Automated E-Invoice Issuance Process from Amazon and Etsy

As order volumes increase, businesses must process greater amounts of transaction, payment, return, and adjustment data before issuing invoices. An effective invoicing process therefore needs to integrate order information, transaction status, buyer details, customs clearance data, marketplace payouts, refunds, and other adjustments, while ensuring that the correct invoice type and issuance date are determined for each transaction.

Effective July 1, 2026, Decree No. 254/2026/ND-CP establishes a new regulatory framework for e-invoices. For businesses selling through Amazon and Etsy, automation should therefore extend beyond invoice issuance itself. It should begin with data standardization, determination of invoicing obligations, reconciliation, and validation before an invoice is prepared. This article outlines a five-step process that businesses can use to build a scalable automated invoicing workflow while strengthening control over compliance risks.

 

1. Why Amazon and Etsy Sellers Need Automated E-Invoice Issuance

Under Clause 3, Article 26 of the Law on Tax Administration 2025, taxpayers subject to e-invoice requirements must use e-invoices with a tax authority code, e-invoices without a tax authority code, or e-invoices generated from cash registers, as applicable. For the cases specified under Point b, Clause 3, Article 26, taxpayers must declare and pay tax before the tax authority issues an e-invoice with a tax authority code for each transaction, in accordance with the 2025 Law on Tax Administration No. 108/2025/QH15.

The challenge is not simply generating an invoice. Businesses must determine which transactions require an invoice, when the invoice must be issued, what information should be included, and how returned, cancelled, or adjusted transactions should be handled. For sellers on Amazon and Etsy, order, payment, and return information may be recorded across different reports, making reconciliation difficult when these processes are handled manually.

 

2. E-Commerce Tax and E-Invoice Requirements for Amazon and Etsy Sellers

Businesses operating on e-commerce platforms need to manage invoice issuance timing, invoice content, and tax obligations arising from each transaction. These requirements are governed by Decree No. 254/2026/ND-CP and Decree No. 252/2026/ND-CP, with the applicable requirements varying depending on the nature of each transaction.

2.1. Electronic Commercial Invoice Issuance Timing

Article 9 of Decree No. 254/2026/ND-CP determines the invoice issuance date based on the nature of the transaction rather than solely on the platform through which the business sells its goods or services.

• For sales of goods, the invoice must be issued when ownership or the right to use the goods is transferred to the customer, regardless of whether payment has been received.

• For services, the invoice must be issued when the service is completed or when payment is received in advance, except for deposits made to secure the performance of a contract as provided under the Civil Code.

• Where goods are delivered in multiple stages or a service is handed over in separate phases, an invoice must be issued for each delivery or completed phase corresponding to the relevant quantity and value of the goods or services.

Businesses should determine the applicable invoice issuance date based on the nature of each transaction, particularly where an order involves export activities or falls under specific invoicing rules. The applicable conditions and deadlines under Article 9 of Decree No. 254/2026/ND-CP must also be observed.

2.2. Content and Data Format of Electronic Commercial Invoices

Electronic commercial invoices must comply with the content requirements under Article 10 of Decree No. 254/2026/ND-CP and the data format requirements under Article 3 of Circular No. 91/2026/TT-BTC. Accordingly, an invoice must contain sufficient information identifying the invoice, seller, buyer, goods or services, transaction value, tax, and other relevant details. It must also state the invoice issuance date and digital signing date as required.

For e-invoices with a tax authority code, the invoice must contain the tax authority code. Where the digital signing date differs from the invoice issuance date, the seller must digitally sign the invoice and submit or transmit the relevant data to the tax authority within the prescribed timeframe, except where submission through a consolidated statement is permitted.

In addition to mandatory information, businesses may include their logo, brand, or management-related information such as contract numbers, shipping orders, or customer codes, provided that such information is appropriate to the nature of the transaction and the business's management requirements.

2.3. Tax Obligations for Amazon and Etsy E-Commerce Platforms

For household businesses and individual businesses within the applicable scope, platform operators are responsible for withholding, declaring, and paying tax on behalf of household and individual businesses according to the applicable tax type and conditions under Article 43 of Decree No. 252/2026/ND-CP. For cross-border sales through Amazon or Etsy, sellers need to determine their tax obligations in Vietnam and the destination market based on the actual transaction structure. They should not automatically assume that taxes withheld by the marketplace replace their tax obligations in Vietnam.

