PTI, EIS Certificate and PTT: The BIR E-Invoicing Permits Explained

E-invoicing comes with its own set of acronyms. Once you know what each permit does and in what order they come, the process is far less intimidating.

PTI: Permit to Issue E-Invoices The PTI is your business's authority to issue e-invoices from a specific system. Your business applies for it and names the software it will use. The provider does not apply on your behalf, so the registration has to be in order on your side.

EIS Certificate Within six months of receiving your PTI, your system must pass the BIR's online tests on its Electronic Invoicing System (EIS). Passing earns the EIS Certificate, which confirms that your system can send invoice data in the format the BIR requires. Leaving this to the last month of the window is a common mistake: a failed test means fixing data and testing again.

PTT: Permit to Transmit The PTT allows your system to send your e-invoice data to the BIR. Transmission starts only when the BIR grants the permit and directs you to begin. Until then, keep your e-invoice records complete and ready.

Once you are live: no editing An issued e-invoice cannot be edited or deleted. If something is wrong, such as a returned item, a price adjustment or a wrong quantity, the correction is made with a credit note, and anything left out goes on a new invoice. Build this into your team's routine before go-live.

When the system is down RMC 98-2026 also covers outages. If you cannot issue e-invoices because of a system failure, the rules allow a manual invoice for the interruption, which is later replaced by an e-invoice. Keep your BIR-registered manual invoices on hand for exactly this situation.

Penalties and a small reward Failing to issue a proper invoice is penalized under the Tax Code (Sec. 264, as restated in RR 11-2024) with a fine of ₱1,000 to ₱50,000 and imprisonment of two to four years. On the positive side, RR 11-2025 under the CREATE MORE Act allows an additional deduction for the cost of setting up e-invoicing and electronic sales reporting.

Getting it done The permits are sequential, so a delay in one pushes everything back. Our accounting team handles the registrations, coordinates with your software provider, and keeps your records ready for the BIR at each step.