In the digital age, electronic transactions are becoming more and more popular and play an important role in the production and business activities of enterprises. Understanding new concepts such as What is a business digital certificate? It is essential to keep up with technology and ensure competitive advantage.
Digital certificates are one of the fundamental elements that help authenticate identities, protect data and ensure the legality of digital transactions of businesses. Bizzi provides a comprehensive cost control system that acts as an AI assistant for the finance and accounting department, helping to automate revenue and expenditure processes, streamline B2B payment operations, and cost management effective.
1. What is a digital certificate?
Digital certificate is a type of electronic certificate commonly used in electronic transactions, especially in the business environment. According to Clause 7, Article 3, Decree 130/2018/ND-CP, a digital certificate is a data file issued by an organization providing digital signature certification services, to confirm the identity of an agency, organization or individual through a public key.
Simply put, a digital certificate acts as an “electronic ID card” that helps identify the identity of the person signing the digital signature on the electronic system. It includes information such as: subject name, serial number, validity period, name of the supplier, public key, etc. to help ensure the authenticity and integrity of online transactions.
In the corporate environment, business digital certificate is a mandatory tool when performing procedures such as electronic tax declaration, electronic invoice signing, online banking transactions or participating in public state systems. The use of digital certificates not only enhances security and transparency but also helps businesses save time, costs and minimize the risk of data fraud.
2. Types and contents of enterprise digital certificates
What is a business digital certificate? Not only is it an electronic identity authentication tool, it also plays an important role in digital transactions, digital signatures and information security. To use it effectively, businesses need to clearly understand the common types of digital certificates and the mandatory contents according to legal regulations.
Popular types of business digital certificates today:
- Valid digital certificate: This is a digital certificate that is still valid and has not been suspended or revoked. Businesses should only use this digital certificate to ensure validity in electronic transactions.
- Public digital certificate: Issued by a public digital signature certification service provider (eg: VNPT-CA, Viettel-CA, ...), used for commercial transactions, tax declaration, electronic customs, ...
- Foreign digital certificate: Issued by foreign digital signature certification organizations, mainly applied in international transactions or cross-border activities.
10 mandatory contents in digital certificates as prescribed in Article 5 of Decree 130/2018/ND-CP:
- Name of the organization providing digital signature certification services.
- Name of the subscriber (enterprise owning the digital certificate).
- Digital certificate number.
- Validity period of digital certificate.
- Subscriber's public key.
- Digital signature of the certification organization.
- Restrictions on purpose and scope of use.
- Limitation of liability of service provider.
- The cryptographic algorithm used in the certificate.
- Other necessary contents as directed by the Ministry of Information and Communications.
Validity period of digital certificate
Enterprise digital certificates have a fixed validity period to reduce security risks. Common validity periods include: 24 hours, 6 months, 1 year, 3 years or 5 years, depending on the type of certificate and usage needs. In which, public digital certificates for businesses have a maximum validity period of 03 years as prescribed.
3. Comparison of digital certificates and digital signatures
Although both are used in electronic environments to authenticate and ensure the integrity of transactions, business digital certificate and digital signature are two concepts with different natures and roles. Understanding the difference between them helps businesses apply them correctly in electronic signing, transaction and legal compliance activities.
Distinguishing nature:
- Digital certificate is a type of electronic certificate issued by a digital certification service provider, which has the function of confirming the identity of the signer (digital signing subject) and is associated with a public key. This is the basis for the system, partner or third party to check and authenticate the sender and the validity of the digital signature.
- Digital signature is a form of electronic signature, created with a private key associated with a digital certificate. When signing a document or data message, a digital signature confirms the identity of the signer and demonstrates agreement with the content of the document.
About the ingredients:
- Digital certificate including business identification information, public key and related technical information (name of the provider, validity period...).
- Digital signature formed from the key pair: secret key (used for signing, saved in specialized devices such as USB Token, Smartcard) and public key (used to verify signature).
Mutual support relationship:
- To create a valid digital signature, businesses are required to have valid digital certificate.
- Digital signatures will be verified and authenticated through the public key contained in the digital certificate. Therefore, digital signatures are only legally valid when the accompanying digital certificate is still valid and has not been revoked.
- Can be visualized: digital certificate like "identity card", still digital signature is “handwritten signature” – two inseparable components when participating in legally valid electronic transactions.
Understanding this relationship will help businesses not only comply with legal requirements, but also Enhanced reliability and security in the entire process of processing documents, invoices, and contracts in the digital environment.
