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E-invoicing is the future. All governments and other (semi) public organizations have been ready since April 2019 to receive and process e-invoices. Technical provisions have been made for this and many organizations want to take a step to capitalize on the benefits of e-invoicing, such as faster processing, lower costs, better digital services and better insight into invoice flows. To achieve this, it is necessary that e-invoices are sent by suppliers.
logo Connecting Europe Facility (CEF)
In order to stimulate the adoption of e-invoicing by suppliers, the PIANOo e-invoicing program office carried out a project acceleration adoption e-invoicing in 2018 and 2019, with the help of a European subsidy. In this project, more than 500 suppliers from local governments were approached and activated to start sending e-invoices. The experiences from this process form the direct reason to process the experiences into E-invoicing guidelines for suppliers, which are contained in this document.
Project acceleration suppliers adoption e-invoicing
Prepare
An electronic invoice (e-invoice) is an invoice in a structured (XML) format that can be exchanged fully automatically. This is therefore not an e-mail with a PDF attachment. The e-invoice means that the method of drawing up the invoice, shipping and processing will be different for your customer. That brings benefits for suppliers and recipients. Many of your customers in the (semi) -public sector will request e-invoices from you, or even demand them, for example via the purchase conditions. By being prepared for this, you meet that demand and you are also able to cash in on the benefits of e-invoices.
Recognize the benefits
E-invoicing is sooner or later on the agenda of all entrepreneurs who deliver to governments and (semi-) governments. It provides benefits for both parties and together we can achieve those benefits. E-invoicing offers efficiency benefits because data is entered once; an e-invoice can often be sent directly from an accounting or ERP system. The receiver can process these with detail and higher accuracy. This leads to the possibility of faster payment. Many municipalities and other (semi) public organizations are committed to shortening the payment period to their suppliers. You can better secure an e-invoice (think of sensitive or personal information). In addition, delivery is more secure than, for example, via e-mail with PDF. That saves in memories and after-calling.
Choose an optimal technical design
Most organizations use software for their invoicing and accounting. Much of this software has now been prepared for sending e-invoices. When sending an e-invoice, the content and the shipping method are important.
Choose the standard
For the content there is a European Standard, translated in the Netherlands into a user instruction basic invoice, also called NL-CIUS. If you can prepare an e-invoice according to this standard, then each of your customers in the (semi) public sector has the obligation to receive and process it; you have the right to send it. Most software packages support this standard. You can find more information at your software supplier or on the standardization platform e-invoicing, stpe.nl.
stpe.nl
Consider Simplerinvoicing
Your customer determines the way in which he wants to receive an e-invoice. This is possible via e-mail with an XML attachment, but more than 75% opt for the Simplerinvoicing network. Among other things because of information security, the use of open standards and the possibility that suppliers without a software package can also send an e-invoice via a portal. Because most organizations that want to make e-invoicing a success choose this network, it is obvious that you orientate yourself on it. More than 400,000 companies can use the Simplerinvoicing network through their software . On the website simplerinvoicing.org you can see if your software is included, or which provider can help you further. And once you are connected yourself, you can reach all your customers in this network without extra effort. Should you nevertheless use the e-mail as the method of sending the e-invoice, then agree with your client what he additionally requires in terms of security, standards and additional information.
Simplerinvoicing.org
Use a portal if you are going to enter manually
In general, automated formatting and sending of the e-invoice is obvious, but for some companies a portal may be (temporarily) useful to still be able to send e-invoices via the Simplerinvoicing network . For your customer it does not matter how you put the e-invoice on the network.
Ask for a shipping specification
In a shipping specification, an organization describes what the e-invoice should look like and how it should be sent, so that it can be received and processed efficiently. Many organizations use such a shipping specification. With this you know where you stand and how you can process your invoices faster and better.
E-invoicing is more than just IT
Organizations that want to exploit the benefits of sending e-invoices have the (IT) technology in order, so that they have an efficient, safe and scalable solution for sending e-invoices. If you really want to take advantage of the benefits of e-invoices and want to provide your customer with the best possible service, you should also look at the current working method and the improvements in your processes and organization that you can make there. Many actions will still be based on the sending of the PDF invoice and the difficult processing at the customer. Consider batch processing or collective invoices.
Make e-invoicing the standard
If you have then increased the efficiency in your process and you have the technical provisions in order, you naturally want to send as many e-invoices as possible, without deviations and disruptions.
Approach your customers
Of course you can approach all your customers individually to start e-invoicing, but whether that is efficient and feasible is the question. If you have access to the Simplerinvoicing network, you can reach all your customers on the same network; there are even software packages that recognize this for you.
Register in the Senders Directory
You can also help the transition to e-invoicing by registering in the Simplerinvoicing Senders Directory . More and more customers in the (semi) public sector are looking here to see if their suppliers can already e-invoice. Your IT service provider can include you in this or you can arrange it yourself. The mentioned webpage tells you how you do that.
Senders Directory at senders.simplerinvoicing.org
Conclusion
Organizations that make e-invoicing a success opt for a scalable solution based on open standards. They ensure that processes are adapted to the technical possibilities. With the lessons learned described above , we want to help suppliers to (semi) public organizations on their way to making e-invoicing a success. The more organizations that start e-invoicing, the better we are all able to realize the potential of e-invoicing. |
