e-Invoicing
If you deal with large quantities of invoices and want a fully automated solution that integrates easily with your existing systems and enables you and your finance team to manage the entire receivables process online then we can help.
e-docs UK delivers e-Invoicing services to automate accounts receivable process from capturing e-purchase orders and issuing e-invoices to controlling debtors and speed up payment collections.
EC Expert Group on e-Invoicing
The EU has taken the initiative and has set up an Expert Group on e-invoicing in order to speed up the progress. EU also supports the identification of needs for changes in taxation and legislation. The group is composed of stakeholders from the public sector, private sector enterprises, large and small, as well as financial services providers and standardization organizations.
The objective of the Expert Group is to design a 'European Electronic Invoicing Framework' (EEIF) by 2009. This framework should promote the emergence and the development of open and interoperable e-invoicing services across Europe, bringing huge benefits to citizens and business, including SMEs, throughout the Internal Market.
Challenges
Still, the biggest challenge for e-invoicing is the large variety of tax and other legal requirements in different countries. That has resulted in incompatible country-specific practices, even when referring to the same e-invoicing EU directive from 2001. Companies which have international business and cross-border invoicing are struggling with different demands in each country, e.g., for electronic signatures and tax-compliant archiving. All the stakeholders share the view that the standardization objectives should be in global standards to be able to provide adequate support for corporations.
Progress
Despite the challenges, the number of participants in the electronic invoicing scene has increased considerably during the last few years. According to Koch (2007), the number of corporations using electronic invoicing in Europe was estimated to reach 630,000 in 2007. Similarly, the number of consumers using electronic invoicing was estimated to grow from 14.8 million (2006) to 18.6 million in 2007. The number of service providers is increasing as well (from 160 in 2006 to 260 in 2007). (Koch 2007).