledge, and steps to be prepared.

If you want more context before reading the article, check out our on-demand webinar, which covers the Malaysian e-invoicing mandate in depth.

What is MyInvois?

MyInvois is a mandatory pre-clearance e-invoicing system introduced by The Malaysian Inland Revenue Board (IRD). 

Here’s a simplified breakdown of the complex clearance process with MyInvois

1. Create an e-invoice: Generate your invoice in the required format.
2. Submit to MyInvois: Send the invoice to the MyInvois platform for approval.
3. Validation and signing: The platform validates your invoice and adds a digital signature.
4. Download and check: Retrieve the approved invoice, which includes a unique reference number for validity. 
5. Send to the buyer: Send the invoice to your buyer, who will receive the official record of the transaction. 
6. Buyer verification: Your buyer receives and verifies the invoice to ensure they have all the information they need to approve it and send for payment.

Sounds complicated, right? But read on, and we’ll show you an easier way.

When will MyInvois be mandatory?

The MyInvois rollout is happening in phases:

• • The initial deadline is August 1st, 2024, for businesses with an annual turnover of MYR 100 million (approx. USD 21 million) or above.
  • Transition period: A 6-month transition period started on August 1st, 2024, allowing businesses to issue monthly consolidated e-invoices. The IRBM will not impose penalties for non-compliance with e-invoice regulations during the transition period as long as businesses adhere to the consolidated e-invoice requirements.

• Exemptions clarified: On 4th October, the Malaysian government announced that certain entities are exempt from issuing e-invoices, including self-billed e-invoices. The entities are as follows: 

• • Foreign diplomatic offices, 
  • Individuals not conducting business, 
  • Statutory bodies and authorities for specific transactions, 
  • International organizations for transactions before July 1, 2025, 
  • Taxpayers with annual turnover below RM150,000.

What are your options as a supplier to comply with the clearance mandate in Malaysia?

MyInvois is designed to improve tax administration in Malaysia, but it also means some changes for suppliers. 

While e-invoicing offers benefits in the long run, getting started with MyInvois might feel like extra work. You’ll need to familiarise yourself with the platform and add steps to your invoicing process.

Your buyers may also need more information on your invoices than what the government requires, creating delays as they try to match your invoices with their internal systems. Ultimately, this can slow down how quickly you get paid. 

So what are your options?

1. Manual compliance: Spend time learning the new platform, its technical documentation, and requirements, connect to the platform yourself, and follow ALL the steps from above for every invoice that you send.
2. Automated compliance with Tradeshift: Choose an e-invoicing solution that takes care of all the technical aspects and simplifies the six steps from the beginning of the article into one. The only thing you’ll have to do is what you were doing before the introduction of MyInvois: generate your invoice and send it to your buyer.

Tradeshift makes MyInvois compliance simple.

With Tradeshift, you don’t have to worry about clearing the invoices before sending them to your buyers and going through a complex multi-step process just to get paid.

Simply generate your invoice as you would normally and send it through the Tradeshift e-invoicing platform which manages the clearance flow for you. 

Onboarding with Tradeshift could not be simpler and begins with the very first invoice you send. 

You’ll be able to access a complete transaction history, check status of invoices, enrich documents for faster approval, and resolve issues in real-time directly through the platform. 

Tradeshift is also rolling out a range of embedded finance products on the platform that will help you unlock early payment options on any of your outstanding invoices. 

With Tradeshift as your e-invoicing platform for clearance in Malaysia, you will: 

• Eliminate the complexity of outbound clearance by leveraging Tradeshift’s expertise. 
• Avoid multiple investments, as Tradeshift handles all integrations with clearance platforms, saving you time and money.
• Stay compliant with ever-changing clearance regulations. Tradeshift automatically updates to reflect the latest requirements.
• Benefit from a secure data exchange between you, your buyer, and the tax authority. Tradeshift acts as a trusted intermediary.

Companies rely on Tradeshift to manage e-invoicing compliance worldwide not just in Malaysia. 

Tradeshift has a proven process for delivering compliance-as-a-service, and provides customers such as AirFrance, Disneyland Paris, Schaeffler with innovative solutions that support their digital transformation journey and ensure they comply with e-invoicing and tax clearance mandates.

We currently offer compliance-as-a-service for 70 countries, including a streamlined process for complying with tax clearance mandates in 12 countries and e-Invoicing mandates. 

Examples of countries with tax clearance or B2B e-invoicing mandates that we support are France, Romania, Malaysia, and Germany with other European and APAC countries on our roadmap. 

To ensure compliance excellence, we continually evaluate emerging global regulations and prioritise the inclusion of additional countries in our roadmap.

We’re also the only company offering cross-zone fapiao e-invoicing capabilities in China and among the first to become a registered PDP (PDP immatriculée) in France.

Start sending and clearing your invoices with Tradeshift.