4. Organizational groups providing digital certificate services
To ensure the legality and safety of electronic transactions, only organizations that meet the standards prescribed by law and are licensed by competent authorities are allowed to provide digital certificate services for enterprises. According to the current classification, there are 4 main groups of organizations that are entitled to provide digital signature certification services in Vietnam:
- National digital signature certification service provider: Is an entity established by the State to build and maintain the national digital signature certification system, often taking on the role of root CA and managing the national public key infrastructure (PKI) system.
- Organization providing specialized digital signature certification services for the Government: Serves exclusively government agencies and administrative management activities. These organizations help ensure high security and authentication for internal transactions within the e-Government system.
- Public digital signature certification service provider (Public CA): This is a popular group and is widely used by businesses and individuals. Public CAs are licensed by the Ministry of Information and Communications and are responsible for issuing valid digital certificates for tax declaration activities. Electronic invoice, social insurance and electronic transactions.
- Organization providing specialized digital signature certification services for agencies and organizations: These units are granted certificates of eligibility to deploy their own digital signature authentication systems to ensure information security within the organization.
In fact, business digital certificate must be issued by public digital signature certification service provider (CA) has a valid license. This is to ensure that the digital certificate has legal value in the electronic transactions of enterprises with state agencies or partners.
5. The role of digital certificates in business operations and how Bizzi supports
A document is only considered legal when the data message is signed with a digital signature and authenticated by a valid digital certificate, verified by a public key. Understanding what a corporate digital certificate is helps businesses minimize legal risks and protect their rights in transactions with partners or government agencies via electronic platforms.
Ensuring legality and safety for electronic transactions: In the digital transformation era, enterprise digital certificates play a fundamental role for all legally valid electronic transactions. Documents such as electronic contracts, financial reports, and tax declarations must be signed with valid digital signatures. Documents are only considered legal when the data message is signed with a digital signature and authenticated by a valid digital certificate, and verified by a public key. Understanding what an enterprise digital certificate is helps businesses minimize legal risks and protect their rights in transactions with partners or government agencies via electronic platforms.
Enhance the efficiency of your financial and accounting processes with Bizzi: As a platform for automating financial and accounting processes, Bizzi not only helps businesses control costs and streamline payment operations, but also supports businesses in maximizing the effectiveness of using digital certificates in financial management and electronic transactions.
Digital signature and storage activities on Bizzi are protected by modern encryption standards, helping to ensure the safety, security and integrity of electronic documents. At the same time, Bizzi integrates with the enterprise's current ERP systems and accounting software, helping to synchronize digital signature data, digital certificates and approval status. Information is automatically updated across the entire system without the need for manual re-entry, ensuring accuracy and saving effort.
Bizzi supports businesses in maximizing the role of digital certificates through smart electronic financial solutions. Bizzi's platform integrates more than 30 features to help automate accounting processes, cost management, payment and debt collection. In particular, the electronic invoice solution B-invoice clear demonstration of the importance of digital certificates in ensuring the validity and legality of invoices:
- Create and export electronic invoices in standard XML/PDF format.
- Customize invoice templates and generate bulk invoices in just a few clicks.
- Connect directly to the tax authority system to authenticate invoices via authentication code.
- Integrate digital signatures and store invoices for at least 10 years as prescribed.
- Support downloading and printing invoices anytime, anywhere with full digital signature.
Digital certificates play a core role in the digital signature authentication process, ensuring that all invoices created on the Bizzi system are valid and legally binding.
In addition, solutions such as Bizzi Expense (business expense management), Bizzi Travel (travel expense management), ARM (receivable management) and system input invoice reconciliation (IPA + 3-way matching) All operate based on the principle of information security and authentication thanks to digital certificates. This is the platform that helps businesses optimize financial and accounting processes while ensuring safety and compliance with the law.
To improve the efficiency of invoice management as well as automate the financial and accounting processes of the business. Register to experience Bizzi's comprehensive solution suite today!
- Link to register for a trial of Bizzi products: https://bizzi.vn/dang-ky-dung-thu/
- Schedule a demo: https://bizzi.vn/dat-lich-demo/
Conclude
Digital certificates are an indispensable element in the digital age, playing a key role in authenticating identities and ensuring the legality of electronic transactions for businesses. Understanding the concept and role of digital certificates helps businesses make the right choices about authentication services and optimize their operations. With comprehensive solutions such as B-invoice electronic invoices, Bizzi helps businesses conduct financial transactions efficiently, safely and legally., where digital certificates and digital signatures are indispensable security tools.
