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How to set up InvoiceNow in QuickBooks Online - Singapore

by Intuit•11• Updated 2 weeks ago

InvoiceNow empowers businesses to send digital invoices automatically, making operations smoother and more efficient by ensuring compliance with local laws, and reducing administrative tasks and errors.

This guide will run you through the following steps to set up InvoiceNow in QuickBooks Online:

  1. Set up InvoiceNow
  2. Set up GST InvoiceNow (report to IRAS)
  3. Set up POS sales customer, STI customer, and PCP supplier (if required)
  4. Update your customer records

Before you start

You must have primary admin or company admin permissions to set up InvoiceNow.

You’ll need the following information to set up InvoiceNow:

  • Unique Entity Number (UEN)
    • Confirm your UEN is correct in your Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA) records. This UEN will serve as your primary identifier on the Peppol network.
    • Note that UEN and GST registration number are not the same thing. Your UEN is your general business identifier issued by ACRA—every registered business in Singapore has one. Your GST registration number is issued separately by IRAS when you register for GST. Both are captured during e-invoicing setup. If you operate multiple entities, each will have its own UEN and GST registration number.
  • Corppass credentials (Singpass ID and Password)
    • Ensure your Corppass account is active and you have "Admin" or "Authorised Officer" rights.
You can only register your UEN with one e-invoicing provider. If you've already registered with another provider, such as Link4, you'll need to de-register with them before you can set up InvoiceNow with QuickBooks Online.

If you use Link4, follow their steps to request de-registration. If you run into any issues, contact Link4's support team. QuickBooks support is unable to help with this.

1. Set up InvoiceNow

In this step, you will set up InvoiceNow, which delivers invoices directly to your buyer's accounting system via the Peppol network.

  1. Go to Settings A bunch of signs that are on a wall.. Under Tools, select Compliance centre.
  2. On the Overview tab, find the Finish setting up your compliance hub card. Next to e-Invoicing, select Set up. Or go to the E-invoicing tab.
  3. Select Set up InvoiceNow.
  4. Read through the legal and data-sharing disclosure, select the checkbox to agree, then select Continue.
  5. Enter your business details, then select Continue:
    • Business name - your legal business trading name
    • Address - your business address
    • UEN - your business's universal business ID
    • GSTN - your business's GST number, if it's registered for GST
  6. Enter the details of your business's representative — the person who authorises e-invoicing for your company — then select Continue.
  7. QuickBooks creates your InvoiceNow government profile in the background. Once that's done, select Verify with Singpass and log in to your Singpass account.
  8. After you've logged in, you'll get confirmation that you've successfully registered for InvoiceNow. Close that tab, return to QuickBooks, and select Next.
  9. Once the status shows InvoiceNow: Connected, you've successfully set up InvoiceNow.
If you ever need to update your legal name, address, GST ID, or InvoiceNow representative, you'll need to de-register and re-register. See Changing your business details after activation.

2. Set up GST InvoiceNow (report to IRAS)

In step 1, you set up InvoiceNow. In this step, you'll set up GST InvoiceNow, which connects QuickBooks to IRAS, so your invoices are automatically reported for GST purposes.

GST InvoiceNow is mandatory once your business reaches the revenue threshold for your mandate phase. QuickBooks can't determine your turnover automatically — it's your responsibility to check the timeline and know when to enable this.

  1. From the Next steps screen, once your InvoiceNow connection is validated, select Enable GST InvoiceNow.
  2. QuickBooks creates your GST InvoiceNow government profile in the background. Once that's done, select Verify with Singpass and log in to your Singpass account, as you did in step 1.
  3. After you've logged in, you'll get confirmation that you've successfully registered. Close that tab, return to QuickBooks, and select Next.
  4. Select Refresh to check whether your account is verified. This can take a few minutes to sync — if it's still awaiting verification, wait a few minutes and select Refresh again.
  5. Once the status shows GST InvoiceNow: Connected, you've successfully set up GST InvoiceNow.
Note: Once GST InvoiceNow is active, using Save and send e-invoice will submit to both your buyer and IRAS. See How to create, send, and track e-invoices in QuickBooks Online for full details on your submission options.

3. Set up POS sales customer, STI customer, and PCP supplier (if required)

If your business handles cash or POS sales instead of invoicing customers individually, you'll need to create one invoice at the end of each day that combines those sales, so you can still report it to the government.

