E-Invoicing Could Transform Nigerian Business Operations Beyond Tax Compliance, Says DigiTax Executive.
Nigeria’s mandatory e-invoicing rollout presents an opportunity for businesses to gain operational advantages that extend far beyond meeting tax obligations, according to a technology executive who has implemented similar systems.
Olumide Akinsola, Country Director of DigiTax Nigeria, who spoke at a Chartered Institute of Taxation workshop recently, said that companies viewing the reform as a compliance burden are missing significant benefits, including improved cash-flow visibility, reduced audit disputes, and automated error reduction.
“E-invoicing must not be framed solely as a compliance enforcement mechanism,” Akinsola said while fielding questions from reporters. “For Nigerian businesses, the benefits are tangible when implementation is done properly: greater certainty in VAT treatment, reduced audit disputes, and automated validation that minimises human error.”
The workshop, titled “Unlocking Business Value with the NRS e-invoicing Merchant-Buyer Solution,” brought together tax practitioners from the public and private sectors as the Nigeria Revenue Service pushes ahead with a phased rollout of mandatory e-invoicing. The move will require all business transactions to be validated electronically.
DigiTax is one of the NRS technology implementation partners helping companies integrate their accounting systems with the NRS platform. The company is one of the few accredited partners with extensive e-invoicing experience. It already supports nearly 1000 businesses across Kenya and Zambia, while maintaining key e-invoicing partnerships in other locations globally where similar e-invoicing systems have been operational longer than Nigeria’s framework.
Drawing on that experience, Akinsola told reporters that successful implementation depends on addressing a fundamental challenge most Nigerian businesses face: messy record-keeping that complicates tax audits.
“For many Nigerian taxpayers, audits are disruptive because documentation is often reconstructed manually,” he said. “E-invoicing replaces reconstruction with retrieval. It embeds compliance into everyday operations.”
During the workshop, CITN President Innocent Ohagwa, represented by Yemi Sanni, a member of the CITN Governing Council, described the session as critical for “bridging the gap between policy and practice” as Nigeria navigates new tax reforms.
Dr. Ruth Abiola Adimula, who chairs CITN’s ICT Committee, outlined the technical architecture, explaining that both business-to-business and business-to-consumer invoices would be transmitted to the tax authority for real-time validation.
Speaking to journalists after his presentation, Akinsola moved beyond the technical specifications to address concerns about market fairness. E-invoicing, he argued, would reduce opportunities for competitors to under-report revenue and gain unfair advantages.
“This is not merely a revenue issue; it is a market integrity issue,” he said. “By strengthening transparency, Nigeria enhances both its fiscal capacity and its commercial credibility.”
Akinsola acknowledged concerns about smaller businesses that lack sophisticated IT infrastructure. “Technology must lower barriers to entry, simplify calculations, and provide user-friendly dashboards that turn compliance into a routine business function,” he added.
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