Accounting Digitalization in China 2025: Electronic Voucher Accounting Data Standards Promoted Nationwide

China is promoting nationwide application of electronic voucher accounting data standards to support paperless, structured financial processing. This article explains the background, implementation guidance, implications for businesses, and how it fits into the broader trend of accounting and tax digitalization in China.

On May 19, 2025, China’s Ministry of Finance (MOF), together with eight other government departments, issued the Notice on Promoting the Application of Electronic Voucher Accounting Data Standards (Cai Kuai [2025] No. 9), marking a nationwide push to adopt standardized electronic voucher accounting data. This move aims to accelerate the digital transformation of enterprise accounting and tax practices, building on successful pilot programs launched since 2022.

Find Business Support

Provide bundled accounting and ERP services to streamline your costs and operations ⟶

The electronic voucher accounting data standards were initially piloted to address long-standing issues such as difficulties in receiving, reimbursing, and booking various types of electronic vouchers. Jointly implemented by the MOF, the State Taxation Administration (STA), the People’s Bank of China, the National Archives Administration, and several other departments, the pilot programs demonstrated the effective nature of the standards, ultimately bridging the “last mile” in electronic voucher reimbursement, booking, and archiving.

With the nationwide rollout, the Chinese government signals a deeper commitment to accounting digitalization and paperless processing, ushering in new compliance expectations—and opportunities—for enterprises across sectors.

In this article, we explain why the Chinese government is promoting the nationwide application of electronic voucher accounting data standards, what steps enterprises are expected to take, and the broader background of accounting digitalization in China.

Why promote electronic voucher accounting data standards?

For many businesses in China, handling electronic vouchers has long been a source of inefficiency and frustration. Even though more transactions are going paperless, companies often still face hurdles when trying to receive, reimburse, book, or archive electronic invoices and receipts. Different formats, inconsistent data structures, and system compatibility issues mean finance teams spend too much time on manual work and error correction.

Recognizing these pain points, the nationwide promotion of electronic voucher accounting data standards represents a meaningful and strategic step in China’s financial digitalization journey. These standards provide a unified technical specification and structured data format—supporting formats like XML and XBRL—that allows electronic vouchers to be seamlessly received, verified, reimbursed, booked, and archived without conversion. This has several important implications for businesses:

• First, the standards support the digital transformation of accounting functions by enabling full-process paperless application of electronic vouchers. This shift helps accounting teams move away from repetitive, manual tasks, allowing them to focus on higher-value work such as financial analysis and strategic planning. As a foundational data resource and innovation enabler, structured electronic voucher data aligns closely with the development of the digital economy.
• Second, they promote green and low-carbon development by reducing the need for printing, physical storage, and manual handling. This not only lowers operational costs across industries but also reduces carbon emissions and supports more sustainable business practices. Deeper data integration also enhances resource allocation and productivity by enabling advanced data analytics.
• Third, these standards contribute to stronger financial governance. By establishing a structured, verifiable, and tamper-resistant data foundation, the system improves the authenticity and reliability of accounting information. This helps prevent financial fraud at the source and enhances transparency across financial operations, thereby safeguarding the broader economic and social order.
• Finally, and perhaps most practically, the standards directly respond to operational difficulties faced by grassroots units and financial personnel—namely, the well-known problems of “difficult to receive, difficult to reimburse, difficult to book, and difficult to archive.” With the adoption of a standardized, digital-first approach, organizations can streamline voucher processing and significantly improve the user experience for both administrative and financial staff.

In short, the push for standardized electronic voucher data is not a mere technical upgrade—it is a targeted solution to real-world challenges, unlocking efficiency, trust, and inclusiveness in China’s evolving digital finance landscape.

How should businesses apply electronic voucher accounting data standards?

While applying electronic voucher accounting data standards is currently voluntary, it involves a full overhaul of how vouchers are processed, covering reimbursement, bookkeeping, and archiving. This means organizations need to evaluate their digital readiness before moving forward. The Cai Kuai [2025] No. 9 encourages a phased and flexible approach, acknowledging that organizations differ significantly in size, complexity, and IT maturity:

• Large and mid-sized enterprises with strong digital systems: Companies already equipped with reimbursement platforms, accounting systems, and electronic archiving tools are in the best position to move quickly. These firms can connect directly to platforms that issue or distribute electronic vouchers, acquire them through centralized or ad hoc channels, and use either the MOF’s free toolkit or their own custom-built tools to adapt existing systems. This enables end-to-end digital processing, standardized, paperless, and automated.
• Digitally mature government bodies and public institutions: Administrative and public institutions with solid financial systems in place can follow a similar approach. For those using integrated budget management systems, the recommended path involves connecting these platforms to electronic voucher service providers that meet the standard. This setup allows for centralized, bulk processing of vouchers in line with the required data format and workflow.
• Small and micro businesses with limited digital capacity: For smaller businesses that lack in-house IT resources or don’t handle large volumes of vouchers, the Cai Kuai [2025] No. 9 offers a practical alternative: outsourcing. These companies can delegate one or more steps in the voucher process to third-party platforms that already comply with the standards. Businesses that rely on external bookkeeping firms can also ensure those providers are equipped to handle vouchers in a fully digital, standardized way.
• Nonprofits, trade unions, and rural collectives: These organizations are encouraged to take a gradual, tailored approach depending on their accounting needs and IT readiness. Whether following the enterprise or public sector pathway, the key is to aim for steady progress toward fully digital voucher processing.

