The free option: MyInvois portal
LHDN provides a free web portal at MyInvois where any Malaysian business can submit e-invoices. It works, and for businesses submitting a handful of invoices per month, it may be all you need.
Here's what the portal offers:
- Manual e-invoice submission — Fill in the 55 mandatory fields per invoice
- CSV bulk upload — Upload up to 100 documents at once via CSV file
- Mobile app — Submit from your phone
- Status tracking — View whether your invoices were validated or rejected
- Document search — Look up previously submitted invoices
It's a solid baseline tool built by LHDN for universal access.
Where the portal falls short
For businesses submitting more than 10-20 invoices per month, the portal's limitations become apparent:
1. Manual data entry for every invoice
Each invoice requires 55 fields. The portal does not save customer details, product details, or business defaults between sessions. Every invoice starts from scratch.
If you invoice the same 20 customers regularly, you're re-entering their TIN, BRN, address, and contact details every single time.
2. No deadline tracking
The portal shows submission status but does not track the 72-hour cancellation/rejection window. You need to calculate and track these deadlines yourself.
For businesses submitting multiple invoices per day, this is a significant compliance risk.
3. No offline capability
The portal is web-based. No internet means no invoice submission. If your connectivity drops mid-submission, you may lose your work.
4. Limited analytics
The portal provides basic status views but no business analytics. You can't see monthly revenue trends, submission success rates, or compliance metrics at a glance.
5. No integration with your workflow
The portal is a standalone tool. It doesn't connect to your customer database, product catalog, or accounting software. Data lives in the portal and nowhere else.
What third-party apps add
Third-party e-invoicing apps like Finvo build on top of the MyInvois API to add workflow features that the portal doesn't provide:
Customer & product databases
Save your customers and products once. Every time you create an invoice, select from your saved list instead of re-entering everything.
Automatic 72-hour tracking
Get alerts at 24 hours, 4 hours, and 1 hour before cancellation and rejection windows close. Never miss a deadline.
Offline mode
Create invoices without internet. They queue locally and submit automatically when you reconnect.
AI assistance
Get help understanding LHDN rejection codes, fixing invoice errors, and answering compliance questions — without reading through government documentation.
Business analytics
See your monthly revenue, submission success rates, pending reviews, and compliance status on a single dashboard.
CSV import/export
Import invoice data from your existing spreadsheets or accounting software. Export reports for your accountant.
When the portal is enough
The free MyInvois portal may be sufficient if:
- You submit fewer than 10 invoices per month
- You have few repeat customers (so re-entering details is not a major burden)
- You're comfortable manually tracking 72-hour deadlines
- You don't need offline access or mobile workflow features
- You're a sole proprietor with simple invoicing needs
When you need more
Consider a third-party app if:
- You submit more than 10-20 invoices per month
- You invoice the same customers repeatedly
- You need 72-hour deadline tracking without manual calendar reminders
- You want offline capability for field work or unreliable internet
- You need to export data for your accountant or tax advisor
- You have a team that needs shared access to invoicing
Using both together
You don't have to choose one or the other. Many businesses use a third-party app as their primary tool and check the MyInvois portal occasionally for verification. Since both connect to the same LHDN backend, your submission history is always consistent.
The question isn't whether the portal works — it does. The question is whether it's efficient enough for your volume and workflow.