However, marketplace tax withholding and payment on behalf of the seller should be distinguished from determining revenue for invoicing or accounting purposes. The amount actually received by the seller after the marketplace deducts taxes, fees, and other adjustments does not automatically constitute sales revenue. Businesses must determine revenue and each deduction based on the substance of the underlying transaction to ensure consistency across their invoicing, accounting, and tax records.

 

3. Five Steps Automated E-Invoice Issuance Process with GenInvoice

To process order data before invoices are issued, businesses can implement the following five-step process.

3.1. Consolidate Sales Data from Marketplaces

The first step is to consolidate order data from Amazon, Etsy and other relevant sources into a centralized system. The data may include order IDs, products, quantities, transaction values, delivery status, payment information, and returns.

With GenInvoice, order data is centralized to support subsequent invoice processing. This allows accounting teams to review and verify order information within a single system instead of reconciling multiple reports separately.

3.2. Standardize Product and Transaction Data

After data has been collected, businesses need to standardize product names, item codes, units of measurement, and other information required for invoicing. This is particularly important when the same product is identified by different names or codes across Amazon and Etsy.

GenInvoice supports the standardization of transaction data, helping businesses minimize inconsistencies when transferring order data into invoices. Accounting teams must also determine the appropriate invoice type and applicable tax rate for each transaction before issuance.

3.3. Reconcile and Validate Data Before Invoice Issuance

Before an invoice is prepared, businesses need to reconcile order data against delivery and payment information to identify transactions requiring invoices and detect exceptions, including:

• Orders for which delivery status has not been fully updated.

• Duplicate order data resulting from marketplace synchronization.

• Transaction values that do not match the original order data.

• Products without an identified item code or applicable tax rate.

• Orders that are returned, cancelled, or adjusted after the invoice has been issued.

For Amazon and Etsy sellers, sales revenue is not the same as the amount actually received from the marketplace, as marketplace payments may be reduced by fees, refunds, and other adjustments. Businesses should therefore classify each item separately during reconciliation rather than relying solely on the amount actually received to determine the invoice value.

3.4. Prepare, Approve, and Issue Invoices

Once reconciliation has been completed, transaction data is used to prepare invoices. Before issuance, accounting teams should verify buyer information, goods, quantities, transaction values, applicable tax rates, and the invoice issuance date in accordance with the applicable requirements.

GenInvoice supports invoice preparation and batch issuance, reducing manual processing as order volumes increase while maintaining a data review step before invoices are issued.

Under Articles 12 and 13 of Decree No. 254/2026/ND-CP, the issuance process must meet the applicable requirements for e-invoices with or without a tax authority code. Invoice data must be transmitted to the tax authority in accordance with the method and timeframe specified in Article 16 of the Decree.

3.5. Handle Returns, Cancellations, and Retain Original Data

The process does not end when an invoice is issued. Businesses should continue monitoring returned, cancelled, or subsequently adjusted orders to determine whether the issued invoice requires further treatment.

Under point c.1, Clause 5, Article 10 of Circular No. 91/2026/TT-BTC, where the buyer returns all or part of the goods, the seller must issue an adjustment invoice, unless the parties have agreed that the buyer will issue an invoice for the returned goods.

 

4. Common Mistakes When Automating E-Invoice Issuance

An automated e-invoice issuance process is only effective when the underlying processing rules are correctly established from the outset. If rules relating to invoice issuance timing, tax rates, or transaction treatment are configured incorrectly, the system may replicate the same error across multiple invoices before it is detected. Common mistakes include:

• Using the order date as the invoice issuance date: Businesses should not automatically treat the customer's order date as the invoice issuance date. Under Clause 1, Article 9 of Decree No. 254/2026/ND-CP, for sales of goods, the invoice must be issued when ownership or the right to use the goods is transferred to the buyer, regardless of when payment is received.

• Excluding free goods and promotional items because their stated value is zero.

• Assuming that the marketplace has issued the invoice on the seller's behalf simply because the marketplace has withheld tax.

• Deleting original transaction data after the invoice has been issued.

 

Sliner Supports Automated E-Invoice Issuance with GenInvoice

Sliner supports e-commerce sellers in reviewing their invoicing obligations under Decree No. 254/2026/ND-CP. In addition, Genbook, Sliner's partner and an accounting service software platform, supports the management and standardization of sales data for Amazon and Etsy sellers. GenInvoice is Genbook's e-invoice issuance feature, supporting automated invoice issuance, batch invoice preparation, and centralized invoice data management within a single process.

Learn more about Sliner's Accounting Automation service to receive guidance on designing an automated e-invoice issuance process that fits your business model.