The merchant is obliged to issue an invoice to the customers after each purchase. Invoicing takes places independently from the Barion system, meaning that you have to take care of it in another system, as you like it.

The accounting of costs arising from the use of Barion is rather like the accounting of bank charges; therefore, they should be kept among the other services. The monthly Barion account statement can be used as accounting document. According to the position of the National Tax and Customs Administration, the e-money issuer is not required to issue a separate invoice about the charged fees.

To provide you with further assistance, we have summarized the rules for using e-money in the Accounting Information, which you can read below.

Accounting Information:

Barion – accounting treatment of the use of e-money

The e-money issued by Barion Payment Inc. is an e-money supervised by, and issued under the license of, the Central Bank of Hungary; in this context, it is an official payment instrument accepted in EEA Member States and it must be kept, according to both the local accounting standards of the Member States and the international standards, among the liquid assets of a business.

Acceptance and correct accounting treatment of Barion requires:

the registration of one (or more) Barion Wallets in the “Organizations” menu item,

individual Barion Wallets and individual currencies should be registered under separate general ledger numbers in line with the chart of accounts of the business and in compliance with the requirements of the accounting standards applicable to the business.

Bookkeeping document

You can access the account histories of each month in PDF format in your Barion Wallet, which, like a bank statement, are bookkeeping documents. To facilitate data processing, the same account history can be downloaded for any time period in, for example, ODF, XLS or CSV format as well. The fees charged for the use of Barion should be booked like bank costs; the fees are included in the account statement. According to the position of the Hungarian tax authority, an e-money issuer does not need to issue an invoice about the charged fees because the account statement meets that requirement and e-money issuing is exempt from VAT. This practice is accepted in the entire EU.

Accepting Barion

Sales paid for with Barion should be accounted for like cash sales (e.g. Debit: E-money cash – Credit: Customers).

According to the above, the business is still obliged to issue receipt vouchers or invoices under local legislation, as if the consideration receivable for the purchase would have been paid in cash or using a bank card.

If the business uses a billing software, then, depending on the options offered by the software, “Barion” should be added to the method of payment to facilitate the subsequent posting of the invoice. If the billing software does not have this option, then we suggest selecting the “cash” method of payment and making the remark on the invoice that the invoiced amount was paid via the Barion system, so ensuring the corresponding separation from other liquid assets in the books.

In case of bank-card payment via Barion (i.e. guest payment), the shopper/merchant tops up the Barion balance, i.e. it is still an e-money transaction; the method of payment should, therefore, still be Barion and not bank card, because the amount will not arrive from the card company to the current account but to Barion.

Barion Payment Inc. is not responsible for any potential damage, loss, costs that arise from the incorrect accounting of the Barion e-money or the selection of the wrong method of payment in case of receipt vouchers issued either with a cash register or a billing software.

Please note that the above is for your information only and does not constitute comprehensive legal and financial information or professional advice. Should you have any question regarding the issuing of invoices/receipts or the accounting of e-money, please contact a professional familiar with the accounting regulations applicable in the country of your operations.