What types of electronic vouchers are currently supported?

The current scope of China’s electronic voucher accounting data standards covers a wide range of commonly used electronic documents, enabling seamless digital processing across various industries and sectors.

Supported vouchers include:

• XML-format digital invoices –including VAT special and general invoices, airline e-ticket itineraries, and railway e-tickets.
• OFD-format invoices embedded with XBRL – covering certain types of airline and railway e-tickets.
• PDF-format government-issued e-receipts embedded with XML – such as fiscal e-receipts used by public institutions.
• PDF-format non-tax revenue payment slips embedded with XBRL – typically used in public finance and regulatory contexts.
• PDF or OFD-format treasury payment vouchers embedded with XML – used for centralized treasury payments.
• OFD-format bank transaction confirmations and bank reconciliation statements embedded with XBRL – facilitating digital interactions with banks.

This broad support lays the groundwork for true end-to-end digital processing—from voucher receipt to reimbursement, accounting, and archiving—without the need for format conversions.

What about other types of vouchers?

Find Business Support

Have a question? Contact our Technology Team ⟶

Not all voucher types are currently included. For now, the focus is on high-frequency, high-demand vouchers used in business and public finance. However, the MOF and related authorities plan to expand coverage gradually. Vouchers that are widely used and critical to reimbursement and bookkeeping processes will be prioritized.

Enterprises should monitor updates from the MOF, which will continue to release new technical standards, application guides, and toolkits as more voucher types are integrated into the framework.

What are the requirements for accounting software providers?

To support the nationwide rollout of electronic voucher accounting data standards, the Cai Kuai [2025] No. 9 requires that the accounting software providers must strictly follow two new regulatory documents:

• Accounting Informatization Work Standards (Cai Kuai [2024] No. 11)
• Basic Functional and Service Standards for Accounting Software (Cai Kuai [2024] No. 12)

Both regulations came into effect on January 1, 2025, and together they set a technical and compliance baseline for software developers and service providers.

Software vendors are required to upgrade and enhance their products within three years of the effective date to meet the requirements of the electronic voucher data standards. This includes ensuring their systems can support full-process digital handling of electronic vouchers—from receipt and verification to reimbursement, booking, and archiving—without the need for manual conversion.

These requirements ensure that software providers deliver secure, interoperable, and standards-compliant tools that help businesses and government entities alike shift to a fully digital accounting environment. Enterprises using compliant software will not only be able to meet regulatory expectations but also benefit from improved efficiency, data integrity, and audit-readiness.

The bigger picture: China’s accelerating push for tax and accounting digitalization

The promotion of electronic voucher accounting data standards is part of a broader and accelerating effort by China to digitalize its tax and accounting ecosystem. Over the past several years, authorities have rolled out a series of reforms aimed at modernizing financial management, improving data transparency, and enhancing regulatory oversight across both the public and private sectors:

• Smart tax administration: The STA has made substantial progress in building an integrated electronic invoicing (e-fapiao) system, using structured data formats and real-time reporting to reduce fraud, strengthen compliance, and streamline tax filing processes.

• E-accounting systems: Enterprises are increasingly expected to transition from fragmented, manual bookkeeping to digital systems that enable seamless integration between business operations, accounting, and tax functions. The electronic voucher standards further support this integration by providing a uniform format for processing original documents.
• Mandatory electronic archives: With regulations increasingly recognizing digital records as legally valid, government agencies and businesses alike are moving toward electronic archiving of accounting materials, reducing physical storage burdens and improving traceability.
• Data-driven supervision and risk control: Regulatory bodies are leveraging big data analytics and AI to monitor financial activities more efficiently. Standardized, machine-readable accounting data allows tax and finance authorities to conduct more precise and timely risk assessments.

For enterprises operating in China, these developments underscore the need to view accounting not just as a compliance function but as a strategic capability. Businesses that adapt early by upgrading systems, digitizing workflows, and aligning with national data standards can expect lower compliance risks, greater operational efficiency, stronger internal controls and audit-readiness, and improved integration across finance, tax, and business units.

• Previous Article China’s Industrial Power Rates 2025: A Guide for Investors
• Next Article China’s Economy in April 2025: Resilient Exports and Investment Defy US Tariffs