E-invoicing network to save EUR243 billion in EU supply chain costs

Now see this, a classic example of the place where a government CAN step in and drive region/country/continent wide efficiency change. Here is the main report and below you can see the exec summary. This kind of industry wide standardisation of protocols and communication frameworks is a huge saving for companies (mind you, it is a bit challenging for the SME sector), but is also hugely beneficial for all the intermediaries in standard business such as insurance firms, transport people, customs and banks.

Good step, this. The amount of damage and loss due to non-standardised invoicing is huge. I know it from my own experience. For some reason, I had to delve deep into the invoicing processes, documents and procedures for a huge chunk of change that we spend. And it is so inefficient that i cannot believe that nobody else has thought about this before, something akin to how SWIFT/FIX works. But it is extra-ordinarily difficult for a single firm to push this so a governmental approach is great for this.

Also, I would strongly suggest that a country like India should join into this initiative. Why? because a significant chunk of processing already takes place in India and if it can make sure that the domestic Indian firms follow this process, then great, the Indians not only make a jump in following the standard, but also to influence the standard way earlier.

Remember how MiFID is soon going to be come the international standard for investment advice and financial institutions? Similarly, this will allow India to show how great it is in following business process/documentation standards.

All this to be taken with a grain of piquant salt!!!


EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
European electronic invoicing (EEI) is set to be a fundamental enabler in contributing to European competitiveness. Realising electronic invoicing could significantly reduce supply chain costs by 243 billion EUR across Europe4, as well as helping to streamline business processes and help drive innovation.

At present EEI penetration and adoption in Europe is limited. Technical complexity, legal uncertainty and operational constraints hamper a common European approach. The impact on efficiency should not be underestimated.

As Denmark has demonstrated the introduction of e-Invoicing in the Public Sector alone has saved an estimated 100-134 million EUR per annum. Without a common European Framework for EEI the risk is that
the current fragmented, complex and costly situation concerning European e-Invoicing will continue.

A policy level cross-European activity on e-Invoicing is needed to help counter act current fragmentation, to tackle barriers to EEI and establish the basis for innovative market driven solutions. The formation of a EEI Steering Committee under the EC will do exactly that. In combining knowledge and expertise to harmonise approaches it should be possible to establish an umbrella EEI Framework. This Framework would setout a conceptual structure that supports the provision of the e-Invoicing services in an open and
interoperable manner across Europe.

This report sets out the key barriers inhibiting the adoption of EEI. Only via the participation of policy makers and experts in the EEI Steering Committee, to be formed later this year, will these be successfully addressed.