PTU, PTI, EIS Certificate, PTT: which permit do you need?

PTI: Permit to Issue E-Invoices

This is the permit that lets your business issue e-invoices. You apply at your Revenue District Office (or the Large Taxpayers Office). BIR evaluates the application within 20 working days (RMC 98-2026, IV.12), so apply well before December. Businesses that switch voluntarily need a PTI too (IV.9).

The PTI names the software or system you will issue e-invoices from. If you later change to a different system, or the system itself changes its identity, you need a new or amended PTI. Head office and branches using the same system share one PTI number; a branch on a different system needs its own (IV.13). BIR is expected to publish the detailed PTI procedure separately, so ask your RDO what to bring.

EIS Certificate

After the PTI, your system has to pass BIR's online certification tests for the Electronic Invoicing System (EIS): five required tests, seven if your system uses a callback (II.6). The tests run in BIR's test environment through its EIS certification portal, using keys issued to your business. You must get the certificate within six months of your PTI, or the PTI can be cancelled (IV.15). Put the date in your calendar the day you receive the PTI.

PTT: Permit to Transmit

The PTT is for sending your sales data to BIR as it happens (electronic sales reporting). RMC 98-2026 treats e-invoicing and e-sales reporting as two different things (IV.2): you need the PTT only when BIR directs your business to start transmitting (IV.15). Until then, you issue e-invoices and keep their data ready.

PTU or Acknowledgement Certificate: the CAS permit

If your business uses a Computerized Accounting System (CAS), you already know this one: invoices printed from a registered system carry the PTU or Acknowledgement Certificate number, the series range and the date at the bottom (RR 7-2024). The CAS permit and the PTI are separate: having one does not give you the other (II.7). Whether your setup needs a CAS permit at all depends on how you keep your books; ask your accountant.

Who applies

The business does. BIR's advisory of 8 September 2025 is clear that it does not accredit e-invoicing software providers, and that the taxpayer, not the provider, applies for EIS certification and the permit to transmit. A good provider helps you prepare; it cannot hold your permits for you.

The order, at a glance

1. Check that you are covered (or decide to join voluntarily).
2. Choose your e-invoicing software.
3. Apply for the PTI at your RDO (up to 20 working days).
4. Issue e-invoices, by December 31, 2026 at the latest.
5. Pass the certification tests and get the EIS Certificate within six months of the PTI.
6. Later, when BIR calls for it: the PTT and live sending.

How PrimerLedger helps

BIR e-invoicing in PrimerLedger walks you through these steps: the coverage questions, your PTI and EIS Certificate dates with countdowns, and reminder e-mails 60, 30, 14 and 7 days before they are due. A step-by-step screen takes you through BIR's certification tests with your own keys, and sending to BIR is built in, switched on once your business has the PTT. See BIR e-invoicing with PrimerLedger.