question: Why is e-invoicing important for banks and other financial institutions?
comment: It saves them money. Printing and mailing invoices is expensive and with today's technology it's a completely avoidable expense if you can convince your consumer base to agree to it. Large companies with lots of consumers who need invoices 12 times a year are the most motivated to phase them out.
passages: As companies advance into the digital era, more and more are switching to electronic invoicing services to automate their accounts payable departments. Some even believe it to be an industry standard in the near future. According to a report done by the GXS team in 2013, Europe is adopting government legislation encouraging businesses to adopt electronic invoicing practices. The United States has no such legislation yet but does recognize the value of this technology. The US Treasury estimated that implementing e-invoicing across the entire federal government would reduce cost by 50% and save $450 million annually.
   Electronic Invoicing can be a very useful tool for the AP department. Electronic invoicing allows vendors to submit invoices over the internet and have those invoices automatically routed and processed. Because invoice arrival and presentation is almost immediate invoices are paid sooner; therefore, the amount of time and money it takes to process these invoices is greatly reduced. (Financial Operations Networks, 2008) These solutions usually involve a third party company that provides and supports an application which allows a supplier to submit an electronic invoice to their customer for immediate routing, approval, and payment. These applications are tied to databases which archive transaction information between trading partners. (US Bank, Scott Hesse, 2010) The invoices may be submitted in a number of ways, including EDI, CSV, or XML uploads. PDF files, or online invoice templates. Because E-invoicing includes so many different technologies and entry options, it is an umbrella category for any method by which an invoice is electronically presented to a customer for payment.
   The variety of formats and delivery channels complicates the use of e-invoices. To simplify this, a file extension .INV could be used, which would make .INV files easily openable in accounting software. The .INV file can be in standards-compliant XML format.
  
  Section::::History.
   This remained the main way to exchange transactional data between trading partners until the 1990s, when companies that offered more robust user interface web applications began to appear. These new web-based applications had functions that catered to both the supplier and customer. They allowed for online submission of individual invoices as well as EDI file uploads, including the CSV, PDF, and XML formats. These services allow suppliers to present invoices to their customers for matching and approval in a web application. Suppliers can also see a history of all the invoices they submitted to their customers without having direct access to the customers' systems. This is because all the transactional information is stored in the data centers of the third-party company that provides the invoicing web app. This transactional information can be regulated by the customer in order to control how much information the vendor is allowed to see.
   In the European Union legislation was passed in 2010 in the form of directive 2010/45/EU to facilitate the growth of Electronic Invoicing across all its member states. This legislation caters for varying VAT and inter-country invoicing requirements within the EU, in addition to legislating for the authenticity and integrity of invoices being sent electronically. It is estimated that in 2011 alone roughly 5 million EU businesses will have sent Electronic Invoices.
  
  Section::::Electronic.:Open Application Group Integration Specification from OAGi.
   Section::::Electronic.
  
  Some invoices are no longer paper-based, but rather transmitted electronically over the Internet. It is still common for electronic remittance or invoicing to be printed in order to maintain paper records. Standards for electronic invoicing vary widely from country to country. Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) standards such as the United Nation's EDIFACT standard include message encoding guidelines for electronic invoices. The EDIFACT is followed up in the UN/CEFACT ebXML syntax cross industry invoice.
  
