e.sąskaita — mandatory B2G since 1 July 2017
Lithuania mandated B2G e-invoicing from 1 July 2017 via the national e.sąskaita platform (esaskaita.eu), operated by VĮ Registrų centras under the Ministry of Finance (Finansų ministerija). The schedule was 21 months ahead of the EU 2014/55/EU directive deadline (18 April 2019 for central authorities). Single platform, UBL 2.1 / EN 16931, PEPPOL or direct upload.
History — EU B2G pioneer 2017
Lithuania is among the earliest EU Member States to implement Directive 2014/55/EU. Vyriausybės nutarimas no. 388 (government resolution) transposes the directive and sets entry into force on 1 July 2017 — 21 months before the EU deadline of 18 April 2019. This choice fits the Lithuanian "digital-first" doctrine: i.MAS (i.SAF) launched in 2016, RKDS online cash-registers from 2014.
2014 | EU Directive 2014/55/EU — B2G mandate deadline 18 April 2019
| (central authorities) and 18 April 2020 (local authorities).
|
2016 | Viešųjų pirkimų tarnyba (VPT — Public Procurement Office)
| launches a tender for a national e-invoicing platform.
| Spec UBL 2.1 / EN 16931 / PEPPOL BIS 3.0.
|
1 Jul 2017 | B2G mandate — all Lithuanian contracting authorities
| (central state, municipalities, agencies) must receive
| invoices via the national platform e.sąskaita (esaskaita.eu).
| Vyriausybės nutarimas no. 388 transposes Dir. 2014/55/EU.
| Lithuania becomes EU pioneer — 21 months before EU deadline.
|
2018 | Integration with E.Valdžia Vartai (epaslaugos.lt — national
| e-government portal). Single sign-on for SMEs via asmens
| kodas + bank ID.
|
2019 | Migration to PEPPOL Access Point — e.sąskaita becomes a
| PEPPOL node via OpenPeppol agreement. ICD 0200 routing for
| Lithuania.
|
2020 | Extension to foreign (EU) suppliers — any invoice to a
| Lithuanian public entity can transit via international
| PEPPOL or e.sąskaita directly.
|
2023-2026 | Strengthened i.MAS integration (i.SAF / i.SAF-T / i.VAZ).
| ViDA 2028 preparation — B2B consultation ongoing.Governance — VMI + Finansų ministerija
e.sąskaita is co-governed. The Finansų ministerija (Ministry of Finance) sets e-invoicing policy and transposes EU directives. The Viešųjų pirkimų tarnyba (VPT — Public Procurement Office) handles the legal framework of the Viešųjų pirkimų įstatymas (Public Procurement Act). The VMI (Valstybinė mokesčių inspekcija — State Tax Inspectorate) operates the cross-checks with i.MAS.
The platform itself is operated by VĮ Registrų centras (Centre of Registers — a state enterprise managing also the business register, civil status, cadastre, and PVM register). This single public operator choice sets Lithuania apart from Poland (KSeF managed by the Ministry of Finance) and Italy (SdI managed by Agenzia delle Entrate).
Architecture — e.sąskaita + E.Valdžia Vartai
The architecture is centralised yet open. An invoice can arrive three ways: (1) via international PEPPOL Access Point, (2) via direct web upload on esaskaita.eu, (3) via REST API for integrated ERPs.
┌──────────────┐ 1. UBL 2.1 invoice / ┌──────────────────────┐
│ Supplier │ PEPPOL BIS 3.0 │ e.sąskaita │
│ (LT or EU) │ ─────────────────────────────▶│ esaskaita.eu │
└──────────────┘ via PEPPOL AP or │ (operated by VĮ │
direct web upload │ Registrų centras) │
└──────────┬───────────┘
│ 2. EN 16931 validation
│ + internal routing
▼
┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Receiving contracting authority │
│ (ministry, municipality, state agency) │
│ Retrieval via API or web interface │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
│ 3. Notification +
│ pre-accounting
▼
┌──────────────────────┐ ┌──────────────────────┐
│ E.Valdžia Vartai │ │ i.MAS / VMI │
│ (epaslaugos.lt) │ │ (cross-VAT analysis)│
└──────────────────────┘ └──────────────────────┘e.sąskaita vs PEPPOL BIS 3.0
| Dimension | e.sąskaita | PEPPOL BIS 3.0 |
|---|---|---|
| Native schema | UBL 2.1 (PEPPOL BIS) + CII accepted | UBL 2.1 + CIUS |
| Transport | Web upload / REST API / PEPPOL AP | AS4 + PEPPOL SMP/SML |
| Addressing | įmonės kodas (9 digits) + ICD 0200 | iso6523-actorid-upis + ICD 0200 |
| Authentication | E.Valdžia Vartai (Smart-ID, bank ID) | PEPPOL AP certificate |
| EN 16931 validation | Native on reception | Native on sender AP |
| Mandatory coverage | All LT B2G since 2017 | Optional — bilateral agreement |
| Cost for micro-enterprises | Free (web upload) | Paid via commercial AP |
Adoption — national B2G coverage
- 100% of contracting authorities required to receive via e.sąskaita since 1 July 2017 (sanction: refusal to pay).
- ~60 municipalities (savivaldybės) + ministries + state agencies connected. Lithuania has 60 municipalities and 10 regions (apskritys, without administrative power since 2010).
- ~30,000 active suppliers on the sending side, with a large share via simple web upload (micro-enterprises) — figure declared by Registrų centras in its 2024 annual report.
- On the B2B side: no obligation as of 2026, but public consultation underway for a B2B mandate aligned with ViDA 2028-2030, with likely trigger in 2027.
Common pitfalls
- Confusing įmonės kodas and PVM mokėtojo kodas. įmonės kodas = company ID (9 digits, operated by Registrų centras). PVM mokėtojo kodas = VAT ID (LT + 9 or 12 digits, operated by VMI). Both are needed in an e.sąskaita invoice.
- PEPPOL routing: ICD 0200. The PEPPOL prefix for Lithuania is ICD 0200 (Lithuanian super register — Registrų centras). Many foreign integrators mistakenly use 9912 (legacy LT) — rejected since 2020.
- Thinking e.sąskaita = invoice only. The platform
also carries credit notes, refunds and correction invoices. The
InvoiceTypeCodemust follow UNCL1001 (380 invoice, 381 credit note, 384 correction). - Forgetting Smart-ID authentication. For micro-enterprises without API integration, web upload requires strong authentication via Smart-ID, bank ID (Swedbank, SEB, Luminor, etc.) or eIDAS. No simple username + password.
- UTF-8 encoding mandatory. e.sąskaita rejects non-UTF-8 files. Lithuanian characters (ą, č, ę, ė, į, š, ų, ū, ž) must be preserved — legacy Windows-1257 encoding breaks the integration.