  1. From the Next steps screen, next to Set up POS Sales customer, STI customer, and PCP supplier, select Set up.
  2. Once you select Set up, QuickBooks automatically creates three special customer and supplier records for businesses that make sales or purchases without issuing individual invoices to named buyers.
RecordTypeUENUse it for
POS SalesCustomer0000000POSAggregated point-of-sale or cash sales where you haven't captured individual buyer details. Create one invoice per period against this customer.
STICustomer0000000STISimplified Invoices — sales where a simplified tax invoice is issued (typically amounts under S$1,000).
Petty Cash (PCP)Supplier0000000PCPAggregated petty cash purchases with no supplier invoice from a supplier on the InvoiceNow network.

4. Update your customer records

To comply with local tax laws, you’ll need to add a few new details about the customers you invoice. 

  1. From the Next steps screen, next to Fill tax identifiers for your customers, select Go to customers. Or go toGo to All apps A bunch of numbers and letters on a tile wall., select Customer Hub, then select Customers & leads (Take me there).
  2. Select the customer name to open the customer record, then select Edit.
  3. Go to the Additional info section:
  4. Select the Customer category from the â–Ľ dropdown.
    • For a Domestic business: Provide their UEN number
    • For a Foreign business: Provide their Peppol ID.
  5. Select Save.
  6. Repeat for all customers using e-invoicing.

5. Update your supplier records

You'll also need to add these details to the suppliers you bill.

  1. Go to All apps, select Expenses, then select Suppliers (Take me there).
  2. Select the supplier name to open the supplier record, then select Edit.
  3. Go to the Additional info section:
  4. Select the Supplier category from the â–Ľ dropdown.
    • For a Domestic business: Provide their UEN number.
    • For a Foreign business: Provide their Peppol ID.
  5. Select Save.
  6. Repeat for all suppliers using e-invoicing.

6. Switch to the new invoice layout

InvoiceNow uses a new invoice layout. You'll need to switch before you can send your first e-invoice.

To switch:

  1. Go to Create +, then select Invoice.
  2. At the top right of the invoice, select Update layout.
  3. On the modal that appears, select Update layout again to confirm.
  4. The invoice reloads in the new layout.
You only need to do this once. After you switch, all new invoices will use the new layout by default — for you and every other user in the company. If you need to switch back, select the option in the top right of the invoice to revert to the old layout.

See How to create, send, and track e-invoices in QuickBooks Online for detailed instructions on how to send your first e-invoice with InvoiceNow.

Your e-invoicing hub

Once setup is complete, you can access your e-invoicing hub at any time by going to Settings âš™, then Compliance centre, then the E-invoicing tab.

You can still create invoices, bills, credit notes, and purchase orders in the usual places in QuickBooks — the e-invoicing hub doesn't replace that. What it does is give you a centralised place to monitor everything related to e-invoicing in one view, without having to navigate across different parts of the product.

The hub has four tabs:

TabWhat it's for
OverviewA dashboard showing your e-invoicing activity at a glance — recent submissions, inbound documents, and anything that needs your attention.
Inbound DocumentsAll invoices and purchase orders received from suppliers via the InvoiceNow network. This is the only place in QuickBooks where you can see and action inbound e-invoices.
Outbound DocumentsA list of all outbound documents you've submitted — invoices, credit notes, and purchase orders — with their current delivery and IRAS submission statuses.
ReportsThe GST InvoiceNow Submissions report. Shows every document submitted to IRAS with acknowledgement IDs, GST amounts, and statuses. Exportable as CSV. See View and export your e-invoicing submission report for full details.

Changing your business details after activation

When you set up InvoiceNow, your business information — including your legal name, address, GST ID, and InvoiceNow representative — is registered with Fonoa and published to the Peppol directory. This is how other businesses on the InvoiceNow network find and route documents to you.

If any of these details change, simply updating them in QuickBooks isn't enough. The Peppol directory will still hold your old information until you de-register and re-register. If you don't do this, invoices may be misrouted or rejected by the network.

The details that require de-registration and re-registration if changed are:

  • Legal trading name
  • Business address
  • Tax ID / GST registration number
  • InvoiceNow representative (name or email)

Additional resources

QuickBooks Online EssentialsQuickBooks Online PlusQuickBooks Online Simple Start