Fina e-Račun — Croatian B2G mandate (2018-2019)

Croatia transposed Directive 2014/55/EU through the Zakon o elektroničkom izdavanju računa u javnoj nabavi published in the official journal Narodne novine NN 94/2018. The national e-Račun platform, operated by Fina (Financijska agencija), became mandatory for state agencies on 1 December 2018 and for all public contracting authorities on 1 July 2019.

History — from 2014/55 transposition to full rollout

A European Union member since 1 July 2013, Croatia aligned its public procurement framework with the acquis communautaire early on. Directive 2014/55/EU was transposed through a standalone statute — the Zakon o elektroničkom izdavanju računa u javnoj nabavi NN 94/2018 — separate from the framework public procurement law Zakon o javnoj nabavi NN 120/2016. Croatia chose a centralised platform operated by Fina, rather than a Peppol-only decentralised model like Sweden.

2014       | Directive 2014/55/EU — mandatory e-invoicing for EU
           | contracting authorities. Croatia, having joined the EU on
           | 1 July 2013, is in scope for transposition.
           |
2017       | Fina (Financijska agencija) — public financial agency, majority
           | state-owned — is designated as the technical operator of the
           | national e-Račun platform.
           |
2018       | Adoption of the law Zakon o elektroničkom izdavanju računa
           | u javnoj nabavi, published in Narodne novine NN 94/2018.
           | Formal transposition of 2014/55/EU.
           |
2018-12-01 | First mandatory phase: central state issuers (Ministries,
           | agencies) must receive e-invoices in the e-Račun format
           | via Fina.
           |
2019-07-01 | Second phase: 100% of public contracting authorities (regions,
           | hospitals, schools) must receive and process electronic
           | invoices. Paper format banned for public procurement.
           |
2020       | Fina joins Peppol — Croatia becomes a secondary Peppol
           | Authority via Fina, opening cross-border flows.
           |
2024       | Fina "e-Poslovanje" platform extended to voluntary B2B.
           | Official coexistence of e-Račun and Peppol BIS 3.0.
           |
2026-2027  | ViDA preparation — Porezna uprava launches a public consultation
           | on a potential B2B CTC mandate, with no firm calendar. No
           | universal mandate at this stage.

Governance — Fina + Ministry of Finance

Fina (Financijska agencija) is a public financial agency majority-owned by the Croatian state, descended from the Zavod za platni promet of the Yugoslav era. It historically operates interbank payments in kunas and now in euros, the qualified FINA RDC certificates, and the insolvency register (FINA registar). It is the technical operator of the e-Račun platform.

The Ministarstvo financija Republike Hrvatske (Ministry of Finance) holds political oversight. The Porezna uprava (Tax Administration) supervises the associated VAT obligations. Peppol coordination is handled by Fina as Croatia's secondary Peppol Authority, under OpenPeppol governance.

Technical schema — Peppol BIS 3.0 + national e-Račun

The baseline format is Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 (profiled UBL 2.1), compliant with EN 16931. Fina also maintains a national e-Račun profile strictly aligned with EN 16931 that adds Croatian public procurement codes (contract reference, ordering party OIB). Both formats are interoperable on the Fina platform.

• CustomizationID: urn:cen.eu:en16931:2017#compliant#urn:fdc:peppol.eu:2017:poacc:billing:3.0
• EndpointID schemeID: 9934 (HR VAT) or 0208 (OIB) for Croatian actors.
• PartyLegalEntity / CompanyID: 11-digit OIB, Peppol ICD 0208.
• Currency: EUR since 2023 (HRK accepted transitionally in 2023).
• Transport: servisni e-Račun web service (REST/SOAP Fina) or Peppol AS4.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<Invoice xmlns="urn:oasis:names:specification:ubl:schema:xsd:Invoice-2"
         xmlns:cac="urn:oasis:names:specification:ubl:schema:xsd:CommonAggregateComponents-2"
         xmlns:cbc="urn:oasis:names:specification:ubl:schema:xsd:CommonBasicComponents-2">
  <cbc:CustomizationID>urn:cen.eu:en16931:2017#compliant#urn:fdc:peppol.eu:2017:poacc:billing:3.0</cbc:CustomizationID>
  <cbc:ProfileID>urn:fdc:peppol.eu:2017:poacc:billing:01:1.0</cbc:ProfileID>
  <cbc:ID>2026-CRO-04211</cbc:ID>
  <cbc:IssueDate>2026-06-15</cbc:IssueDate>
  <cbc:InvoiceTypeCode>380</cbc:InvoiceTypeCode>
  <cbc:DocumentCurrencyCode>EUR</cbc:DocumentCurrencyCode>

