It is my great pleasure to share with you a
recent publication of mine regarding electronic invoicing.
An invoice is a document that is most
frequently used in the transactions established between two entities in the
market. Invoicing has existed almost for as long as people have been doing
business, being an essential tool for the transaction of trade and business activities
in general. An invoice is an integral part of commerce providing the ground for
payments and money flow. Today, in the era of digitalization, electronic
invoicing is becoming a crucial part of everyday trade practices, leveraging
the e-commerce tools, transforming business processes and offering new opportunities
in almost all market sectors.
Electronic invoicing is also a vital component in
today’s key technologies like big data, analytics, and ‘fintech’ and
contributes to driving business and public institutions’ decisions to boost
their effectiveness and competitiveness in the global economy.
E-Invoicing represents a matter of high importance
and a priority within the European Union. The European Commission, in the EU Digital
Agenda for 2020, aims for e-invoicing to become the pre-dominant way of
invoicing across EU Member States, due to the obvious benefits e-invoicing
provides. For example, the savings the use of e-invoicing can provide are estimated
to be at around EUR 64, 5 billion per year for businesses within SEPA only. The
European Commission and the governments of the EU Member States put a great
emphasis on electronic invoicing as a result of the latest developments in the
EU legal framework. Furthermore, the European Commission decided to address the
issues created by the use of a plethora of e-invoice formats used across the EU
by introducing a European Standard for e-invoicing which is going to be a
mandatory option in a few years’ time, for EU Member States contracting
authorities of the public sector.
This Guide delivers concise, yet quite wide information
about electronic invoicing and its aspects. The intention of the authors is to provide
businesses and public institutions with unbiased information and insight into different
aspects of e-invoicing and practical guidance on how to start dealing with it.
The Guide combines legal compliance, business, technical, and practical
information arming the interested reader with essential knowledge when deciding
to take the next steps in electronic invoicing. Particular emphasis has also
been given to EU legal framework and related compliance issues. A brief summary
of the Serbian status of affairs in e-invoicing is also provided.
The Guide was developed with readers of various
backgrounds (business, technical) within both the private and the public sector
in mind. The Guide deals with all major aspects of e-invoicing in the form of
questions and answers. The average reader can start reading about some of the
very fundamental concepts related to e-invoicing and then continue with some
more technical aspects. It’s up to the readers to decide which of the subjects
covered are suitable for their particular needs and deal with them directly,
without going through the whole text of the Guide. However, a detailed list of
reference links is also provided in Annexes of this Guide, allowing the reader
to go deeper and further on the relevant topics.
The “E-Invoicing Guide” is accessible via :https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B2-FyGnf96YNYk84eFUxaDF6anc
