ERP
PDFs don't count anymore — in the Philippines either.
If you sell online in the Philippines, the invoice you have been sending — a PDF attached to an email — is about to stop counting.
Under RMC 98-2026, issued September 22, 2026, the Philippines Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) requires covered taxpayers to issue compliant structured e-invoices by December 31, 2026, under RR 11-2025 as amended by RR 26-2025. This is not a proposal. It is a deadline, and it is close.
What actually changes
From the deadline, a compliant e-invoice in the Philippines is:
- Structured JSON — machine-readable data, not a document designed to be read by a person.
- Signed with a JWS (JSON Web Signature) — a cryptographic signature over that JSON.
- Transmitted to the BIR EIS (Electronic Invoicing System).
A PDF is none of those things. That is the whole change in one sentence: the PDF you used to send is no longer an invoice in the eyes of this mandate.
This is not unique to the Philippines. The same pattern has already played out in Malaysia, the UAE, Oman, Spain, Germany, Argentina, and others: a government mandates structured e-invoicing, a deadline lands, and small businesses discover — late — that spreadsheets and PDF invoices no longer comply. Every mandate creates the same two needs: knowing the deadline is coming, and being able to issue invoices in the mandated format.
Who is covered
Per the BIR instrument and the coverage of it:
- Small, medium, and large taxpayers in e-commerce or internet transactions. Micro taxpayers are exempt.
- Large Taxpayers Service taxpayers.
- Anyone using CAS (computerized accounting system), CBA, POS, or invoicing software.
If you sell online and you are not a micro taxpayer, assume this covers you, and check your own situation rather than taking this article as advice. Nothing here is tax advice.
What this does not mean
Two honest statements, because they matter more than the deadline itself.
First: Point does not yet issue Philippines-compliant e-invoices. We track the deadline — it is on our mandate calendar — but the capability to generate the BIR JSON, sign it with a JWS, and transmit it to the BIR EIS is not built. We are not accredited by the BIR, and we do not claim to be. If a tool tells you it is "BIR-compliant" without explaining exactly what it transmits and how, ask for the specifics.
Second: the details will keep moving. The instrument itself was already amended once (RR 11-2025 as amended by RR 26-2025). Mandate details change. The calendar entry for the Philippines carries its sources (CloudCFO, Comarch, Sovos, and e-invoicing.org coverage) and the date we compiled it, 2026-10-17, so you can check it rather than trust it blindly. Re-check before the deadline.
What to do before December 31
If you are covered, the practical steps are:
- Confirm you are covered. Check whether you fall in the categories above, and whether any exemption applies to you.
- Stop treating PDFs as the invoice. Whatever tool you use, it needs to produce the structured JSON, the JWS, and the transmission to the BIR EIS — not a prettier PDF.
- Plan for rejection handling. Transmissions get rejected. Whoever issues your e-invoices needs to show you the rejection reason and let you correct and resubmit — not fail silently.
- Keep the evidence. The JSON payload, the signature, the transmission timestamp, and the BIR response are your proof of compliance later. Make sure your process retains them.
That is the whole job. It is not complicated, but it is not a PDF either.
Where Point fits
Point targets the EU, USA, and Gulf — the Philippines is not a launch market for us, and we will not pretend otherwise. What we do is track mandates like this one, because the same story is coming to every market: structured e-invoicing with a hard deadline. Each mandate we track makes the same point to businesses in our core markets — this is coming to you too, and your tools need to be ready for it.
Start with the mandate calendar for the deadlines we track, and the free tools if you want something useful today. And if you want to follow what we are building, join the waitlist.