  Section::::Electronic.:EDIFACTT.
   BULLET::::- Electronic Invoicing is not necessarily the same as EDI invoicing. Electronic invoicing in its widest sense embraces EDI as well as XML invoice messages as well as other formats such as pdf. Historically, other formats such as pdf were not included in the wider definition of an electronic invoice because they were not machine readable and the process benefits of an electronic message could not be achieved. However, as data extraction techniques have evolved and as environmental concerns have begun to dominate the business case for the implementation of electronic invoicing, other formats are now incorporated into the wider definition.
   There are two XML-based standards currently being developed. One is the cross industry invoice under development by the United Nations standards body UN/CEFACT and the other is Universal Business Language (UBL) which is issued by Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards (OASIS). Implementations of invoices based on UBL are common, most importantly in the public sector in Denmark as it was the first country where the use of UBL was mandated by law for all invoices in the public sector. Further implementations are underway in the Scandinavian countries as result of the North European Subset project. Implementations are also underway in Italy, Spain, and the Netherlands (UBL 2.0) and with the European Commission itself.
   The main responsibility of the accounts payable department is to ensure all outstanding invoices from its suppliers are approved, processed, and paid. Processing an invoice includes recording important data from the invoice and feeding it into the company’s financial or bookkeeping systems. After the feed is accomplished, the invoices must go through the company's business process to be paid.
   To enable e-invoicing, there must be an existing method of viewing the transactions, typically an ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) or accounting system. Routing and rules must be established in a project specification. This typically involves members of accounts payable, IT, and sometimes procurement. Once routing is established to the system, validation rules can be set up to reduce the amount of invoice exceptions. Further validation can be set up to automatically reject errors, three-way match invoices, purchase orders, and other documents. Validation can also notify suppliers of acceptance or rejections. Once the e-invoicing specification is finalized and testing is complete, the business's suppliers are connected electronically, and the e-invoicing system is ready.
   As companies advance into the digital era, more and more are switching to electronic invoicing services to automate their accounts payable departments. The 2012 Global E-Invoicing Study illustrated the rate at which electronic invoicing is growing. According to the study, 73% of respondents used electronic invoicing to some degree in 2012, a 14% increase from 2011. Supplier resistance to e-invoicing has decreased from 46% in 2011 to 26% in 2012. According to a report done by the GXS in 2013, Europe is adopting government legislation encouraging businesses to adopt electronic invoicing practices. The United States treasury estimated that implementing e-invoicing across the entire federal government would reduce costs by 50% and save $450 million annually.
   This remained the main way to exchange transactional data between trading partners for nearly 3 decades. The 1990s came with advances in internet technology. Companies began to appear offering more robust user interface web applications with functions that catered to both supplier and customer. These new web-based applications allowed for online submission of individual invoices as well as EDI file uploads. Along with other methods of file uploads including CSV and XML. These services allow suppliers to present invoices to their customers for matching and approval via a user-friendly web application. Suppliers can also see a history of all the invoices they submitted to their customer without having direct access to the customers' systems. This is because all the transactional information is stored in the data centers of the third party company that provides the invoicing web app. This proprietary information can be regulated by the customer in order to control how much transactional information the vendor is allowed to see. (For example, payment dates, or check information).
   Invoice processing automation software has emerged as what one consulting company has called a "disruptive innovation," whereby this new technological innovation has created a demand for a whole line of software products that previously did not exist. Invoice processing software has produced tremendous labor savings to the extent that many companies have begun to consider it an essential piece of their technology, much like word processing software.
  
  Other advantages of accounts payable automation include:
  
  BULLET::::- Up to an 80 percent reduction in a company's procure to pay cycle
  
  BULLET::::- A reduction in duplicate invoice payments and invoice entry errors
   e-Invoicing is an umbrella term that describes any method by which an invoice is electronically presented to a customer for payment. In larger companies, accounts payable departments are responsible for the invoices to be approved, processed, and paid. 
  
  Section::::E-procurement value chain.:e-Contract Management.
  
  This type of management consists of management of receivables, payments, contract settlements, contract variations, performance securities, and auditing and control activities, and as oppose to its classical form, e-Contract Management is its electronic improvement.
  
  Section::::In the public sector.
   In addition to the direct benefits of risk and cost reductions, automated SDA processes can generate indirect benefits. These relate to better management of information, increased transparency, and improved monitoring of own positions and performance as well as counterparty performance. Furthermore, it provides a key step towards achieving full straight-through processing (STP) of trades from order to settlement, with additional risk and cost reduction implications.
  
  Section::::Benefits of automated SDA process.:Indirect benefits.:Improved information.
   Simplerinvoicing is a community of e-invoicing, ERP and accounting software providers making e-invoicing in UBL available for everyone. It includes access to the PEPPOL network for secure and reliable transfer.
  