  <cac:AccountingSupplierParty>
    <cac:Party>
      <cbc:EndpointID schemeID="9934">HR12345678901</cbc:EndpointID>
      <cac:PartyTaxScheme>
        <cbc:CompanyID>HR12345678901</cbc:CompanyID>
        <cac:TaxScheme><cbc:ID>VAT</cbc:ID></cac:TaxScheme>
      </cac:PartyTaxScheme>
      <cac:PartyLegalEntity>
        <cbc:RegistrationName>Zagreb Engineering d.o.o.</cbc:RegistrationName>
        <cbc:CompanyID schemeID="0208">12345678901</cbc:CompanyID>
      </cac:PartyLegalEntity>
    </cac:Party>
  </cac:AccountingSupplierParty>

  <cac:AccountingCustomerParty>
    <cac:Party>
      <cbc:EndpointID schemeID="9934">HR09876543210</cbc:EndpointID>
      <cac:PartyLegalEntity>
        <cbc:RegistrationName>Ministarstvo financija Republike Hrvatske</cbc:RegistrationName>
        <cbc:CompanyID schemeID="0208">09876543210</cbc:CompanyID>
      </cac:PartyLegalEntity>
    </cac:Party>
  </cac:AccountingCustomerParty>

  <cac:LegalMonetaryTotal>
    <cbc:TaxExclusiveAmount currencyID="EUR">1200.00</cbc:TaxExclusiveAmount>
    <cbc:TaxInclusiveAmount currencyID="EUR">1500.00</cbc:TaxInclusiveAmount>
    <cbc:PayableAmount currencyID="EUR">1500.00</cbc:PayableAmount>
  </cac:LegalMonetaryTotal>
</Invoice>

e-Račun vs Peppol BIS — official coexistence

Unlike Sweden (Peppol-first) or Italy (SdI-only with implicit Peppol rejection), Croatia explicitly opted for coexistence. Either profile delivers B2G compliance:

Adoption — 100% B2G mandatory since July 2019

• 100% of public procurement is mandatorily invoiced via e-Račun since 1 July 2019 — paper invoices are no longer acceptable for a public ordering party.
• ~13 million B2G e-invoices per year processed by Fina (2024 figure published on fina.hr), covering central state, županije (counties), cities, and public hospitals.
• Growing voluntary B2B via Fina's e-Poslovanje platform launched in 2024 — moderate adoption, slowed by the absence of a universal mandate.
• Cross-border flows via Peppol — primarily Germany, Italy, Austria, Slovenia, growing steadily since eurozone entry in 2023.

Common pitfalls

• Missing or malformed OIB. The public buyer's OIB is mandatory — a 10-digit OIB (instead of 11), or one with an invalid MOD-11 checksum, is rejected by Fina without detailed error feedback to the issuer.
• Confusing OIB and MBS. MBS (Matični broj subjekta) is the commercial register (Sudski registar) ID. OIB is the tax ID. B2G invoices use the OIB, not the MBS.
• HRK vs EUR currency. Since 1 January 2023, Croatia is in the eurozone. Any invoice issued in HRK for a 2023+ service is rejected. Transitional window closed on 31 December 2023.
• Generic Peppol BIS profile instead of HR CIUS. Fina accepts the generic Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 profile, but some fields (public contract number, budget reference) must follow the HR CIUS to integrate into the payer's accounting workflow.
• Thinking e-Račun = B2B mandate. The mandate covers only B2G. B2B remains voluntary in 2026 — no universal CTC mandate, despite the ongoing Porezna uprava ViDA 2026-2027 consultation.

Cross-links

• Croatia hub — full view
• OIB — universal 11-digit identifier
• PDV — Croatian VAT regimes (25 / 13 / 5%)
• Fina e-Poslovanje — B2B platform 2024
• ViDA Croatia 2026-2030
• Fina — official e-Račun service
• Narodne novine NN 94/2018 — Zakon o elektroničkom izdavanju računa
• Porezna uprava — Tax Administration