  In response to the European Directive 2014/55/EU the Dutch government has mandated XML Invoicing for all contracts signed after January 1, 2017 using the UBL-OHNL customization via Digipoort or the Simplerinvoicing customization via PEPPOL.
  
  Section::::Subsets and customizations of UBL.:Australia and New Zealand use of UBL.
   Electronic invoicing
  
  Electronic invoicing (also called e-invoicing) is a form of electronic billing. E-invoicing methods are used by trading partners, such as customers and their suppliers, to present and monitor transactional documents between one another and ensure the terms of their trading agreements are being met. These documents include invoices, purchase orders, debit notes, credit notes, payment terms and instructions, and remittance slips.
  
  E-invoicing includes a number of different technologies and entry options and is used as an umbrella term to describe any method by which an invoice is electronically presented to a customer for payment.
  
  Section::::Purpose.
   An e-invoice can be defined as structured invoice data issued in Electronic data interchange (EDI) or XML formats, possibly using Internet-based web forms. These documents can be exchanged in a number of ways including EDI, XML, or CSV files. They can be uploaded using emails, virtual printers, web applications, or FTP sites. The company may use imaging software to capture data from PDF or paper invoices and input it into their invoicing system. This streamlines the filing process while positively impacting sustainability efforts. Some companies have their own in-house e-invoicing process; however, many companies hire a third-party company to implement and support e-invoicing processes and to archive the data on their own servers.
   As part of a national initiative to increase the proportion of businesses participating in the Australian digital economy the Digital Business Council endorsed an Interoperability Framework in 2016. The initial version of the framework includes a set of policies, standards and guidelines to promote the economy-wide adoption of eInvoicing. A subset of UBL 2.1 for the invoice and business response document was included in this initial release. The subset was initially based on a working draft of the European Committee for Standardization's work under the CEN/TC 434 - Electronic Invoicing project
   This process is straightforward but can become very cumbersome, especially if the company has a very large number of invoices. This problem is compounded when invoices that require processing are on paper. This can lead to lost invoices, human error during data entry, and invoice duplicates. These and other problems lead to a high cost per invoice metric. The goal of automating the accounts payable department is to streamline this invoicing process, eliminate potential human error, and lower the cost per invoice
   Channels through which companies can communicate with its customers, are growing by the day, and as a result,their time and attention has turned into a major challenge.
  
  One of the reasons eCRM is so popular nowadays is that digital channels can create unique and positive experiences – not just transactions – for customers.
   There are a few barriers to adopting electronic data interchange. One of the most significant barriers is the accompanying business process change. Existing business processes built around paper handling may not be suited for EDI and would require changes to accommodate automated processing of business documents. For example, a business may receive the bulk of their goods by 1 or 2-day shipping and all of their invoices by mail. The existing process may therefore assume that goods are typically received before the invoice. With EDI, the invoice will typically be sent when the goods ship and will therefore require a process that handles large numbers of invoices whose corresponding goods have not yet been received.
   The United Nations standard for electronic invoices ("INVOIC") includes standard codes for transmitting header information (common to the entire invoice) and codes for transmitting details for each of the line items (products or services). The "INVOIC" standard can also be used to transmit credit and debit memos.
   Since the mid-1960s, companies began establishing data links with trading partners in order to transfer documents, such as invoices and purchase orders. Inspired by the idea of a paperless office and more reliable transfer of data, they developed the first EDI systems. These proprietary systems were fairly efficient, but rigid. Every set of trading partners seemed to have their own method of electronic data interchange. There was no standard that any trading partners could choose to adopt. Recognizing this, the Accredited Standards Committee X12, a standards institution under the umbrella of ANSI, moved to standardize EDI processes. The result is known today as the ANSI X12 EDI standard.
   One of the main focuses of e-commerce up until recently has been related to secure payments. Chargebacks is a remedy used to reverse transactions made with credit or debit cards when a fraudulent use has occurred, or when there is a violation of the contract terms. This method is very popular among online consumers since this is the main mechanism to transfer money online. In addition, consumers are not required to give evidence to cancel a payment. The vendor has the burden of proving that the merchandise or service was given according to the contract terms. Once this is proved the bank makes effective the payment to the vendor.
  